Blessed Are…

1971 Vanguard double LP of Joan Baez’s Blessed Are…, catalog VSD-6570/1, issued as a 33 1/3 RPM two-record set and produced by Norbert Putnam. This copy remains sealed in shrink, with the front retaining its yellow hype sticker for “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and a pink bonus-record sticker advertising a free 7-inch 33 1/3 RPM disc of Baez singing “Maria Dolores” and “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee).”

The jacket is a striking period object: a glossy black front field frames David Harris’s stylized funereal cover painting, with the lowercase title blessed are… at lower left, Joan Baez’s name at lower right, and the Vanguard mark beneath. The back cover shifts to a clean white layout with Jim Marshall photography of Baez among flowers, the full four-side track list, and printed credits for Quadrafonic Studios in Nashville, Norbert Putnam as producer and arranger, Jack Lothrop as co-producer, and musicians including Kenneth Buttrey, Norman Blake, Buddy Spicher, Charlie McCoy, the Memphis Horns, and the Nashville Strings.

Condition is especially collector-friendly: the inventory lists the vinyl and outer sleeve in the Mint/Near Mint range, though the pressing itself is unverified due to the intact seal. The shrink shows natural reflection and light handling, with minor corner/shelf wear and a partially torn sticker area visible at the upper-right front, but the package remains unopened with its period promotional stickers intact.