Noël (Joan Baez album)

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Noël is a Christmas album by Joan Baez, released in 1966.

Working with arranger-conductor Peter Schickele (PDQ Bach), Baez, for the first time, recorded an album outside the standard guitar-based folk format. She worked with Schickele on her next two albums, both of which also featured classical orchestration.

Unlike holiday albums by many other popular artists, Baez included mostly traditional material, avoiding more lighthearted or commercial fare in favor of a somber, understated tone. She included both familiar ("The Little Drummer Boy") and more obscure ("Down in Yon Forest") material. The album also contains several brief instrumental selections arranged by Schickele.

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Track listing

Original LP

1. "O come, O come, Emmanuel" (Traditional)
2. "Coventry Carol" (Traditional)
3. "Good King Wenceslas" (Traditional) - instrumental
4. "The Little Drummer Boy" (K. Davis, H. Onorati, H. Simeone)
5. "I Wonder As I Wander" (J. Niles)
6. "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" - instrumental
7. "Down in Yon Forest" (Traditional)
8. "The Carol of the Birds" (Traditional)
9. "Angels We Have Heard on High" (Traditional) - instrumental
10. "Ave Maria" (Franz Schubert) (sung in German)
11. "Mary's Wandering" (Traditional)
12. "Deck the Halls" (Traditional) - instrumental
13. "Away in a Manger" (J. Murray)
14. "Adeste Fideles (O Come, all ye Faithful)" (Traditional) - instrumental
15. "Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night)" (A. Adam)
16. "What Child Is This" (Traditional)
17. "Silent Night" (F. Gruber)

• Baez dedicated "The Carol of the Birds" to Pablo Casals.

CD bonus tracks

1. "The First Noel" (Traditional)
2. "We Three Kings" (Traditional) - instrumental
3. "Virgin Mary" (Traditional)
4. "Good Christian Kings" (Traditional) - instrumental
5. "Burgundian Carol" (Traditional)
6. "Away in a Manger" (J. Murray) - alternate version sung in French