Joni Mitchell: Classic or Dud

as i am allergic to the entire countryside, i liked that they paved over paradise and put up a parking lot: asphalt = better than pollen dust, IMO

1. The completely unique sound she gets out of an acoustic guitar on "Blue". 'A Case Of You' = classic.

2. "The Hissing Of Summer Lawns": my definition of Pazz & Jop. Also includes Burundi music way before it was fashionable to do things like this.

3. A band like Nazareth can do great covers of her material. Also her vocal lines are ideal fodder for bootlegs (as Fluke demonstrated years ago). Recontextualisation and all that.

4. She kept Jaco busy - hence fewer shitty Jazz Rock records were made.

(I'm joking about No.4 alex!)

and/or multiple alternate tunings, some of her own invention, i believe?

she's one of the greats, compositionally, subject-matter-wise and maybe persona-wise. and yes, arguably hot, if you like the personality. and probably harder than anyone who thinks she's "twee".

Both For the Roses and Court and Spark are arguably better than Blue. Her best singing (and guitar-playing?) may be on the otherwise middling though convenient pre-C&S-greatest-hits live Miles of Aisles

i wish i liked anne briggs more.

just noticed gygax's post. well, a 2nd opinion then.

That should read v. famous SCOTTISH guitar player etc., hope you never meet Bert on a dark night!

Expanded 2CD remasters of "Court And Spark", "Hissing Of Summer Lawns" and "Hejira" were supposed to have been released by January this year. They are not yet in the shops half a year later.
Does anyone know what happened and when and if they are due?

she dumped them in the ocean, I heard.

listened to Dog Eat Dog the other day hoping to find a dollar bin gem amidst the 80s production. unfortunately it sucked doggie dick

hence the album title?

...lesbian dogs?!

I only know Blue but I love it. I started a little cult of Joni in secondary school when I traded my extra copy of Psychocandy with my friends extra copy of this. I think we both did well.

I still think the real gems are those mid 70s ones, when she used more instruments and adopted a more "floating" and sophisticated song style. Even if there may be a bit too much chorus guitar on "Hejira" at times.

I agree... Hissing of Summer Lawns is my favourite Joni Mitchell record.

Court and Spark is my favorite because of the incredibly strong songwriting . I prefer it over Blue for sure. I'm shocked at the animosity up-thread.

listened to Dog Eat Dog the other day hoping to find a dollar bin gem amidst the 80s production. unfortunately it sucked doggie dick

"Good Friends" is a good track and single!

"Night Ride Home" is an underpraised gem

the album or song?

"Come In From The Cold" is my favorite Joni song of the last 20 years.

i really enjoy about 1/2 of Dog Eat Dog - 'Fiction', 'Good Friends', 'Impossible Dreamer' and the title track all work for me, esp. the first two.

it's odd to think of Night Ride Home as underappreciated - i always considered it one of, if not her very best, post-'70s albums.

And nobody knows anything about the remasters?

I only have burned copies of those three, and I plan to buy them, but even though they often only a third of the price, I refuse to buy the old editions now that I know remasters are probably on their way anytime soon.

I think there's a thread somewhere on the reissues and someone in the know seemed to imply that the remasters were not gonna happen.

The current bunch of Mitchell albums in the discount bins suggest otherwirse.

The remasters have been done - there were even press releases being released just a couple of weeks before the supposed release date in January. But they were postponed obviously.

To me the HDCD versions of these albums sounded excellent, with nice warmth and dynamics. The enticement of new versions would have to be either in exras (in which case what are they?) or in surround versions or advanced resolution. (I recall that there was a quad version of Hissing....)

SpinCDs.com say August 10, but these have been delayed before — originally they were to be released in February 2006 — so I wouldn't put much store by that date.

I got most of Joni Mitchell's 70s output on vinyl for about $10 bucks out of dollar bins. My favorite album that she did is Coyote. She did other records that are kind of jazzy, but that is the best one. Her other records generally have a few songs that really catch with me. I like the two 70s live albums better than much of the studio records.

I always thought "Help Me" would have been a good song for late 80s Dinosaur Jr. to cover.

The HDCDs are of her earlier singer/songwriter output only. "Court And Spark", "Hissing Of Summer Lawns" and "Hejira" have never been released in HDCD.

Warner's CDs from the 80s sounded better than most other 80s CD, with better dynamics and more stereo separation (I guess that's why they have yet to do anything about the back catalogues by the likes of Prince or Phil Collins), but they still don't hold up today when compared to HDCD ones.

I will say she is Classic for Blue alone.

The HDCDs are of her earlier singer/songwriter output only. "Court And Spark", "Hissing Of Summer Lawns" and "Hejira" have never been released in HDCD.

I spent some time in England and remember that for some reason you could find the HDCD versions of the early albums but not of the mid-late-seventies ones. Presumably this is still the case in the EU. The HDCD versions can be differentiated by the spines: instead of having big block print, the lettering is the same as that used on the back cover, and the artwork wraps around where applicable. I think the catalog numbers are the same.

I went tonight and it was just amazing. And yes I cried too.

setlist of these nights blowing my mind a bit, love that she's doing some deep cut stuff and not just the obvious.

setlist of these nights blowing my mind a bit, love that she's doing some deep cut stuff and not just the obvious.

Yeah the song selection was unbelievable. Some of the big ones you’d expect (“Big Yellow Taxi”, “A Case of You”, “Both Sides Now”, “The Circle Game”), but no “River” or “Blue” or “Woodstock” or “Help Me”. Plenty of deep cuts, like “God Must Be a Boogie Man”, three songs each from Turbulent Indigo and Night Ride Home, a bunch of stuff from Hejira. The selection of songs definitely felt like a reckoning with the world at large, couldn’t help but notice how much of it was some of her more politically-minded material.

And she was positively beatific on her throne with all her friends around her. She was cracking jokes and chuckling throughout the night, with a glass of Pinot Grigio in hand. And maybe she doesn’t possess the pipes that she once had but I still thought she sounded wonderful and she seemed genuinely pleased to be there. I really just couldn’t believe it was happening the whole time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5UgYwkEW00

This is from last year but I love how Annie Lennox sounds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N4rtxj4sqM

I saw the show last year at Hollywood Bowl, which was billed as "Brandi Carlisle and Friends". A lot of the same people as last night (Blake Mills, Wendy & Lisa, Annie Lennox, Allison Russell, Sista Strings, Lucius). I was really glad to see both shows - the first one elevated my experience of this one. Last year all these people came out one at a time, peppering a setlist of Brandi's songs with their own moments in the spotlight, doing their own songs. And you could see how great they each were. That all built to Joni coming out for the conclusion and they did I think just three songs. Joni seemed much more fragile/shaky, and they all seemed to do a lot more to lift her up.

I was expecting something similar this weekend, even it was obviously going to be much heavier on Joni's songs. But in fact Joni had SUCH a presence and really drove nearly every song. She was really brilliant. She obviously can't hit the high notes we've all memorized, but now the impressive thing is how (and when!) she hits the low notes. She just (vocally) danced around everyone else - you could feel everyone, especially those trying to sing harmonies, trying to keep up with where she was taking each phrase. She was powerful.

I'm not sure if it was the same group on Saturday night, but in the second half of the Sunday set they were joined by Jon Baptiste, Elton John (!!), Marcus Mumford, and a few others. That's also when Annie, Allison, Wendy & Lisa came out. Also for some reason Meryl Streep and Rita Wilson?

The only people who stepped forward to sing lead on anything were Marcus Mumford (California) and Annie Lennox (Ladies of the Canyon). I really was expecting all these other people to come up and take their turn and allow 81-year-old Joni to rest, but they never did. Even Brandi, who was sitting right next to Joni all night and clearly there to just take care of her and support her, always stayed in a supporting role. And I think that's why I appreciated seeing the version of the show last year - I knew how phenomenal they all were, and how any of them could easily keep a sold-out Hollywood Bowl crowd rapt, but they ALL very gladly stayed in their supporting roles and just let Joni shine. (I will say though, by the end I was really wondering why Elton John was there. He was sitting on stage, had a microphone like everyone else, and I honestly think he almost never opened his mouth. He was exuding "I'm just happy to be here" vibes on the same level as Meryl and Rita... but his presence created a sense of anticipation that was never fulfilled.)

Any way, a truly magical night. I was brought to absolute tears by "Both Sides Now" and "The Circle Game". I think Joni got roughly a dozen standing ovations over the course of the night.

just reading scott's post made me cry. I probably won't end up seeing her but her to get these flowers is so wonderful.

Side note - a surprising sense of community in my corner of the stands because we were all checking the Dodgers scoreline before the set began and then during intermission. The Dodgers very conveniently won the game during intermission so no one had to feel rude when they cheered about that.

“Both Sides Now” had me full-on ugly-crying. A stranger even handed me a tissue at one point lol

Some of the big ones you’d expect (“Big Yellow Taxi”, “A Case of You”, “Both Sides Now”, “The Circle Game”), but no “River” or “Blue” or “Woodstock” or “Help Me”. Plenty of deep cuts

I can’t let you go without saying something about Joni Mitchell at the Bowl.
Carlile: The tea I can spill is that I’ve spent these last five, six years in the passenger seat with Joan, and in this case I’m in the backseat. She’s chosen to learn songs that I never heard before, that have been an incredible challenge for us all to learn. It’s gonna be a long show. She wants to give everybody a full-spectrum performance of who she really is and what her career has done. It’s different than [Mitchell’s shows at the Newport Folk Festival and the Gorge Amphitheatre] — it’s gonna be even crazier. I’m seeing her be inspired in ways I haven’t seen before. And we’ve got some people that have joined the party that are just an inspiration to watch work.

Phil: Probably half the songs on our next record are gonna be in weird tunings because of working with her.

Carlile: He’s having to do [bassist] Jaco [Pastorius’ parts] on songs where Jaco tripled his bass. Phil’s got to play all the licks — and not piss off Joni in the meantime.

Phil: You can’t get anything by her.

Last night we got into the Bowl *just* as the first song started and hilariously I didn't know it was her at first. I didn't know about the rotating stage, the lights were very low, she was singing very low, and suddenly everything lit up and omgomgomg. Most of section L seemed to be crying.

I love how her cane became a prop: sometimes a conductor's baton, other times a gearshift lever, and throughout "Both Sides, Now" - an ice axe she was using to climb an infinite mountain

omigod Elvis that's fabulous

He was sitting on stage, had a microphone like everyone else, and I honestly think he almost never opened his mouth

I did clearly hear him begin the chorus to "I'm Still Standing" but he realized that he was early, so he only got as far as "I'm..." before correcting himself

Wonderful description of the cane Elvis

Elton wasn’t there on Saturday but she did sing “I’m Still Standing”

Yeah, great description!
Here's another report ("I'm still sitting.") Mentions live debut of song from Shine--is that a good album?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/21/joni-mitchell-lets-rip-at-donald-trump-at-rarity-laden-us-concert

I was so curious to hear how she did "I'm Still Standing," and it turns out she's done it before. This sounds better than the phone videos from this weekend's show (though the ones online are phone recordings of an amazing performance).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxqFJLm6Hp4

(This is from PBS coverage of the Gershwin Prize.)

My wife and I also went to the Sunday night Joni Jam show at the Hollywood Bowl. We were out in California for a wedding near San Diego on Saturday and drove up for the Sunday night show. Our seats were way up high but it was still a great night. I really liked new song “If I had a Heart ( I would cry)” where Joni’s was mostly just backed by piano. “Amelia” and “A Case of You” also stood out .

Carlile mentioned that Joni changed some of the words to the Elton John song when she was first asked to participate at the Gershwin Prize event and do one of his songs .

Years ago she changed a little of Rudyard Kipling “If” poem when she put it to song .

I hope at least one album, live and/or studio, comes out of this era---with new songs and new versions of early ones that were always demo-only, like "Eastern Rain."

holy shit I never knew she wrote that, prob in my top 5 Fairport songs

Mine too! Here's Joni doing it, via Archives Vol. 1:
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-e&sca_esv=f3c510255100d4e3&tbm=vid&q=%22Eastern+Rain%22+song+written+by&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK2M6G-aKJAxUXRzABHcEyLTUQ8ccDegQISxAH&biw=1082&bih=502&dpr=1.25#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a2ab6cd8,vid:h68LXXCGnDM,st:0

Wouldn’t be surprised if we got a video release out of this, lots of camera ppl all over the stage

Of the guests who got to lead , Marcus Mumford didn’t wow me. Am thinking he was a Brandi Carlile choice. He at least dueted with Mitchell though. Lennox powered through “Ladies of the Canyon “ and Mitchell couldn’t be really heard on that . But Mitchell was lead on virtually everything, so I guess I shouldn’t complain

Chappell Roan and Lucy Dacus were singing along backstage

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/watch-joni-mitchell-elton-john-chappell-roan-lucy-dacus-brandi-carlile-more-sing-im-still-standing-together/

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/joni-mitchell/2024/hollywood-bowl-los-angeles-ca-2bab90c6.html

Amazing how many years it had been since she had done some of these songs live ( although she never toured a ton )

Can I say...she doesn't sound good at all on "I'm Still Standing."

Wouldn’t be surprised if we got a video release out of this, lots of camera ppl all over the stage

I was at the Saturday show, and feel lucky to have been there.

Really nice posts, pgwp, captured the vibe of the show really nicely.