From: les@jmdl.com (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V3 #381 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk JMDL Digest Tuesday, September 29 1998 Volume 03 : Number 381 JoniFest 1999 is coming! Reserve your spot with a $25 fee. Send a blank message to for more info. ------- The Official 1998 Joni Mitchell Internet Community Shirts are available now. Go to for all the details. ------- The Official Joni Mitchell Homepage is maintained by Wally Breese at and contains the latest news, a detailed bio, original interviews and essays, lyrics, and much more. ------- The JMDL website can be found at and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- its released ? [Bounced Message ] TTT, London (SJC) [David Wright ] USA TODAY article (JC up the wazoo....) ["Jerome Gonzales" ] Birthday card stuff [Mary Grace Valentinsson ] TTT ground zero [Howard Motyl ] lots and lots of TTT [Brett Code ] Re: (NJC) For your listening pleasure try........ [IVPAUL42@aol.com] congratulations - lori / rob-evian / kakki [PMcfad@aol.com] Pun of the day [Steve Dulson ] Jewel cases and other explosives [Chilihead2@aol.com] RE: (NJC) Jewel cases and other explosives [Michael Yarbrough ] TTT today [BH1248@aol.com] TTT -- Daring to be Beautiful ["Don Rowe" ] Re: Pun of the day ["Don Rowe" ] Re: (NJC) Jewel cases and other explosives [catman ] Charging for TTT [Mark Domyancich ] Joni and Bob in Toronto and Ottawa [Brett Code ] Re: Amelia, vapor trails, fortune telling [LRFye@aol.com] Isn't it Nice to Be Home Again-JT [Michael Paz ] What's Cooking?? [Michael Paz ] Re: It is the Gorgeous-ess [Maggie McNally ] An Open Letter To Reprise Records ["Jim L'Hommedieu" ] Re: Charging for TTT [IVPAUL42@aol.com] Goodies? [Michael Paz ] Astrid (NJC) [Michael Paz ] Re: Goodies? ["Kakki" ] Dates [Wally Breese ] Re: Charging for TTT [LRFye@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 11:01:23 -0600 From: Bounced Message Subject: its released ? From: "Donald Fluke" Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 11:33:55 -0400 Just got home from the music store. What a disappointment when they told me-- "Todays Fed-X has not arrived yet" ! Leave it to South Florida to always be a step behind and disorganized. So now I am on the phone every hour to see if the TTT shipment has arrived. By the way the 'Peaches' here does su.bscribe to the SoundScan method, so I must be patient. Don't forget to pick up your copy of USA Today---------------JONI CONTENT. don in ft lauderdale ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 13:06:00 -0400 (EDT) From: David Wright Subject: TTT, London (SJC) Hello all, from another address, I bought TTT on the day of its release here yesterday. Love the art direction. Am I the first to notice that the instrument that Greg Liesz plays is *misspelled* throughout the liner notes as "peddle steel"??!? (What the hell is that? I guess somebody was dictating the liner notes over the phone.) (It should be "pedal steel," I'm sure you all know.) Make another place on the best-of-the-year charts: I also got PJ Harvey's latest, "Is This Desire?" WOW! This will really take some time -- though on the surface it is the most accessible of her albums perhaps. Much of it has a quietly disturbing, very understated quality, both in the lyrics and music. I have discovered here the funniest TV show in the universe: Never Mind the Buzzcocks -- a pop music show with comedians and musicians using a mock quiz show format. I'm spreading the joy to all the students on the program with me. Do any UK listmembers watch this show? (If you say you hate it, I'll be crushed!) This has become my third great thing to proselytize, the first two being (as some listmembers will recognize) Sacred Harp singing, and the Golden Compass fantasy trilogy of Philip Pullman. I'd add Joni to the list, but I think she needs it less. The only Joni I have brought with me to London is DJRD, her only album I have on CD, and I have been playing it for them all. One of my flatmates has TI. And another is a big Joni fan already, though interestingly she entered Joni's world through her jazzy middle period albums -- she has Mingus, S&L, WTRF, Hejira -- she never was interested in Joni's "folk" period, though she does have Blue and likes it. The converse of many fans' experience, it seems to me. Very interesting. (She also LOVES the Cocteau Twins and Liz Fraser. She wants to have her last name legally changed to Spanglemaker, title of one of the Twins' songs.) Drop me a line, any of you, if you get a chance. I do have e-mail in our flat now so I may be able to get more caught up soon. Best to all, - --David ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 10:13:33 PDT From: "Jerome Gonzales" Subject: USA TODAY article (JC up the wazoo....) Hope this comes out OK.... Joni Mitchell Still Untamed LOS ANGELES - She taught herself guitar using a Pete Seeger instruction manual and played ukulele while at art college, humble beginnings for a career steeped in prestige and authority. From 1968's self-titled debut to Tuesday's release of Taming the Tiger, a smart and spirited jazz-inflected pop album, Joni Mitchell has lived up to her billing as one of the rock era's masters. It's noteworthy that she made the cut in People's "Unforgettable Women of the Century" issue, not under Divas, but under Creators, alongside Maya Angelou, Gertrude Stein and Grandma Moses. At 54, Mitchell remains a daring alchemist with a restless muse, ignoring fads to pursue music that's classical, sophisticated, experimental and challenging. On her lauded 17th album, maturity and independence entwine in engaging songs about business and pleasure. Revered and imitated for the past 30 years, this lady of the canyon refuses to rest on laurels or slip into history's shadows. Artistically, if not commercially, she stands tallest in the current field of female pop sensations, who claim her as a guiding spirit and freely loot her legacy. Though the vestiges of childhood polio limited her concert schedule in recent years, the Canadian-born singer returned to the stage with strength and style this year: touring with Van Morrison and Bob Dylan, eclipsing the female cast at Don Henley's Walden Woods benefit and appearing at the Woodstock-inspired A Day in the Garden festival. She rejoins Dylan for shows starting Oct. 23 and stars in a Nov. 6 pay-per-view concert. Despite this decade's fixation on fresh noise, her reach is formidable. Janet Jackson's hit Got 'Til It's Gone was built on Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi. On his current Timeless Tales, Joshua Redman does an instrumental cover of Mitchell's I Had a King. Her A Case of You appears on the Practical Magic soundtrack. She remakes The Magdalene Laundries on an upcoming Chieftains album, contributes two songs to Herbie Hancock's Gershwin's World and sings Trouble Man on the debut album by bassist Kyle Eastwood (son of Clint). Though Mitchell swore off the "degrading" interview process a few years ago, she recently relented. Over a two-hour lunch of pasta, cranberry juice and cigarettes at her favorite haunt in Brentwood, Mitchell plumbed personal and professional topics, from her disdain for today's pop to her delight in being a grandma. Q: You've influenced scores of current hitmakers. Does it irk you that today's Joni-wannabes outsell you? A: It's disheartening, but you have to accept it. They're not as good, because they're generational, and yet they outsell me 20 to 1. I go back and forth between accepting it and railing against it. A lot of copycats are produced by producers who study my work and try to make a formula out of it. They pit them against me in the marketplace, declare them the new me while I'm still alive and then don't let me in the game. That's frustrating and painful. Q: You've also decried the ongoing musical chairs at the corporate level. A: The chair at the top kept getting occupied and fired. When they fire these guys, they pay them millions to go away, more than an artist is ever paid, more than Janet Jackson was paid to be signed. There's tremendous inequity. "You failed! Here's $60 million!" What is that? So the money artists made was wasted paying these jerks who didn't know what they were doing to go away. That fed my resentment. Q: So you voiced those complaints to your label. A: I had a pretty bad attitude. I said, "I loathe and despise the record business. I'm beyond an unhappy camper here." We worked out some things. I didn't ask for the moon. For my self-respect, amelioration had to be delivered, things had to change. I consider it a civil liberties issue that record companies basically abandon artists once they're established. Q: Did that happen to you? A: Because of my experimental nature, I became an artist without a genre, so finally radio and MTV wouldn't play me. The label says, "We don't care if you sell records." I said, "That's the trouble! You won't put a penny behind me." I said, "Look, if I'm good enough that everybody is being compared to me, just let me in the game." My work is better: It's got more depth, more breadth, more nutrition; it's not the flavor of the week. It actually has the ability to endure. Q: In such a deflating atmosphere, how did you endure? A: I turned to Aesop's turtle: slow and steady. Every time the industry slam-dunked a project of mine and elevated something else because it was new, I had to wax philosophic and wait. I finally got impatient. It made me want to get out of the business, and that's where I was at the brink of making this album. Maybe the gods gave me a break, because all of a sudden people began to notice that I was undervalued and they gave me a lot of honorariums. They knew they should give me something, but they didn't seem to really know why. Q: Why didn't you attend your induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? A: A museum is only as good as its curators. There's a lot of stuff sold that doesn't deserve to go into the Hall of Fame - the Fabians and Milli Vanillis. But they seem to put in anyone who had a Top 10 record. So the honor wasn't really there. And the expense! You're expected to go, play a free concert, pay exorbitant prices to seat your family, and they give you this trinket, a dubious honor. It was exploitive and I resented it. My time was better spent with my kids. It was my first Mother's Day. Q: In 1965, you had a daughter you gave up for adoption six months later. You recently reunited with Kilauren Gibb and met your grandson, Marlin. Are they now fixtures in your life? A: Yeah, I love them and I love to see them. They're very fulfilling to me. She's in the process of separating from her husband, which is always difficult. I just came through a divorce with my husband (Larry Klein) but I'm older, and we went right out on the road together. So my perspective is, "Surely you can get along and find the good things to latch on to." Easy for me to say. Q: In the song Chinese Cafe, you sang, "My child's a stranger; I bore her but I could not raise her." Did you hope she would hear you? A: I wanted her to know that she was on my mind. Q: Was it difficult to let go of your baby girl? A: I was very stoic about it. I blocked out the day that I signed the papers. I must have been quasi-hysterical. It says in the file that it was "very difficult for mother emotionally." I don't even remember. I was made to feel ashamed, but I don't have any guilt about that loss and the ugly gantlet of opinion you first walk through. I couldn't find another way. I had no money to put a roof over my head or feed myself, let alone buy diapers, and no one to ask help from. And I was wildly independent. I married (folk singer) Chuck Mitchell, and he said he didn't want to raise another person's child, so I had to give her up. Q: Did you instantly bond when you were reunited? A: The moment I laid eyes on her. She looked at me and I looked at her, and we made the same sound at the same time: "Mm-hmm." We had the same speaking voice. She looks a lot like my mom. Q: In Facelift, you reveal a holiday-season rift with your mother, who complains that you and your boyfriend "shacked up downtown, making love without a license." Has she heard it? A: She hates it, but she's coming around. When I premiered it in Canada four years ago, her take was that I disgraced her in front of the nation. I said, "Look, Mom, this is no longer our song." So many women have said to me, "That's just what my Christmas was like." It's so universal, especially between our generations. They're never going to let go, the war generation. Their way of thinking is too ingrained. Q: In dealing with such personal issues, do you censor yourself or shade the truth to avoid revealing too much? A: I'm always trying to expose a universal truth. It's easy for me to use myself as subject matter because I can take it. Most people don't like portraits unless they flatter them. Some themes require stirring up and sustaining an emotion that isn't a fun companion. When I wrote Facelift, my mother and I were at war. It was really painful. But if you're going to be in pain anyway, why not stare it in the eyeball and turn it into a jewel? Q: In the title track, you label current music "genuine junk food for juveniles." A: When I wrote that, I thought contemporary music standards had dropped off a cliff. I'd leave the dial set on a station for two days and try to find something good and I couldn't. I do like Sheryl Crow, who's self-sufficient, and Bjork, a fiery little thing. But I got sick about hoodlum songs that are turning white trailer-park kids into vandals. I'm not a blue-haired little old lady, but I think it's a bad cultural influence. This isn't hip or smart. We don't need a society of pimps and vandals. Why is this the cultural vanguard? Q: When did the industry lose its artistic integrity? A: When record companies went public, the records became poker chips. Once the stock market is involved, you're pandering to the lowest common denominator, and there are fewer people at the label to champion a good song. Look back at the Grammy song-of-the-year winners of the last 10 years. It's tragic. Q: You were stricken with polio at 9. Did that influence your career in music and art? A: I had athletic ability in a community that revered athletes. When I got polio, I could no longer take part in it. I lost muscles, especially in my back, and reflexes in my legs, so I lost my running ability and my competitive swimming ability. I've had a lot of body pain in my life, but I'm opposed to the AMA's diagnosis for post-polio syndrome, which says don't exercise, lie down and die, basically. Now I'm proceeding through polio as I did in childhood, with the attitude that I'm not a cripple. Q: You're an unapologetic smoker. Has your habit changed your voice? A: It's added some husk. With age, the high end goes, anyway. Barbra Streisand's having trouble with her high end, and she's not a smoker. Women sopranos retire at about my age. But Aretha (Franklin) smokes, and she's singing opera with a beautiful husky quality. I don't do things a virtuoso should. I think of myself as a painter who makes music, so I probably don't keep the instrument as oiled as I should. I've lost about four notes at the top. I've got a big range, so it's no big loss. I don't need to go sailing around the stratosphere. Q: You're regarded as a strong and independent woman, yet you've never embraced feminism. A: No, because I still see honor and grace in domestic duties. I also wasn't an anarchist, so I didn't fit my generation. Nor was I a nihilist, so I didn't fit the next. I never found an ism that was mine. Q: What's next? A: I want to record standards, where I'm just a singer and there's only one mood to sustain. My songs tend to entail more acting than singing. Instead of having so much nuanced drama to do, I'd like to sing some pretty notes and lighten up. It's the way I feel right now. I did most of my heavy worrying between 27 and 33. It made me strong but it nearly flattened me. I thought so deep and so hard, it scared the wee out of me and I entered into a long depression. I like my life better now. By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 13:07:19 EDT From: LRFye@aol.com Subject: Re: (NJC) For your listening pleasure try........ Jos B wrote: > I will certainly try listening more to DJWD. Would that be "Don Juan's Weckless Daughter"? : ) Lori San Antonio "In dweams we fwy ..." ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 10:15:33 PDT From: "Jerome Gonzales" Subject: USA TODAY part two: meow They included a SECOND article about Nietzsche and "Man From Mars!!" "The cat's 'Meow-meow-meow!''" On Man From Mars, a lament about a loved one who's abandoned her, Joni Mitchell pines,"There is no center to my life now, no grace in my heart." At first, she had declined a request to pen a mournful tune for the Grace of My Heart soundtrack, insisting, "I'm not a hack. I have to feel what I write." She reconsidered after her beloved tomcat Nietzsche (seen in Mitchell's self-portrait on the cover of Taming the Tiger) ran away from home. "The grief that I felt in his absence coincided with the grief of the character in the movie," she says. Nietzsche, by her account, is quite a character himself. "I call him Man From Mars because he's a little lavender lion who looks like an alien and walks on his hind legs as an expression of affection for me," she says of the yellow-eyed Abyssinian mix. "He's a real fraidy-cat and very devoted to me. He's romantic but you can't snuggle him. He'd give me these deep, long looks and chew on my hair while I rubbed his head. The absence of that ritual left a big hole." He vanished after a spat. Incensed by the cat's habit of piddling on floors, Mitchell finally cracked, scolding ,"If you're going to act like an animal, you're going to live like one!" Then she grabbed him by the stump of his tail and scruff of his neck, held him at arm's length and marched him outdoors. He was too offended to return, she says. Night after night, Mitchell called him from her yard and anxiously waited. The song's delicate sounds mimic what she heard: the rustling of leaves, bird songs, the drone from a distant freeway. This love story has a happy ending. Mitchell relates, "It took me 17 days to write this song, and the night I finished it, my amazing little mancat appeared in a neighbor's yard and I retrieved him. That was kind of mystical. "When I found him, he just yelled at me, almost hyperventilating by telling me off. So I yelled back in his language, you know, 'Meow-meow-meow!' When I changed to coaxing tones, he stopped yelling and went belly up." By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 11:37:37 -0700 From: Mary Grace Valentinsson Subject: Birthday card stuff >>5. A bottle of Tequila and a carton of Lucky Strikes (or American Spirits). I really dislike this one. I can't understand furthering her addiction no matter how light-hearted the gift is meant to be. I like #16 the best, "A simple card......listing of city, state and country of JMDL members." MG ... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 13:51:44 -0500 From: Howard Motyl Subject: TTT ground zero NP: TTT H in H Ok, so I am like the other freakazoids who went out as soon as I could to get it. On sale at Borders, $12.99, and it is included in a big display of new releases and there are a lot of them there. Back by the bins, there is a little display of three of the CDs above her section. Now, my big question: I got Turb Indigo when it was first released and it was a cardboard folder instead of a jewel box. TTT is a jewel box. Is there cardboard packaging? Howard "Anytime you have the opportunity to accomplish something and you don't, you are wasting your time on this earth." Roberto Clemente ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 13:04:25 -0600 From: Brett Code Subject: lots and lots of TTT I went to HMV at 10 am, when it opened here in Calgary. While there wasn't a line up there were a few people waiting to pick it up. That HMV location had at least 50 copies ($16.99) in the New Releases rack (from which I purchased my fistful of copies for friends and relatives), was playing it at the time, and the clerk told me that they had a couple boxes of the CD in the back. Apparently, they're expecting pretty good sales here. Thanks for all the reviews; they're great. Brett np: My Best To You ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 15:23:25 EDT From: IVPAUL42@aol.com Subject: Re: (NJC) For your listening pleasure try........ In a message dated 9/29/98 1:17:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time, LRFye@aol.com writes: << > I will certainly try listening more to DJWD. Would that be "Don Juan's Weckless Daughter"? : ) >> No, but Joni gets very low rates on car insurance because she is Don Juan's Wreckless Daughter! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 15:30:37 EDT From: PMcfad@aol.com Subject: congratulations - lori / rob-evian / kakki y'all bounced around on that password thing this morning like pro's. no one went for blood. thanks for keeping things in a kindler gentler way. you've offered us all a good standard to maintain. pj ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 13:02:35 -0700 From: Steve Dulson Subject: Pun of the day >From the USA Today story: >Revered and imitated for the past 30 years, this lady of the canyon >refuses to rest on laurels Pun of the day? ############################################################## Steve Dulson Costa Mesa CA steve@psitech.com "The Tinker's Own" http://members.aol.com/tinkersown/home.html "Southern California Dulcimer Heritage" http://members.aol.com/scdulcimer/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 16:42:18 EDT From: Chilihead2@aol.com Subject: Jewel cases and other explosives J'ever notice that jewel cases are designed to explode on impact! When I had vinyl, I put them in plastic covers, put the vinyl in vinyl washers, and washed the vinyl before each use.All this during my disco dance daze! Now I am Don Juan's Reckless CD player. I line up 10 or 12 CDs to play at a clip and put them all away when I am done or when I am ready (whichever comes first and it's usually the latter). Don't know why? Maybe it's my direct attempt at not being anal retentive. Remember when you're a Libra you can fall either way or even in the middle. Unlike Scorpios, whose CDs will last a lifetime (They are almost invariably AR) , I'm onto a second CD of Madonna's "Ray of Light". But I danced the hell out of it! Hoping to get to Borders today for a copy of not only TTT but also Eudora Welty's "Losing Battles". Deb T., Mrs. C and I have adopted Eudora as a JMDLer. We are reading her "Collected Stories". I'm going swimming this sunny Tuesday and as my old college friend once said (and who now lives in Hilo, HI) "I love to go swimmin' with bow-legged wimmin". Which is just appropriate for my Popeye attitude since Rolling Stone panned our Joan as "eating spinach". I Yam what I Yam! "Dining in and eating out" tonight ;-) -Chili ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 17:14:33 -0400 From: Michael Yarbrough Subject: RE: (NJC) Jewel cases and other explosives Chilihead wrote: <<>> Hey, I'm the Libraest Libra I know (Libra sun, moon AND rising), and I compulsively alphabetize my CDs and ALWAYS put them away when I'm done. I also arrange discs chronologically within artists, albums first, then EPs, then singles. Otherwise I'm a slob, so I guess it balances out. :-) <<<"Dining in and eating out" tonight>>> Is this an _Erotica_ reference on the JMDL?!?! What a pleasant [and off-color] surprise. Colonel Sanders said it best... - --Michael ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 17:21:03 EDT From: LRFye@aol.com Subject: No TTT on San Antonio Radio I spent about half an hour on the phone with one of the popular deejays in San Antonio, who works for one of the two stations most likely to play Joni. His boss is a huge Joni fan and the two of them were looking at the USA Today articles that very minute. Although Tom is the music director, he has little say over what Magic 105 plays, other than to NOT play something that the label reps give him. He could not, for instance, play TTT if I took it to the studio because it would be "unsolicited." Tom patiently explained to me the reasons their station will probably not be playing anything from TTT: 1) Joni doesn't fit their format. (I disagreed with Tom on this; they play Jewel, Sarah, Alanis, Paula, Sheryl, etc. Tom's opinion is that Joni belongs on a classic rock station. Oh yeah, tell that to the folks who are playing ZZ Top and Led Zep!) 2) The record company did not give TTT to the station, because of reason 1), therefore they don't have it to play. (Tom did, however, offer to ask the label rep about it on Thursday.) I told Tom, "Austin's playing it." He asked which station; we then had a short discussion about the kind of music listeners who live in Austin, and whether I should buy a very big receiving antenna or just move there ... I could kick myself for not working on this sooner! I was hoping that Joni's own label would try to promote her this time around. Looks like it's going to be the same old sh*t, though. I did tell Tom about jm.com and jmdl.com ... naturally, he was quite surprised. ("500 people? You're kidding!") Well, perhaps Tom's boss will be joining us soon ... Lori, frustrated in San Antonio and wanting to win the lottery so she can buy her own damn radio station ... ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 15:35:06 -0600 From: Evian Subject: ain't no tigers in central saskatchewan either > Go ahead and try and buy the tiger in south georgia today. Go ahead. Just > try. > Oooooh, believe me, I know the feeling!!!! I was supposed to go back to Saskatoon today, but this morning I got a call that I had to meet with two students. No problem, I thought, I will just pick up TTT here... Well, let me tell you, it wasn't a fruitful shopping experience. I went to the largest record store here and couldn't find it on the new release shelf. So, I mosey on over to the "M" section, and they didn't even have Joni in there! Anyway, I accost a sales lady, asking her where exactly is was. She said "um, no, we didn't get it, and there is nothing here mentioning it" so then I said, kind of snappish, even though it wasn't her fault, "it was released today, go check". Well, she found it on her list but she wasn't getting any in so I ordered it. I then went to 2 other stores, and then got desperate and hit Walmart, etc. No one had it. The last store I went in was the icing on the cake. The little girl working there, with enough barettes on her head to probably give her brain damage from all the weight, LAUGHED when I asked for TTT!!! Her and her little coworker laughed and said "hehehe, nope". So, I am walking out of the store and she yells "we DID get the new Sheryl Crow". It was my turn to chuckle then and say "not even close!" So, I either have to wait til they get it in or run to Saskatoon this week... and Damn, I just know that Lead Balloon sounds even better on cd!!!! (Yes, I know, many of you don't like it, but it would have been a great first single in my opinion!) Pj, I share your pain.... did they have a trillion copies of the new Kiss cd too in all the stores you went to? Anyway, enjoy the cd sound of TTT.... Evian ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 16:46:43 -0500 From: Mark Domyancich Subject: I have my 'paws' on TTT! Hi everyone! 2:55PM today: Anxiousness rising... check pocket several times for $20 bill... bell rings! I gather all my books together, and make a running leap for the door. As I walk to my car, I ponder over the thought that I am actually going to witness a new Joni album! 3:05PM: I fly down to COOP. 3:15PM: I go into COOP and look for the new releases... and there it is! TTT! I first pick up the CD format, then pick up the tape, for inspection purposes only! ;~D The price? $17.99. Is this the regular price for a new release? The last CD I bought was For The Roses, and I can't remember how much that is. So, anyway, it came to $19 and some change. I leave the store with a big smile! 3:21PM-3:30PM: I simulatenously unwrap the CD with that annoying adhesive crap they put on the top while drive. Do not try this, adults! :) 3:31PM-4:15PM: I plug my headphones into my Mac and slowly go into a trance... So, my review, after all this blabeling? I'll just talk about the ones I like. - -Harlem in Havana-my second favorite song on TTT. I really like the crystal setting on the VG-8. And I like the speaker play at the beginning. - -Taming The Tiger-by far my favorite song on it. I played it last night on my acoustic and I like both versions. - -Stay In Touch-another beautiful song. The lyrics are pretty powerful. Face Lift-I like this song a lot better with Wayne's sax. I really like the instrumental part between the verses. So, if I could grade this on a scale from 1-10? 8. Happy listening! If you don't like the music, you'll like the paintings! NP-Lead Balloon (No comment!) ______________________________ | Mark Domyancich | | Harpua@revealed.net | | www.jmdl.com/guitar/mark | | home.revealed.net/Harpua | |____________________________| ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 17:50:48 EDT From: BH1248@aol.com Subject: TTT today I stopped at independent store #1 but they had already sold their 3 copies of TTT. "Guess I underestimated on that one," said the owner. So, since I can't leave a CD store without a purchase, I bought the new PJ Harvey. At indy store #2 they had a few copies of TTT so I scored one. The guy in line with me said "Wow! She has a new one?". I went into salespitch mode instinctively. :) Getting ready to crank it up here shortly! Kingpin (with charm to sway) NP: Beastie Boys, "Nasty Again" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 14:54:16 PDT From: "Don Rowe" Subject: TTT -- Daring to be Beautiful Okay, so I've now thoroughly wallpapered my brain with TTT. What immediately strikes me is Joni's obvious tactic of throwing away the "How to Write a Song" book. No hooks, no riffs, no grooves, no bridges jump off these tracks -- indeed, all of the familiar, conventional trappings have been deconstructed. Even the familiar, conventional trappings of Joni Mitchell songs. A daring thing to do. A thing that Joni makes succeed beautifully. The next thing that hit me is the crystal clear sonic footnotes Joni uses ... the ringing guitar that made us fall in love with Hejira on 'No Apologies' ... and there's the chord architecture from The Magdalene Laundries on 'Love Puts on A New Face' ... the 'Dream Flat Tires' vocal arranging on 'Lead Balloon' ... it's all there. So I think of this as the Joni album for joniphiles like us -- and again, made more beautiful by the references -- when you find them. Vocally, I haven't heard Joni feel her poetry, and deliver it with such honest conviction since "18 bucks went up in smoke ..." That may strike some as an overly-bold statment. But I think a few more times through 'My Best To You' or 'Face Lift' will bring around even the most hardened cynics. Okay, so now I have few words about the most frequently mentioned "problem children." -- "The VG8 makes the guitar sounds the same" -- No it doesn't. Joni has used the VG8 to create the world of TTT -- NOT a guitar. She's learned a new instrument for this one, and has mastered it. Or perhaps, as Yoda once said, Joni has rather "unlearned what she has learned." Yes, I think that's more to the point. "The boo-hoo line" -- Absolutley brilliant. 'Man From Mars' is a film-noir soundtrack to my ear. I mean, if you didn't know it was about her lost cat, you'd swear Robert Mitchum or Bogey was going to walk out of the fog and give it to you straight. Picking up the classic "boo-hoo" coined my Sammy Cahn fits right into this mix. "Peddle steel guitar" -- I honestly think this is a pun! Afterall, that's just what TTT does ... peddles a steel guitar! Finally -- I still have C&S, I've worn out 4 LPs and 2CDs of 'Hejira', my copies of TI, NRH and CMIS are barely less travelled. I'm pleased as punch to finally have this wonderful album in all it's daring beauty. Don Rowe ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 14:56:03 PDT From: "Don Rowe" Subject: Re: Pun of the day Steve writes ... >>From the USA Today story: > >>Revered and imitated for the past 30 years, this lady of the canyon >>refuses to rest on laurels > >Pun of the day? > I think the New Yorker's "Block That Metaphor" might be more like it! :-) Don Rowe ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 23:29:52 +0100 From: catman Subject: Re: (NJC) Jewel cases and other explosives The first few lines under Saggitarius in Linda Goodman's Sun Signs, say ' the saggitarian is the person standing in the centre of a room of people with his big foot stuck in his big mouth'! However, she goes on say how lovely we are as people-big hearts(as well as mouths) and have the unfortunate habit of being truthful. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 98 23:04:56 GMT From: kg@ibm.net (Kenny Grant) Subject: Re: TTT, HOSL and Norwegian connection Hi Morten, I don't know about Melody Maker, but in terms of Rolling Stone, they recently stated that after looking into this matter of HOSL as "worst album of the year" -- a myth perpetuated largely by Joni herself, it turned out that what they actually had to say back in '75 was that HOSL was worst album *title* of the year... -Kenny On 9/29/98 "morten feiring" wrote: There was some discussion on JMDL some time back about HOSL as worst album of the year according to, was it Rolling Stone? Well anyway, I remember back in the old days when I used to read some british rock music magazines: Sounds, New Musical Express and Melody Maker, I'm quite sure that Melody Maker voted HOSL the best album of the year! Can anyone confirm this? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 19:02:45 EDT From: RMuRocks@aol.com Subject: Got my TTT tttoday! Hey Gang, Just a quick note to mention that I picked up (3) copies of TTT today - I was lucky, because my "Mom & Pop's" shop also downloads to Soundscan every night. (I checked Wally - aren't U proud of me :-)) I bought the additional copies for my sisters for early Christmas presents, but then I find out that a co-worker is going through some bad emotional stuff. Now this particular lady is just as nice a person you'd ever want to meet, she's the Kakki of the east coast, as it were. Anyway, I gave her one of my TTT's and told her that Joni had seen me through some rough emotional storms and that it was only fair to share her gift with others. Sarah listened to it that afternoon, came to my desk and told me "Thanks, more than you'll ever know". I think TTT will be special to her for awhile. It was a good day... I'll write my review after more listens - the package is beautiful, the book chock full of paintings just barely fits in the cover, the coolest thing is the reproduction of the cat painting on the disc itself! Such gorgeous colors. Bob M. in SC ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 16:20:33 -0700 From: Phyliss Ward Subject: TTT Arrives! Joni on NPR I ordered my copy to be delivered today via 2 day Fed Ex from CDNow. Silly me, I thought that meant I'd have it before 11 AM. Noon comes 'round and I call - It could be as late as 7 PM! I had to run out anyway so I picked up a copy at my favorite small store - World Records. I just like to give the quality underdog my business, even for a few extra dollars. It was "on sale" for $13.99. The proprietor asked if I'd read any reviews and how they were. I said yes, and mostly awesome - wait till you hear the first track! He said he'd listen to it tonight. I drove around doing my errands and listening (going the long way) and I loved it! Really pleasantly surprised. It sounds much better than the tapes. Her voice is wonderful, so expressive! I also wish it was longer... My two faves are Harlem in Havana and Taming the Tiger right now. I've heard Crazy Cries so much, so many versions, I'm kind of overdosed, but I do love the arrangement. My second copy arrived at 3:30, it's still sealed... The coolest thing happened yesterday at pottery class where they all know my obsession and call me the Joni Mitchell Marketing Agent. Ella, a really nice woman in her 60's said she was listening to NPR and heard Joni sing Summertime. She said it was beautiful! Apparently it was during an interview and someone was saying how Joni grew up on Jazz and really had a Jazz voice. Anyone hear this interview? - -- Phyliss pward@lightspeed.net http://www.bodywise.com/consultants/bpward ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 19:14:24 -0500 From: Mark Domyancich Subject: Charging for TTT Hi everyone! Just outta curiousity, how much did everyone spend for TTT, not including tax or shipping? (I'm only wondering about USers). From what I have read, everyone has paid about $13.99. I have paid the most so far at $17.99-I hope the additional $4 goes to Joni, not the record place (And I didn't get treated very nicely when I went in there too!) :| NP-TTT, what else! :) ______________________________ | Mark Domyancich | | Harpua@revealed.net | | www.jmdl.com/guitar/mark | | home.revealed.net/Harpua | |____________________________| ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 19:10:09 -0600 From: Brett Code Subject: Joni and Bob in Toronto and Ottawa I just checked the Ticketmaster web site - www.ticketmaster.ca - and the tickets for the shows in Toronto and Ottawa go on sale on Friday, Oct 2 at 10 a.m. eastern time Toronto: Show date is October 29 (not the 28th as Wally had heard) at Maple Leaf Gardens (as hockey arena). Ticket Prices $59.50, $49.50 and $32.50 Ottawa: Show date is October 30 at the Corel Centre (also a hockey arena) $49.50 and $32.50 I'm going to go to the Toronto show, but I'll have trouble getting tickets because of the time zone difference. Anyone have any ideas as to how I get a chance at the early seats? Brett np: Facelift - TTT has given me a happiness facelift ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 21:06:18 EDT From: LRFye@aol.com Subject: Re: Amelia, vapor trails, fortune telling Howard writes about casting the I Ching with a friend: > And we get to one point in the process/interpretation and she starts talking about the > hexagram. WEll, immediately, the JM Lyric Encyclopedia in my head flipped open to > Amelia and the phrase > " . . . when I saw a big jet plane > leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain, > it was the hexagram of the heavens, > it was the strings of my guitar . . ." > > and it all made sense to me--especially in terms of what Hejira is all about--travelling and > looking for answers and trying to know her own future--and this is where the I Ching > comes into play. Pretty cool synchronicity, Howard! Back in December of last year, when the Sweet Bird discussion was happening, I wrote the following: - --- Another case of Joni synchronicity . . . I was watching the "Nothing Can Be Done" segment of the JMDL videos when I saw an I Ching hexagram etched (or painted) on Joni's guitar. I paused the video so I could get a better look, then found my I Ching references to learn what the hexagram represents. One reference calls the hexagram "The Traveler," and another calls it "The Stranger," and here is a bit from one of my books: "Your life is an odyssey . . . This is not an aimless, chancy wandering -- is the the movement of fire on a mountain which travels on an unrelentless pursuit of its own fuel, a search for its means of continuing existence . . . Perhaps you are a sexual nomad. Perhaps you wander in and out of relationships . . . Enlightenment for you is not a final revelation. It is never a complete experience . . ." And on it goes. - --- Joni is awesomely aware of herself as "traveler," it seems ... Lori San Antonio ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 20:33:03 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Isn't it Nice to Be Home Again-JT Hello Everybody, Happy TTT release day!!! Got home from Mississippi and we are dog tired. It took us 6 hours to do a 3 hour drive. I only shot about sixty "asshole drivers", mostly from Louisiana (but a couple of good old boys from Mississippi). I really need to get that M-16 mounted on the front of my car. The hell with driving defensively, I'm gonna start driving offensively. I always thought that if you drive like that, they would think you were crazy and stay out of your way.They say over a million people evacuated the NO area. Everything was ok here at home, all we had was down tree limbs and spanish moss all over the place. Mikey and some of the neighborhood kids helped me clear up the front and I got all of my toys down from safe keeping on the second floor. It is so exciting that today is the day and I really wanted to be a Tower today, but I guess God wanted me to go tomorrow for some reason so I am ok with that. Julian loves my TTT shirt. He points and say JOEnee----nice kitty kitty. He is so funny. He learned some new tunes on this trip: Stay by Dave Matthews and TTT by you know who. I am officially off the proverbial fence for NYC. I earned this weekend and by god I'm special. So look out Manhattan here I come. Thanks to those hot Chili's for providing safe haven and passages. One final thing for now, I forgot to tell everyone that last Thursday night on Louisiana Jukebox I ran a "bumper" promo of the TTT release. Reprise was kind enough to send me the colour artwork. It replays this Saturday in both Memphis and Cleveland if there are any listers or lurkers out there. I also am sending a copy to my very gracious hosts in Meridian, who are both Joni fans (remember my post on Mikey finding Court and Spark in the cabin). I guess this means I am claiming Queen and King of promotions for Kakki and myself, seeing how we are so ardent in our endeavors. (WATCHA SAY KAKKI???) Anyways, best wishes to all. Peace, Michael NP-Mikey and the Backstreet Boys ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 20:36:30 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: On the Road Again Robbert wrote: "After having seen our Joan at The Garden last month, I have decided to cross the Atlantic once again and do a little tour of Joni shows." Robbert- You are a maniac!! If I wasn't married, I would be on this trip with you. My wife is ready to hit the road now (and I don't mean WITH Joni). Oh to be young and single (ok screw the young part I'm doing just fine, BUT single)!!! Hope you have a wonderful time. I will settle for one more show in NYC for now. Best wishes, Michael ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 20:41:04 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: What's Cooking?? Colin wrote:"Lead Balloon-spotted dick and custard" Colin- Dare I ask?? Michael ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 22:30:42 -0400 From: Maggie McNally Subject: Re: It is the Gorgeous-ess Hi all, I just love this image of Marsha's. At 10:54 AM 9/29/98 -0600, you wrote: > > >Hey, Kakki and all, > >I have this fantasy of Joni being upstairs at Tower late last >night in that manager's booth where the floor of the store can >be viewed...she's puffing away on a ciggy, all nervous, wondering >if ANYONE in Los Angeles or in the world will care... >she watches you eagerly go over to her display....sees you all >jumping up and down like excited kids in a candy store... >she delights at your scarfing up multiple copies of her new baby... >she parties 'til dawn, happy in the knowledge others are partying >'til dawn, savoring her palette of listening pleasures... > >Marsha In the spirit of new release day -- I had a meeting out of the office, and after my meeting I walked down the road a piece (a detour, you know?) to Tower Records to buy TTT. Now, usually I do not shop at Tower, but rather at HMV in Harvard Square because they always have the best selection of Joni (true, true), but I wasn't sure if they were counted in that bean-counting thing for measuring sales, so I went to Tower. They had a "new releases" section and it was there that I found, like, five TTTs for sale. I bought three. One for work. One for home. One for a gift. It was expensive ($13.95), or I would have bought more. I love the packaging, and I love the music. Lead Balloon is a favorite of mine -- go figure! Love the whole album, but the lyrics of LB and TTT are currently in an endless loop in my mind's ear. I wake up in the middle of the night and the line, "an angry man's just an angry man/ an angry woman - -- Bitch!" keeps ringing. That, and remembering Marian wondering if our Joni is becoming a feminist, while we sat in my car at the airport waiting for Michael Paz to arrive. ;-) Anyway, nice to share this new c.d. experience with you all. Strange to know all the songs, but no regret. So much more gained than lost. Best, Maggie > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 22:42:34 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: An Open Letter To Reprise Records Thanks for everything that you folks have done for Joni Mitchell during the past year. Ever since she was inducted into Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she's practically a household symbol of creativity. We've seen stories about Joni finding her daughter in nearly every type of media. Her name has been popping up in published photos of parties. Those things don't happen by accident. And so it is on this, the release day in the USA of Taming The Tiger, that I thank you folks at Reprise for everything you have done to bring this wonderfully gifted, multi-faceted artist to the world. - -- All the best, Jim L'Hommedieu ** Get well Wally! ** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 22:40:48 EDT From: IVPAUL42@aol.com Subject: Re: Charging for TTT In a message dated 9/29/98 8:16:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Harpua@revealed.net writes: << I have paid the most so far at $17.99-I hope the additional $4 goes to Joni, not the record place (And I didn't get treated very nicely when I went in there too!) :| >> You should go back to the music store and get your $4 worth, because it's extremely unlikely that the extra money went anywhere but their pockets. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 21:52:54 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Goodies? Marsha wrote:"I have this fantasy of Joni being upstairs at Tower late last night in that manager's booth where the floor of the store can be viewed...she's puffing away on a ciggy, all nervous, wondering if ANYONE in Los Angeles or in the world will care... she watches you eagerly go over to her display....sees you all jumping up and down like excited kids in a candy store... she delights at your scarfing up multiple copies of her new baby... she parties 'til dawn, happy in the knowledge others are partying 'til dawn, savoring her palette of listening pleasures..." Hey Marsha- Have you been in the doctors goody bag again?? Still haveing visions of you and Kakki lurking in someones neighbourhood. Love Michael ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 22:00:26 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Astrid (NJC) Hey Rob that's me up on the credits. I don't know if Kenny forwarded my message in hiatus (mississippi) to you or not, but I did a bit of work with Astrid while she was here last year. I got Malcolm a Peavey endorsement in the process (coincidentaly with my hosts up in Meridian Mississippi land of Peavey Electronics) I also loaned them a few of my mics for the recording session. She was a really cool lady and I enjoyed visiting with her, And liked what I heard of her stuff in the very early stages of the session.I will have to run out and get her record, I totally had forgotten about those sessions. My friend Bill Dillon was suppose to do some tracks on that record ( as he did on almost all of Fumbling Towards Ecstacy and a couple of Joni's NRH & TI), but I think it might not have worked out. I have to check it out anyway. Thanks for reminding me though. Off to Tower, Michael ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 20:16:17 -0700 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: Goodies? Michael wrote: >Hey Marsha- >Have you been in the doctors goody bag again?? Still haveing >visions of you and Kakki lurking in someones neighbourhood. Funny you should mention this - last night while I was in the Tower parking lot sharing a smoke with Joni, she laughingly told me that the Wanted posters of Marsha and I are still up in the front office of the Bel Air Patrol headquarters! Ah, notoriety, I mean,...celebrity..... Kakki ;-D ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 98 20:29:35 -0700 From: Wally Breese Subject: Dates Hi folks, I hope you're all enjoying Joni's new album Taming The Tiger. I feel it'll be next year's winner of the Grammy for Best Album. Here's some additional exciting news- new concert dates with Dylan! Details soon... November 2, 1998 Syracuse, New York--(Monday) Onondaga County War Memorial Arena November 3, 1998 Rochester, New York--(Tuesday) Rochester War Memorial November 5, 1998 College Park, Maryland--(Thursday) Cole Field House November 9, 1998 Nashville, Tennessee--(Monday) Nashville Arena November 10, 1998 Atlanta, Georgia--(Tuesday) TBA November 12, 1998 Orlando, Florida --(Thursday) Orlando Arena November 13, 1998 Tampa, Florida --(Friday) The Sun Dome November 14, 1998 Sunrise, Florida --(Saturday) National Car Rental Center Later, Wally The Joni Mitchell Homepage http://www.JoniMitchell.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 23:27:06 EDT From: LRFye@aol.com Subject: Re: Charging for TTT Mark D. wrote: > Just outta curiousity, how much did everyone spend for TTT, not including tax or shipping? $17.99 at Blockbuster in San Antonio ... AND the cd I bought was the ONE and ONLY copy that stored had ordered!!! So I guess it's a good thing I didn't go in there intending to buy three ... I gave it to my best friend Vanessa, who was planning to wait until a copy came into the used bookstore she manages ... she was thrilled, of course! My own copy should arrive from CDNow tomorrow (I hope!) ... Lori San Antonio ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V3 #381 ************************** Don't forget about these ongoing projects: FAQ Project: Help compile the JMDL FAQ. Do you have mailing list-related questions? -send them to Trivia Project: Send your Joni trivia questions and/or answers to Today in History Project: Know of a date-specific Joni fact? -send it to ------- Post messages to the list at Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe joni-digest" to ------- Siquomb, isn't she?