Joan Baez Drawing

Young Janis Ian learned to play guitar and sing by slowing down Joan Baez records and imitating her style. Along with Odetta and several other folk artists, Baez was her hero. She would finally meet her at the 1968 Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island. This was the same place Baez and Bob Dylan had begun their careers. Appearing at this venue was a sure sign someone had made it, and nationwide fame would follow.

Imagine the 16-year-old’s excitement to sit amongst her idols in the cafeteria on July 27, 1968. The year before, Ian had hoped to be invited, but the committee decided she was too young. And this year, too, some of these icons were critical. Ian’s hit “Society’s Child” introduced drums into a tradition that had not had them previously. Some still thought she was too young, that she hadn’t paid her dues, and that older artists deserved time on the stage more.

As Ian turned to take her breakfast to her room instead, Baez invited her to sit with her. From that moment, Ian was “in.”

Decades later, while appearing at New York City’s iconic The Bottom Line club to record for Baez’s Ring Them Bells album, Ian sat down at the piano to accompany Baez while the latter sang Ian’s song “Jesse.” The show went uncharacteristically “goofy” when Ian suddenly broke into a rendition of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.” Baez joined in, then the crowd, with Ian joking that she’d always wanted to be a Beatle. After that show, Baez sent her the drawing.

“Joan has been good to me all my life,” Ian said. “She was one of the first people to sign on when I began doing benefits for gay rights. Joan puts her money and her talent where her mouth is. She’s an unbelievable force for good in this world.”