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!)
― Jeff W, Tuesday, 26 February 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 29 August 2003 07:45 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 29 August 2003 07:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Fabrice (Fabfunk), Friday, 29 August 2003 08:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 29 August 2003 10:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Friday, 29 August 2003 12:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 29 August 2003 13:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
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
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 29 August 2003 13:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 29 August 2003 13:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 29 August 2003 17:33 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean (Sean), Friday, 29 August 2003 17:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Friday, 29 August 2003 18:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 29 August 2003 18:19 (twenty-one years ago) link
― youn, Friday, 29 August 2003 18:21 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 29 August 2003 18:21 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean (Sean), Friday, 29 August 2003 18:22 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 29 August 2003 18:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
i wish i liked anne briggs more.
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 29 August 2003 18:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 29 August 2003 19:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 29 August 2003 19:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
just noticed gygax's post. well, a 2nd opinion then.
― amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 29 August 2003 20:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Saturday, 30 August 2003 07:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
That should read v. famous SCOTTISH guitar player etc., hope you never meet Bert on a dark night!
― Dadaismus (Dada), Sunday, 31 August 2003 12:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― amateurist (amateurist), Sunday, 31 August 2003 19:07 (twenty-one years ago) link
― christoff (christoff), Friday, 5 September 2003 12:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
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?
― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 20:20 (seventeen years ago) link
she dumped them in the ocean, I heard.
― sw00ds, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 20:26 (seventeen years ago) link
listened to Dog Eat Dog the other day hoping to find a dollar bin gem amidst the 80s production. unfortunately it sucked doggie dick
― jaxon, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 20:28 (seventeen years ago) link
hence the album title?
― sw00ds, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 20:29 (seventeen years ago) link
...lesbian dogs?!
― t**t, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 20:34 (seventeen years ago) link
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 know, right?, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 20:53 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 22:27 (seventeen years ago) link
I agree... Hissing of Summer Lawns is my favourite Joni Mitchell record.
― Keith, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 22:31 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― humansuit, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 23:12 (seventeen years ago) link
"Good Friends" is a good track and single!
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 11 July 2007 23:16 (seventeen years ago) link
"Night Ride Home" is an underpraised gem
― J0hn D., Thursday, 12 July 2007 01:09 (seventeen years ago) link
the album or song?
― jaxon, Thursday, 12 July 2007 01:15 (seventeen years ago) link
"Come In From The Cold" is my favorite Joni song of the last 20 years.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 12 July 2007 01:22 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― derrrick, Friday, 13 July 2007 08:03 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― Geir Hongro, Friday, 13 July 2007 22:12 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― baaderonixx, Friday, 13 July 2007 22:21 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― Geir Hongro, Friday, 13 July 2007 22:24 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― eatandoph, Saturday, 14 July 2007 02:21 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― earlnash, Saturday, 14 July 2007 02:30 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 14 July 2007 22:54 (seventeen years ago) link
I will say she is Classic for Blue alone.
― I know, right?, Saturday, 14 July 2007 23:00 (seventeen years ago) link
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.
― eatandoph, Sunday, 15 July 2007 00:30 (seventeen years ago) link
does "Song For Sharon" have the best chord progression ever or what?
― aaron d.g., Sunday, 11 January 2009 08:04 (fifteen years ago) link
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― nothinbutcuts, Sunday, 11 January 2009 11:51 (fifteen years ago) link
“ felt freely open to criticize each other from behind a keyboard when I know if they ever ran into each other in real life not a word would be said”this is a good thing tho!!!!!!
― brimstead, Wednesday, 3 January 2024 22:01 (eight months ago) link
Why is it a good thing? If you wouldn't say something to someone's face, you shouldn't say it to them online.
― lord of the rongs (anagram), Wednesday, 3 January 2024 22:26 (eight months ago) link
insert that won't do emoticon here
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 3 January 2024 22:53 (eight months ago) link
xp political speech, /trenchant blah blah never mind me
― brimstead, Wednesday, 3 January 2024 23:36 (eight months ago) link
I guess I just meant “saying stuff” not “saying stuff TO ppl”, please disregard I don’t mean anything
― brimstead, Wednesday, 3 January 2024 23:37 (eight months ago) link
Classic
― ꙮ (map), Thursday, 4 January 2024 13:45 (eight months ago) link
The legendary Joni Mitchell will perform her first Los Angeles headlining show in over 24 years at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday, October 19 – joined by the Joni Jam. Pre-sales start tomorrow at 10 a.m. with password JJAM24. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, February 2 at 10 a.m.
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 30 January 2024 18:55 (eight months ago) link
I saw her a few months back at Hollywood Bowl with Brandi Carlile (where the "Joni Jam" portion was not explicitly advertised the way this one is).
They only did, I think, three of Joni's songs. Joni herself was not in great shape. She was very much buoyed by all the women surrounding her (Brandi, Annie Lennox, Allison Russell, a few others). Annie Lennox especially. Nevertheless the pure joyousness of the atmosphere was incredible, and I'd imagine a full set would be wonderful.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Wednesday, 31 January 2024 01:58 (eight months ago) link
Just noticed that both Joni and Neil are back on Spotify.
― meatster of puppets (peace, man), Wednesday, 27 March 2024 16:54 (six months ago) link
Yep. After Neil Young saw that Joe Rogan and his misinformation podcast was now available from multiple outlets and he didn’t want to boycott them all, he decided to go back on Spotify. Then Joni did the same.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 27 March 2024 17:00 (six months ago) link
'joni back on streaming' status update:
"sex kills" back in regular rotation, as the natural of things should be.
ps-hi alfred. you defend "sex kills" for your reasons stated above (all of which are good) , but also because we all know it's some of her best work. ♡i heart complainy joni♡
― interstellar anthropologist+music philosopher, (Austin), Monday, 1 April 2024 23:48 (six months ago) link
What's bad from this era are a lot of finger-pointing songs about societal ills and the media. She'd written songs like this throughout her career, but at this point they became scolding and self-righteous.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 2 April 2024 00:09 (six months ago) link
total banger.
― interstellar anthropologist+music philosopher, (Austin), Tuesday, 2 April 2024 00:14 (six months ago) link
I don't mind scolding and self-righteousness when the groove is food.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 2 April 2024 00:20 (six months ago) link
And good food.
Is justice
Just.. ice?
― Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 2 April 2024 00:37 (six months ago) link
Are notifications
Not if I cat ions?
― Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 2 April 2024 00:38 (six months ago) link
I dislike "Sex Kills", me, but it does seem to me to be a rejoinder to/echo of Prince's "Sign O The Times", throwing some mutual respect back at the guy, which I like
― Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 2 April 2024 00:42 (six months ago) link
Welp, Joni Mitchell appears to have changed the cover art to Don Juan's Reckless Daughter for the new reissue. pic.twitter.com/FejENxOJAw— all_ages (@all_ages) April 30, 2024
― Never fight uphill 'o me, boys! (President Keyes), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 16:19 (five months ago) link
Just surprised that a hand in a dog’s mouth was the culmination of 45 years of stewing on what must have been regret over the original cover
― Slim is an Alien, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 16:48 (five months ago) link
I imagine it is less regret and more her people went to her and said we can't put out a cover with you in blackface in 2024.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 17:01 (five months ago) link
Wait, that’s her? I even own a copy but I guess I never really looked all that closely, just figured it was some guy.
― Slim is an Alien, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 17:31 (five months ago) link
The album jacket is a photomontage and includes three photographs of Mitchell. In the foreground she is in blackface as her "reputed alter ego, a black hipster named Art Nouveau".
― This is Dance Anthems, have some respect (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 17:32 (five months ago) link
The David Yaffe and forthcoming Ann Powers book go at lengths to describe wtf was on her mind (the Powers book best).
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 17:33 (five months ago) link
https://static.cambridge.org/binary/version/id/urn:cambridge.org:id:binary:20171016100701055-0366:9781316569207:68091fig18_1.png
― a fatal dose of irony (Matt #2), Tuesday, 30 April 2024 18:15 (five months ago) link
tastelessness takes many forms. the new cover art is horrendous
― Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 19:48 (five months ago) link
I would've suggested an outtake from her "Skating on Lake Mendota, WI" photo session, but she already used one for the Songs of a Prairie Girl compilation. (Granted so did Hejira, but mostly for the inner sleeve.)
Kind of like this one the most though, with Joni mysteriously in the distance I'd buy that as 'Don Juan's Reckless Daughter.'
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 19:48 (five months ago) link
I might be wrong but the photo of Joni with the wolf/dog they superimposed on the original blue/orange background is actually from the mid-80s and not from the 70s? I think it's from a photoshoot she did with Norman Seeff (who also did the one of her skating on Lake Mendota btw) for Dog Eat Dog, almost a decade after DJRD? Such a weird choice. I mean, I'm glad they didn't use the original artwork but surely she must have some painting from that era lying around in the attic they could use instead? Or just have some nice simple typography over the original background?
Great, underrated album; deserves a better cover than the two it got.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 20:54 (five months ago) link