From: les@jmdl.com (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V4 #96 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk JMDL Digest Friday, February 26 1999 Volume 04 : Number 096 The Song and Album Voting Booths are open again! Cast your votes by clicking the links at http://www.jmdl.com/gallery username: jimdle password: siquomb ------- The Official Joni Mitchell Homepage is maintained by Wally Breese at http://www.jonimitchell.com 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: -------- JC? Joni pic in Denver's "Westword" [Kate Tarasenko ] Grammy's, NJC (Shania Twain's outfit) [Anne Madden ] Joni? pic in Denver's "Westword" [Kate Tarasenko ] Joni? pic in Denver's "Westword" [Kate Tarasenko ] RE: Night Ride Home- (jc) [Don Sloan ] Fav Concerts (SJC) [Don Sloan ] Joni Gerswin ["Brian S. Moss" ] Re: JONI IN AUSTRALIA [Gerald McNamara ] Re: Night Ride Home- (jc) ["Kakki" ] Re: Joni? pic in Denver's "Westword" ["Davina Greenstein" ] Night Ride Home [Kate ] First time[njc] ["Brian S. Moss" ] Re: Night Ride Home- (jc) [Ken Corral ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 20:17:20 +0000 From: Kate Tarasenko Subject: JC? Joni pic in Denver's "Westword" Howdy to the Denver-area jmdlers, including Les -- Have you guys seen the recent issue of "Westword" (Feb. 25th to March 3rd)? (For you out-of-staters, this is a weekly newspaper/mag whose writing is very acerbic, and whose stories are controversial and in-depth, and they don't shy away from profanity, neither. Every major city seems to have a mag of this ilk.) Anyway, have you seen the Kenny Be comic on page four? It's about Mayor Webb's deal to renovate Red Rocks Amphitheater (for $22 mil) and to flash lighted corporate logos on the lovely red rocks surrounding the theater. One of the frames has a picture of a singer on one of those jumbo-trons (replete with stock quotes and sports scores, ala CNN). Doesn't it look like it's supposed to be Joni? It would cap off the joke nicely, as in 'paved paradise, put up a parking lot.' Can I get an amen, fellow Coloradans? (Mayor Webb makes the schwag list for this one, but who can argue with more ladies' restrooms???) Kate ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 22:45:45 -0500 From: Anne Madden Subject: Grammy's, NJC (Shania Twain's outfit) I was delighted Lucinda Williams won a Grammy but wish it had been in the televised portion of the show. Can't figure out why an award such as the musical comedy album (or whatever it was called) won by Carl Reiner and his buddy was even televised?? I'm not a big Celine fan but at least she looked classy as did Lauryn Hill and even Madonna (Ray of Light is a great album) but what was with Shania Twain and the outfit she was almost wearing! I'm sure when she came out on stage a lot of female artists just cringed. Someone somewhere is giving her brutal advice! Anne ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 21:45:11 +0000 From: Kate Tarasenko Subject: Joni? pic in Denver's "Westword" Found the Kenny Be comic, with what appears to be Joni's likeness, on the Web. You be the judge: http://www.westword.com/1996/current/worstcase.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 21:49:40 +0000 From: Kate Tarasenko Subject: Joni? pic in Denver's "Westword" P.S. I saw Joni for the first time at Red Rocks. I think it was 1982 or '83. Anyone else see this show? P.P.S. I snuck a 35mm Canon and two lenses into the concert, and I STILL have the UNdeveloped B/W film in their canisters from this event! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 20:55:03 -0800 From: Don Sloan Subject: RE: Night Ride Home- (jc) patrick leader asked: > i'd love to hear how night ride home hit the longest-term joni freaks, the > one's who've bought every album on release day. was it a relief after the > '80s albums? was it still overproduced? had her voice deteriorated too > much? it came into my life right when it was released and was certainly a > favorite, but i wasn't necessarily grabbing every joni at the time. and, > production-head me, i'd loved (and still do) chalkmark. I'll admit to having been out-of (versus in-to) most Joni offerings for a number of years when I heard Night Ride Home on the radio at work. I was deep into something or other and caught myself thinking, "Hey, that sounds like Joni!" Of course it was and I went out and bought the CD that afternoon. Loved almost all of it, with NRH, Come In From The Cold and Two Grey Rooms rating as three of my all-time favorite Joni recordings. Don ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 21:03:19 -0800 From: Don Sloan Subject: Fav Concerts (SJC) Having lived in the relative boonies much of my life I haven't been to very many concerts over the years, but these are among the most memorable ones: Of course Joni at the Warners Studio in Burbank last May - at the top! Moody Blues and Poco / Long Beach Auditorium / Summer of '70 Buddy Rich at The Whiskey / 1969 Frank Sinatra (backed by Buddy Rich) at Universal Amphitheater / 1984 Don ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 00:24:58 -0500 From: "Brian S. Moss" Subject: Joni Gerswin Greetings: Firstly, Thanks to the many of you who made me and my reminisences welcome to the list. Now, help me out...I have several times heard on the Detroit NPR station[of course] Joni singing Gerswin's "Summertime". Was this part of a Project or has she recorded an album[disc,whatever] of standards. I was never so pleased as when Willie Nelson did his "Stardust" collection. I know, I know most folks can't stand his voice; but no one[no one]can phrase a song as well. OK, I guess you would have to say Sinatra can. It can be really exciting when a very talented performer decides to tackle some of the best from the past. I doubt that Joni has done this yet, seems to be something to be saved for later in one's career. but would love to hear her take on many of the 'old standards'. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 5:34:05 UTC From: Gerald McNamara Subject: Re: JONI IN AUSTRALIA Sarah wrote: >I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if Joni Mitchell had ever toured/vised Australia or how I could find out if she was ever going to perform down here. As a (self-titled) budding lyrics writer, Joni has had a huge impact on my writing. I only discovered her about five years ago as she is by no mean's mainstream in Australia (especially in the under 25's set!). Joni has made one tour of Australia. It was in 1983, part of the WTRF world tour. I have an audio tape of her show at the Sydney Opera House and a video-tape-in-my-head of her show at The Palais, Melbourne (it's starting to fade, though). I'll never forget the excitement as the house lights went down and the curtains opened to the sound of that all-electric rock band launching into "Free Man In Paris". There was Joni, centre-stage, with a Les Paul. The stage back-drop was a huge sheet featuring a painting by Joni- a hinterland, mountains leading down to the seaside (it could have been California, or Melbourne !) She narrowly escaped disaster that night in the Melbourne show. She'd been sitting down at a stool, stage right, playing "Case Of You" with dulcimer. After she stood up and moved to the mike at centre-stage for the next song, a lighting stand tipped over, crashing to the floor right where she'd been sitting. (Maybe that's why Joni's never been back !) I'm not giving up hope of a second coming. Once per century would do me. -Gerald in Melbourne ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 21:28:54 -0800 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: Night Ride Home- (jc) Patrick wrote: >i'd love to hear how night ride home hit the longest-term joni freaks, the >one's who've bought every album on release day. was it a relief after the >'80s albums? was it still overproduced? had her voice deteriorated too >much? it came into my life right when it was released and was certainly a >favorite, but i wasn't necessarily grabbing every joni at the time. and, >production-head me, i'd loved (and still do) chalkmark. I've written about my NRH experience here before but it's worth a repeat rave. With the exception of DED, I bought every Joni as soon as they came out all the way back to STAS but had no clue that Joni had released this new album. I was in gridlock traffic one afternoon on the Hollywood freeway when Night Ride Home came on the radio. After progressive sighs on listening to Joni's work in the 80s, (which I did not dislike, but felt had too much Klein influence), I was happily startled and thinking that she had somehow returned to the "true" Joni in voice and style. As soon as I could, I crawled off the next offramp, found the nearest record store, bought the tape and listened to the whole thing right there in the car. I had not had that sense of immediate love in a long time. And I love it totally, even Ray's Dad's Cadillac. I don't mean to knock Klein at all - and respect, enjoy and don't fault her 80s work, but I always felt it was not entirely her true voice or essence. NRH brought it back. Interesting also, to think that she made NRH around the time she was breaking up with Klein. Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 22:49:19 -0800 From: "Davina Greenstein" Subject: Re: Joni? pic in Denver's "Westword" Kate Wrote: Found the Kenny Be comic, with what appears to be Joni's likeness, on the Web. You be the judge: The aforementioned paragraph above the joni big screen caricature says something about a "park paved over" to help aging boomers get to their seats....I'm sure it's joni.... Davina - -----Original Message----- From: Kate Tarasenko To: joni@smoe.org Date: Thursday, February 25, 1999 8:53 PM Subject: Joni? pic in Denver's "Westword" >Found the Kenny Be comic, with what appears to be Joni's likeness, on >the Web. You be the judge: >http://www.westword.com/1996/current/worstcase.html > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 00:52:25 -0600 From: evian Subject: Grammys > I think I'm boycotting next year. It was too frustrating. I was just > > wondering if anyone else feels like I do... > Well, the Grammys are usually such a joke, that I never take them seriously. As for this year, it was a little more hopeful than past years. True, a lot of crap was honoured, and the way they had it set up was so stupid... You didn't know what award was coming next, or what award wasn't going to be aired. However, being a big ole diehard Rosie fan, I enjoyed her, although I was very disappointed with the minimal involvement she seemed to have had in the show. Remember the year Joni won for TI and Ellen was hosting? Ellen had me in stitches that night (and I derrived such evil joy as Mariah kept losing to Alanis and pouted). However, Rosie is waaaaaaay better than whoever did them last year... was it Kelsey Grammar? For the awards, I was sorta happy with who won what... I could have puked with Celine winning, but I expected it. However, I was jumping up and down when Lauryn won. I really think that her album is the best thing I have heard in years. As for Ray of Light, it's phenomenal too, and well deserved. And Sheryl Crow... damn, I don't care what people say, she gets better and better and better... Well deserved. I was also happy Alanis won. But, tell me this... couldn't you all have just kicked Whitney Houston in the ass with her constant "Amen's"???? It was hard to pay attention to Lauryn with Whitney hooting and hollering. Also, Celine REALLY REALLY REALLY grates on my nerves, but I still have to admit that I love to hear her sing... just think what she could do with her voice if she had a mind of her own, instead of doing all that drivel that ole gramps probably suggests? All in all, the Grammy's were what I expected, but they leaned towards the hopeful. Evian np: Plimsouls Plus ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 00:29:47 From: Kate Subject: Night Ride Home I got Night Ride Home when my son, Emil, was three years old. We both fell in love with it and he has been a die-hard Joni-phile with me ever since. He's ten now. Kate au Nord, Joni-lover for twenty-five years ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 02:08:02 -0500 From: "Brian S. Moss" Subject: First time[njc] Greetings: I realize that this thread has faded, but by the time I catch up on reading I rarely have time to post. It was my 21st birthday and as usual I was readying the Cellar for another weekend. The weekend's entertainer[who shall remain nameless] was in his room at the Harrington Hotel across the street. The Harrington was a relic of days gone by, but they would house my entertainers for $23/night. It was convenient and within my budget. Chuck Mitchell once remarked that the Hotels' postcard should have "Bonnie and Clyde slept here" printed across it. Anyway, I had gone through all of my opening preparations and stopped upstairs at the Alibi Club for my first[free] beer, opened the doors, checked on the kitchen[soft drinks and chips] and tasted the 60 cup percolator of 'eight 'o clock' coffee and headed across the street to get the nights entertainment from his cubical at the Harrington. When I arrived at his room, he informed me that he would be ready as soon as he 'tuned'up. I assumed he meant his guitar, but no, if was his head he was reefering[sorry] to. Care to join me he asked. Sure said I still thinking he was preparing his sets. It'll be just a few minutes longer, said he, it's still drying. Now, I was completely lost. He noticed my confusion and pointed to the lamp shade....christ, just what had I hired for this night. This particular performer had worked here in the past and I knew him to be excellent, but he was making absolutely no sense. Realizing that I hadn't a clue what he was talking about,he asked me 'have you ever smoked pot'? Well,I knew what it was, although it wasn't until after I graduated High School that I'd even heard of Marijuana. I said no I haven't. Why Not? I guess I've never had the opportunity. There followed a lengthy discussion that worked its way from pot to mushrooms to LSD. Okay,he says, its dry now, and we proceeded to pass the joint. Already a smoker, the rudiments were natural. Inhale deeper and hold it longer were my instructions. Sure. no problem.and we talked and we talked and wetalked........Finally a knock on the door and my kitchen manager hollers "hey, we got a full house and the set should have started 15 minutes ago". We hurried across to the club and I must say both he and I were brilliant that night. I have always heard many people remark that they never got high the first time they smoked the stuff...that was not MY experience. Later I found out why. The reason the joint was drying on the lamp shade was it was soaked in Paregoric[sp], an opium derivative, and what was then known as an OJ[opium joint]. I should now tell you that I never smoked the stuff that I loving refer to as 'nonsense' ever again. Or perhaps that I didn't inhale, but..... keep smilin'.......brian ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 23:41:57 -0800 From: Ken Corral Subject: Re: Night Ride Home- (jc) Patrick wrote: << i'd love to hear how night ride home hit the longest-term joni freaks, the one's who've bought every album on release day. was it a relief after the '80s albums? was it still overproduced? had her voice deteriorated too much? >> Hi Patrick! The two weeks prior to the release of NRH Chris Douridas had been squeezing out a track every day or two on his show "Morning Becomes Eclectic." He was really excited about it and I remember I got most of the songs on tape (except "Ray's Dad's Cadillac and "The Windfall" .) I put together a tape with this haphazard sequence to it, complete with segues into other non-Joni songs and voice-overs. When I got the CD, hearing it with her sequencing was a bit of an adjustment. I remember I had "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" first on my tape because it was my absolute favorite. First of all, there was the FACT of it. That Joni would pick this poem to adapt. We've talked about this on the list before, but reading Joan Didion's collection of essays by the same name had been so pivotal for me as a 23 year old that I had this kind of a visceral reaction to hearing what Joni did with it. On the whole, I do remember feeling like NRH was a return for her. And the voice? The changes in her voice have just never bothered me. Since I didn't start listening to Joni until after the first few albums, my attachment to her "flutey and vanilla fresh" voice was never that great. I'm always fascinated by technical discussions of the voice but it seems like thickening vocal chords and loss of range are beside the point. I believe you commented at one of the May SoCal shows re: her voice and development, "She's something else now." And you're right. KenC- ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V4 #96 ************************* There is now a JMDL tape trading list. Interested traders can get more details at http://www.jmdl.com/trading ------- JoniFest 1999 is coming! Reserve your spot with a $25 fee. Send a blank message to info-jonifest1999@jmdl.com for more info. ------- The Official 1998 Joni Mitchell Internet Community Shirts are available now. Go to http://www.jmdl.com/ for all the details. ------- Don't forget about these ongoing projects: FAQ Project: Help compile the JMDL FAQ. 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