Gracias a la Vida (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Gracias a la Vida
Type = Album
Artist = Joan Baez


Released = 23 July 1974
Recorded = Early 1974
Genre = Folk
Length = 43:18
Label = A&M
Producer = Joan Baez & Henry Lewy
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:pge097q7krdt link]
Last album = "Where Are You Now, My Son?"
(1973)
This album = "Gracias a la Vida"
(1974)
Next album = "Diamonds & Rust"
(1975)

"Gracias a la Vida" (subtitled "Joan Baez canta en español"), or "Here's to Life: Joan Baez sings in Spanish" was a 1974 studio album released by Joan Baez. The album was performed mainly in the Spanish language (just one song in Catalan language). Baez stated at the time that she released the album as a "message of hope to the Chileans suffering under Augusto Pinochet", in the wake of the death of Salvador Allende. (Baez has always been critical of US foreign policy in Latin America, and has toured and worked on behalf of improving human rights in the region.) Songs include selections by Chilean composers Victor Jara (who was tortured and killed in the aftermath of the 1973 coup d'état) and Violeta Parra, who composed the title song.

A more upbeat version of "Dida" appears on Baez' "Diamonds & Rust", released the following year.

Countries represented in the track listing range from Mexico and Cuba to Chile and Spain. The album was moderately successful in the U.S. but extremely so in Latin America.

Track listing

#"Gracias a la Vida" (Here's to Life) (Violeta Parra)
#"Llego Con Tres Heridas" (I Came With Three Wounds) (from a poem by Miguel Hernández, musicalized by Joan Manuel Serrat)
#"La Llorona" (The Weeping Woman) (traditional)
#"El Preso Número Nueve" (Prisoner Number Nine) (H. Cantoral)
#"Guantanamera" (J. Martí, adapted by H. Angulo, Pete Seeger)
#"Te Recuerdo Amanda" (I Remember You Amanda) (Víctor Jara)
#"Dida" (Joan Baez)
#"Cucurrucucú Paloma" (T. Méndez)
#"Paso Río" (I Pass A River) (traditional)
#"El Rossinyol" (The Nightingale) (traditional catalan)
#"De Colores" (In Colors) (traditional)
#"Las Madres Cansadas" (All The Weary Mothers Of The Earth) (Joan Baez)
#"No Nos Moverán" (We Shall Not Be Moved) (traditional)
#"Esquinazo Del Guerrillero" (Guerilla's Serenade) (F. Alegría/R. Alarcón)

Personnel

*Joan Baez: Acoustic & classical guitar, vocals.
*Sally Stevens: Acoustic & classical guitar.
*Jim Hughart: Bass guitar.
*Edgar Lustgarten: Cello.
*Lalo Lindgron: Harp, Harmonica.
*Andrea Willis: Backing vocals.
*Jackie Ward Singers: Backing vocals.
*Milt Holland: Percussion.

References

* Farber, Nancy (1974). "Joan Baez: Singing of fewer causes now". "People Magazine" 4/29/74;54-57.