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Joan Baez - Danger Waters [HD]

4,455 views · Published 16 June 2017 · 3:21 · Indexed 4 November 2026

Channel: Gary Larson · 2017 · People & Blogs

Joan Baez sings the song from the West Africa Gold Coast 'Danger Waters' from her 1962 Vanguard album 'Joan Baez In Concert, Part 1'. The song was recorded live during a 1962 concert tour. Writing credit goes to Jacob Browne and Arthur S. Alberts. This song is adapted from the African (Liberia) song 'Hold Me Tight'. Note that this song should be taken in historical context (See notes below). Vanguard co-founder Maynard Solomon highly praises this song Baez recorded over fifty years ago from a song recorded in Africa in 1949, maybe in existence much earlier, sung in Cafes for comedic purposes. The images in the video are of African woman of current times. The lyrics are in the video and listed below.

[Vinyl/Lyrics/20-Images]

In the album liner notes, Maynard Solomon writes "Danger Waters: The ethnomusicologists have been tracing African influences on American folk music for decades, but now we find that our folk music, jazz and Latin American rhythms are being re-exported to Africa and creating new hybrids which in turn will exert a new influence on our music. This lament of a hard-time heroine is from the Gold Coast created in the "Highlife Cafes" patronized by the poor and less-poor, where a new African-Western-African music of extraordinary poetic and rhythmic strength is now emerging. Beneath the seemingly direct and simple verses is a fluid use of words and images which marks this as poetry of a high order, a realistic poetry based on the patterns of ordinary speech which makes use of the slashing transitions and many-levelled ambiguities of the finest modern poetry."

The song on the original 1962 Vanguard album gives no writing credits simply listing "Danger Waters" (probably thought to be a traditional song). I believe much later reissues have "Danger Waters (Hold Me Tight) Jacob Browne, Arthur S. Alberts".

Arthur Alberts was a noted ethnomusicologist who made high-fidelity live recordings in West Africa in 1949, along with his wife Lois, that resulted in 1950 in the 78 rpm album "Tribal, Folk and Cafe Music of West Africa". The recordings were featured, for example, on the PBS documentary "The Blues". The recordings in Liberia were by prominent Americo-Liberian singers.

The song "Hold Me Tight" by The Greenwoods can be heard on the 2007 Yango Music CD 'Songs Of The African Coast (Cafe Music Of Liberia) recorded by Arthur S. Alberts.

This song has a young woman with reason to "holler why" since she goes to a room so her "mama no know" and the man is slow in finishing what he's doing to her ("The tortoise boy no mon ami!" [the slow guy not my friend]). Finally, "hold me tight" and "danger waters" are coming, danger since she wants no (or no more) babies.

Danger Waters (Joan Baez Version)