Joan Baez' Apartment

Baez apartment, “corner” of Bow Street and Massachusetts Avenue

The Baez family moved to the Boston area in 1958. Joan was a theater major at Boston University, but she was drawn in by the music scene in Cambridge and quit school to focus on music and singing. She began performing at 18, and soon had regular paid performances at Club 47. Through these Club 47 performances she gained a reputation in Cambridge, and the singer Bob Gibson invited her to play along with him at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. Her reputation spread beyond Cambridge and Baez soon became a recognizable face of the folk music revival, performing with Bob Dylan and traveling across the country. In 1962, Time Magazine featured her on the cover as “girl with guitar.”