1975 Joan Baez – Diamonds & Rust

Diamonds & Rust is a 1975 album by Joan Baez. Baez is often regarded as an interpreter of other people’s work, and on this album she covered songs written or played by Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, The Allman Brothers, and Jackson Browne. But Diamonds & Rust also contained a number of her own compositions, including the acclaimed title track, a distinctive song written about Bob Dylan.

The title track was covered by British heavy metal band Judas Priest on their 1977 album Sin After Sin, and has since been one of their staples in live performance. American folk duo The Smith Sisters featured the song on their 1986 album Mockingbird. Anglo-American Renaissance rock band Blackmore’s Night covered the song on their 2003 album Ghost of a Rose. Finnish power metal band Thunderstone covered the song on their 2004 album The Burning.

On her cover of Dylan’s “Simple Twist of Fate”, one verse features Baez attempting a good-humoured impersonation of the song’s composer.

An alternate recording of “Dida” had appeared on the previous year’s Gracias A la Vida. The Diamonds & Rust recording of the song was more uptempo and featured duet vocals by Joni Mitchell.