Diamonds & Rust is the sixteenth studio album (and eighteenth overall) by American singer-songwriter Joan Baez, released in 1975. The album covered songs written or played by Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, the Allman Brothers, Jackson Browne, and John Prine. Diamonds & Rust, however, also contains a number of her own compositions, including the title track, a distinctive song written probably about Bob Dylan, which has been covered by various other artists.

An alternate recording of "Dida" had appeared on the previous year's Gracias a la Vida.

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Diamonds & Rust" (Baez) – 4:47
  2. "Fountain of Sorrow" (Jackson Browne) – 4:30
  3. "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" (Stevie Wonder, Syreeta Wright) – 2:45
  4. "Children and All That Jazz" (Baez) – 3:07
  5. "Simple Twist of Fate" (Bob Dylan) – 4:44

Side two

  1. "Blue Sky" (Dickey Betts) – 2:46
  2. "Hello in There" (John Prine) – 3:05
  3. "Jesse" (Janis Ian) – 4:28
  4. "Winds of the Old Days" (Baez) – 3:55
  5. "Dida" (Baez) duet with Joni Mitchell – 3:25
  6. Medley: "I Dream of Jeannie" (Stephen Foster; arranged by Joan Baez) / "Danny Boy" (Frederic Weatherly) – 4:13

Personnel

  • Joan Baez – vocals, acoustic guitar, Moog and ARP synthesisers, arranger
  • Larry Carlton – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, arranger
  • Dean Parks – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
  • Rick Lotempio – electric guitar (track 10)
  • Wilton Felder – bass guitar
  • Reinie Press – bass guitar
  • Max Bennett – bass guitar (track 10)
  • Jim Gordon – drums
  • John Guerin – drums (track 10)
  • Larry Knechtel – acoustic piano
  • Hampton Hawes – acoustic piano (track 4)
  • David Paich – acoustic piano, electric harpsichord
  • Joe Sample – electric piano, Hammond organ
  • Red Rhodes – pedal steel guitar
  • Malcolm Cecil – Moog and ARP synthesisers, synthesizer programming
  • Robert Margouleff – synthesizer programming
  • Tom Scott – flute, saxophone, arranger
  • Jim Horn – saxophone
  • Ollie Mitchell – trumpet
  • Buck Monari – trumpet
  • Jesse Ehrlich – cello
  • Carl LaMagna, James Getzoff, Ray Kelley, Robert Konrad, Robert Ostrowsky, Ronald Folsom, Sidney Sharp, Tibor Zelig, William Hymanson, William Kurasch – violin
  • Isabelle Daskoff – viola
  • Joni Mitchell – vocal improvisation (track 10)

;Technical

  • David Kershenbaum, Joan Baez, Larry Carlton – producer
  • Bernard Gelb – executive producer
  • Rick Ruggeri – engineer
  • Henry Lewy – engineer (track 10)
  • Ellis Sorkin – assistant engineer
  • Bob Cato – design
  • Irene Harris – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1975–1976)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| 62

|-

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (2025)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)

| 92

|}

Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (1975)

! scope="col"| Position

|-

! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 45

|}

Certifications

References