Carry It On

This soundtrack to a 1971 film of the same name (taken from the Gil Turner tune performed here) is a decent collection of songs interrupted by speeches from Joan Baez's husband, anti-war draft resister David Harris ("Life Is Sacred," "Idols and Heroes") and dialogue between Harris and Baez ("In Forty Days"). Many songs here (Gram Parsons' "Hickory Wind," Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind," Earl Robinson's "Joe Hill") have appeared on Baez's other albums in official studio versions and are performed live on this album. However, her rendition of "I Shall Be Released" takes on added poignancy. Of note, her covers of Edwin Hawkins' "Oh Happy Day," Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," and Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (a duet with Jeffrey Shurtleff) are the only songs not available in any version on a previous Baez album. Versions of "We Shall Overcome" had made it to various compilation albums of folk performers in the past, with the version here keeping it energetic despite being a standard with folk music crowds.