From: les@jmdl.com (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V4 #120 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk JMDL Digest Wednesday, March 17 1999 Volume 04 : Number 120 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 http://jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Painting with Words & Music (again) ["Phil Klein" ] Re: Misunderstanding (NJC) [Mark-n-Travis ] Re[2]: Possibly, All of the Above (NJC) [Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com] Re: How Do YOu Stop? [Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com] Re: How Do YOu Stop? [TerryM2442@aol.com] VLJC Steve's back... [Steve Dulson ] Re: The A.D.D. Misunderstanding [Randy Remote ] Re: love or money [Strummed@aol.com] Misinterpreted Lyric Confessions [Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com] Re: This and that (Hejira) ["John Wasak" ] Re: love or money [Strummed@aol.com] Re: How Do YOu Stop? [Strummed@aol.com] Re: This and that (Hejira) [IVPAUL42@aol.com] This and that [John.Mitchell@ascend.com] [none] ["maria sharpe" ] This and that [John.Mitchell@ascend.com] This and that [John.Mitchell@ascend.com] re: (NJC) Tinky Winky ["Sarah Whitaker (ADC Administration)" ] Re: This and that/Hejira [dsk ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 10:21:49 GMT From: "Phil Klein" Subject: Painting with Words & Music (again) I mentioned recently that I was disappointed about the lack of clarity in the vocals on this video. So I took it back to HMV and changed it. The vocals on the replacement copy were fine, but the new tape had loads of "drop outs", and in places the sound was briefly distorted, you know that kind of oscillating pitch thing like you get when an LP is warped. So, back to HMV, and the third copy seems fine. Just a warning then - if you are not satisfied with the quality of the tape, take it back - it ain't supposed to sound like that!! Phil P.S. I'm not sure what they do with the reject copies - being naturally suspiscious I imagine they just put them back on the shelf, but I hope I'm wrong. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 06:04:43 EST From: CarltonCT@aol.com Subject: love or money As a writer, I had to say something on the thread about art and money. Real artists do it because they have to, they want to, they are most alive when they create. What they deserve financially is a share of the profits that businessmen make from them, if profits are to be made. There's nothing noble about creating your art, and having it appreciated by the largest number of people, and then letting all the profits go to the promoters and businessmen and other non-artists in order to prove your pureness. The life of an artist is a very risky one (I can assure you) and though some people are obscenely wealthy, most of us are not, and often we endure years of struggle and poverty before enjoying some financial success. Some of us never make it, but keep at it anyway. Some of us have a period of time which is ours, but then it evaporates and we go back to the regular world and jobs like bartending. It's a hard life that involves sacrifice, so artists should be compensated when the thing they worked so hard on succeeds and makes money for others who had little to do with the actual creation. I have a bunch of friends who are young doctors and I see what they go through -- the sacrifice is enormous. All those years of schooling, and then internships, etc. Medical care should be available to everyone, but I identify with doctors and see why they should be compensated for all their hard work and training with good salaries. While some people enjoy relaxing and watching television, others are hard at work, isolated, as they pound out a novel, forge a new song, paint a picture etc. I've heard Joni say that she would be "okay" financially, so she doesn't need to make music, and apparently her latest albums have not turned a profit. I think she paints because she "has to", and if she had been a famous painter, she would make music because she "had to". It's an irony, but people who set out to write commercial stuff are usually bad at it, and it doesn't sell. Popular authors (and musicians and painters) who are too commercial to be considered serious artists are usually men and women who are making a very serious effort to entertain. They usually create the kinds of things they themselves want to hear and read and see and their fans can tell when they are just churning it out for bucks. Artists want appreciation for their efforts, and the plain truth is that one very nice form of validation is money. A real artist really will keep on playing 'for free' but he keeps on playing should he get rich too. He can't play at all if he has no income. I can't fault a woman of modest background from the remote plains of Canada making sure she just gets her fair share of money from the record companies who rake in the truly obscene profits. You Turn Me On may have been calculated to be a hit, but it's still a great song. Once you've been poor, you live in fear of being poor again. We would all like to make money doing the things we love. And I'm glad someone else could admit they thought Joni was dribbling on the cover of Blue. Clark NP: Imagined Oceans ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:01:16 EST From: TerryM2442@aol.com Subject: Re: Misunderstanding (NJC) In a message dated 3/15/99 11:15:53 AM Eastern Standard Time, Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com writes: << I thought it referred to the Consolidation of A&M, Polygram, Island, etc. that's tossing a lot of artists out on the streets... >> And I didn't see where the attention deficit disorder part made any sense. Terry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:19:59 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com Subject: Re[2]: This and that Scott responded about Hejira: <> Just to dovetail onto Scott's excellent summary, a lot of the brilliance of Hejira comes with life experience. John, I'm not sure how old you are, probably 35-45 like the majority of us. (I'm 41) My point about age is that Hejira grows so much more significant with age. The first time I heard; "In our possessive couplings, so much could not be expressed, So now I am returning to myself, these things that you and I suppressed." I appreciated the poetry when I first heard it at age 18 but I didn't appreciate the emotional depth of not just this line but the whole record. I played the song Hejira for my 17-18 year old Sunday School class last year, introducing it as the most complete song on the finest album ever made. Maybe I over-hyped it as far as they were concerned, but I could tell that the song meant nothing to them as they had very little canvas of life experience to apply it to. My hope is that they'll come back to it later and rediscover the grandeur of it. Hejira is like a little goldmine; you can walk away with a few gems or you can keep digging over a long period of time and continue to get richer & richer. Bob NP: The Alarm "Knife Edge" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 06:34:27 -0800 From: Louis Lynch Subject: RE: Snippy Hi! Came back to read the list after a brief road trip. The conversation on "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" amused me. For years, this has been one of my all-time favorite songs. I play it a lot at my gigs (on the harp, it sounds real cool), and I always introduce it as the "perfect" pop song, with everything that a real pop song needs. I had never heard that Joni wrote the song on David Geffen's instructions to produce "a hit," but if it is true, then she overachieved. I still believe it's one of the most perfect pop songs in the world, and every time I hear it, it still "tickles" me. For what it's worth... Harper Lou ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 06:45:04 -0800 From: Mark-n-Travis Subject: Re: Misunderstanding (NJC) TerryM2442@aol.com wrote: > > In a message dated 3/15/99 11:15:53 AM Eastern Standard Time, > Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com writes: > > << I thought it referred to the Consolidation of A&M, Polygram, Island, > etc. that's tossing a lot of artists out on the streets... >> > > And I didn't see where the attention deficit disorder part made any sense. Me either. Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:47:41 EST From: MDESTE1@aol.com Subject: Re: love or money You are leaving out one factor of importance. Call it the "fame assistance" factor. How about the fact that it is the promoter who takes the huge risk in many cases of producing the show, venue, league, or tour etc etc. Once someone becomes successful is it truly only because of their art or is it because their art was publicized, promoted, and crowbarred into the major markets ? Thereby reaching an audience who "loved" it. AFTER which they had a following. Would we have known about Joni Mitchell if not for her recording contracts. I have known some absolutely mindblowing musicians and some fantastic songwriters who never became anything because they never got the push. I just heard John Mellencamp whining on VH-1 about how and I quote: "the record company could only promote the album to number 48, they really let us down". I immediately said to myself, is it the company John or is it your art that only got the record to number 48 ?? No one can have it both ways. I remember the record company putting together a 90 million dollar promotional campaign for a totally established and famous artist new record while the clubs were making my bands actually pay for (to resell) the tickets to their performances. They not only didnt get paid they had to sell their own tickets so they could get a piece of the bar tab as payment for their show. So who isnt "ripping off" the artists or is it just a case where everyone in the pool is getting wet. Once you get into the music "business' it becomes pretty clear that the art angle is not what drives the wagon. marcel deste. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 06:48:30 PST From: "Don Rowe" Subject: The A.D.D. Misunderstanding I think the "eight year old with an attention deficit disorder" comment dovetails into the lines of TTT quite nicely ... "it's hip, it's hot, the whole thing's gotten ... boring!" I think this has to do with the industry's "star maker machinery", that creates and feeds on fleeting, ephemeral trends and gimmickery rather than supporting substantive work for the long haul. Which is another way of saying that for every Joni Mitchell, there are dozens of Brittany Spears, Tiffanys, Debbie Gibsons, Brandys/Monicas, Spice Girls, Go-Gos, Bangles, New Kids on the Blocks, Backstreet Boys, Big Bad Voodoo Daddies, Vanillas Ices, Milli Vanillis, Shelia Es, Sheena Eastons, Ushers, Jewels, Flocks of Seagulls, Mister Misters, Toni Basils, Dexies Midnight Runners, Men at Works, Peter Framptons ... you get the picture. Don Rowe Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:46:43 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com Subject: Re[2]: Possibly, All of the Above (NJC) Kakki writes: <> Ok, so I didn't get all the corporate stuff straight, but my point was that with A&M going away as a result of the consolidation, folks like Sting & Suzanne Vega have to get new deals. That might not be bad for them, but a lot of other smaller artists are going to suffer. And durn yer hide, now you gave me a craving for chocolate!! :~D <> And anyway, I think your explanation here is the best one yet! Bob ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:57:49 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com Subject: Re: How Do YOu Stop? Jen writes: <> Jen, I don't see in the context of the song where any "pro-life" stance is implied; the baby follows a train, the driving rain, ripening corn, and is just used as an example of something that's going to be inevitable. I see the image as the baby about to emerge from the womb, and no matter what, it's coming out, so get that catcher's mitt ready! :~) Really though, it's not a good choice for a lyric, any mother that's lost a child before birth is not going to be real receptive to that metaphor. Maybe the writer should have said "the coming of the morn", "the warmth of Miles' horn", "the wrath of a woman's scorn", "Clinton's perjury suborned", "Underwear from being worn", just to name a few!! :~D As far as Joni's opinion on abortion, I dunno, so I'll pass on that one... Bob NP: The Alarm, "Fly Away" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 11:28:23 EST From: TerryM2442@aol.com Subject: Re: How Do YOu Stop? In a message dated 3/16/99 12:34:43 AM Eastern Standard Time, Anayajay@aol.com writes: << I realize Joni didn't write "How Do You Stop?" but does the line... "how do you stop a baby being born...?" Does this exert a pro-life stance? >> I've always thought that it meant that it is a natural act that can't be stopped, like ripening corn, driving rain. Personally, I don't see it as an opinion on abortion at all. Terry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 08:33:04 -0700 From: Steve Dulson Subject: VLJC Steve's back... Hello friends! Had a great time driving across the burning desert - SEVEN white vapor trails were the most we ever spotted at one time, between Flagstaff and the New Mexican border. The Folk Alliance conference in Albuquerque was great...saw 46 different acts in 4 days (I will have to try harder next year in Cleveland!), including Peggy Seeger (Ewan MacColl's widow and, I think, Kirsty's mom?).Missed occasional Joni- collaborator Eric Andersen (so much music, so little time). Spotted some interesting Joni photos that I will follow up on. On our way home spent a delightful evening with jmdlers Catherine and Tom Turley outside Phoenix (that was GOOD barbecue!) and their charming daughter Kellen. Got back home to launch right into the Tinkers' busy season, St. Paddy's week, so have been reading the list for the last week, but toooooo busy to post. Best to all! ############################################################## 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/ "The Living Tradition Concert Series" (Website soon!) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:31:36 -0800 From: Randy Remote Subject: Re: The A.D.D. Misunderstanding Don Rowe wrote: > I think the "eight year old with an attention deficit disorder" comment > dovetails into the lines of TTT quite nicely ... "it's hip, it's hot, > the whole thing's gotten ... boring!" It's all about demographics, man....... RR, former Bangles fan ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 13:19:12 EST From: Strummed@aol.com Subject: Re: love or money EXCELLENT. BRAVO!! WELL SAID. The artists, she, whoever didn't make the rules but like the rest of us have to play by them. the definition of a successfull musician is a musician who can support themselves entirely upon their music. and does it really matter if joni says she's a painter 1st? really ? Chri$. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:56:31 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@fluordaniel.com Subject: Misinterpreted Lyric Confessions Lisa's enquiring mind wants to know: <> For whatever reason, I never really studied the lyrics to HOSL like I did the others that I sang along with, so I had some mis-steps. To this day, I still have to strain my brain to sing the right words. All of them occur in "In France...". It may be that I heard the tune a lot on the radio before I picked up the LP so I had already imprinted these wrong-o's: "Amour, Mama, not cheek display" (in other words, it was *real* kissin', not just some superficial cheek thing) "While he's racking up his switchblade" Instead of "Free Play". I sang it but had no idea what it meant. "Lead Foot Melvin" was always "Liquid Melvin", drinking and driving I suppose. Bob, never afraid to admit his own stupidity... NP: Phil Collins "Everyday" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:46:59 -0500 From: "John Wasak" Subject: Re: This and that (Hejira) John.Mitchell@ascend.com wrote: >Now, would somebody please tell me what the fascination with Hejira is? I >have listened to it maybe 10 times now and am still unimpressed. >>> Unimpressed which way? Musically? Lyrically? Both? I've listened to HEJIRA hundreds of times since it came out and remain very much impressed. As for the fascination. It would kind of be like if, oh, let's say, ......I liked pepperoni on my pizza and you on the other hand preferred plain cheese, nothing else. One day you and I decide to go out for lunch down to the local pizza parlor. I order a slice of pepperoni pizza, you look at me and say, "Geez, how can you eat that stuff on your pizza?" and I reply, "Hey, I like it ,OK?" John Wasak - ------------------------------------- John Wasak Photography http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/6026 - ------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:30:16 EST From: Strummed@aol.com Subject: Re: love or money on the melencamp thread. and for that matter any artists new work, also is the intangible of home copying. whereas there would be 10 people buying a new realese and a couple people copying the work. i'd wager to say the ratio is more likely to be 2 peolpe buying the new release and 10 people copying +/- . Chri$ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 15:36:14 EST From: Strummed@aol.com Subject: Re: How Do YOu Stop? lol good catch, maybe it could have been a different phrase and i agree with your viewpoint but jonis music has always been in your face although subtly. i wasnt even aware or had forgotten that that phrase was in their. celebrate life because it's for the living. Chri$. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 16:05:28 EST From: IVPAUL42@aol.com Subject: Re: This and that (Hejira) In a message dated 3/16/99 2:47:56 PM Eastern Standard Time, mrjw@earthlink.net writes: << One day you and I decide to go out for lunch down to the local pizza parlor. I order a slice of pepperoni pizza, you look at me and say, "Geez, how can you eat that stuff on your pizza?" and I reply, "Hey, I like it ,OK?" John Wasak >> Bad analogy, John. What if you knew what really went in to the making of that pepperoni? Paul I ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:29:21 -0800 From: John.Mitchell@ascend.com Subject: This and that Gina wrote: >And as far as your inability to appreciate Hejira goes, I'd say that the >"fascination" with it is probably, like anything else, a matter of personal >taste. I don't particularly care for Clouds but I haven't written posts about >it which would put its appreciators on the defensive and if I did, I would >compose those posts in such a way as to make it obvious that I was sincere >about broadening my perspective on that record. If I sensed (and I could be wrong) that you truly wanted to know why I appreciate Hejira, I would take a stab at it but I see no such attitude reflected in the tone of your post. And if my answer were to reflect your condescending and chastening tone, I would say that "what I have written, I have written," to quote Pontius Pilot. As someone who has been on the Internet for as long as there has been an internet, please allow me to inform you that it is no place for the thin-skinned. If people have an issue with the perceived tone of my post, that is their problem, not mine. In other words, don't ever expect a parcel of P.C. platitudes from me, because you won't get it. Got it? Good. Thank you very much for your information, however. My thanks also to all who responded! johnm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:40:56 PST From: "maria sharpe" Subject: [none] I currently stumbled across this site and became immensly appreciative of all supporters. I just would like to say thanks for the great job and to wish love and peace to all people who keep Joni close to there heart Maria ***** Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:40:50 -0800 From: John.Mitchell@ascend.com Subject: This and that Scott wrote: >The magazine dubbed HOSL "worst album title of the year," a bit different than simply "worst album" of the year, although it's no secret that RS has been highly critical of Joni on many occasions.< WHAT? Now I know they are insane. I bought the CD partially because I thought it had a beautiful title! >Briefly, my own fascination (and pinnacle rating) stems from the album's totally unique sound which blends sparse instrumentation, the incredible backbone of Jaco's bass, and the most brilliant and inspiring lyrics ever written.< The thing I like most about JM's music is that even when she foists an occasional inane non-melody on us, the lyric often makes up for it in droves. But I haven't found the lyrics on Hejira to be notable. Yet. I'll give it some more listening as you suggest. johnm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 14:45:10 -0800 From: John.Mitchell@ascend.com Subject: This and that Bob wrote: >Just to dovetail onto Scott's excellent summary, a lot of the brilliance of Hejira comes with life experience. John, I'm not sure how old you are, probably 35-45 like the majority of us. (I'm 41)< Funny you should say that. I didn't really start listening to JM until I was 35 and I'll be 45 this year. Tell you what, I will indeed listen another five times or so and see what happens. For all I know, this could turn into my favorite album too. johnm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 09:03:03 +1000 From: "Sarah Whitaker (ADC Administration)" Subject: re: (NJC) Tinky Winky Loren wrote: >I was wondering....in Britain and Australia (and the rest of the world for that matter), are these types of religious begger programs on the regular TV. In Australia there are no religious programs at all on TV and to my knowledge, there are no religious evangelists like the Baker's operating here either. Cable TV is still fairly new so I guess something may come on eventually, although Australian's are not very religious so I can't imagine it being successful. We don't have a southern bible belt like in the US. We do have our token political, right wing, Fascist though, Rev. Fred Nile who runs a "The Right to Life" party (need I say more?). He is always saying something controversial like "god sent AIDS to punish gays" so he gets alot of attention from the media but doesn't have a big following, he is basically a loud minority. Sarah in Sydney NP. Ben Harper - Faded 0000,0000,ffff ~ Work like you don't need the money Love like you've never been hurt Dance like nobody's watching ~ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:05:20 EST From: CarltonCT@aol.com Subject: Re: love or money (vljc) Hi Marcel - I don't disagree with you, and I didn't use the expression "ripping off" in my post. Promoters, businessmen, etc. deserve their share for their hard work, and yes, they are gamblers taking risks. It's a matter of everyone getting their *fair* share. I don't know much about the record biz, but plenty of people in Hollywood are all about exploiting writers for as little money as possible when these men and women are indispensible to a project -- you can't film a movie without a script, and yet writers still don't get their due as the chief creators of a film. Fortunately, our Guild has grown stronger and demanded a share in the profits, but many producers still think we are overpayed because we don't have marquee value unless we are Steven King or John Grisham. Musicians are making better deals for themselves these days (or at least their agents are for them) but how often have we read about musicians who are now in old age and living in poverty when their record went on to make millions for someone else? It's only fair that the artists get their share. You may have heard that the guys who made that fraternity favorite "Louie, Louie" finally got their share of the millions that song continued to generate for the next three decades. There really is enough to go around. Clark ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 18:39:55 -0800 From: Mark-n-Travis Subject: Painter as musician - RJC (related Joni content) We went to see an exhibit of Chuck Close's paintings last weekend. I don't want to go into too much detail but I do need to briefly describe this man's extraordinary work. He started out by taking black & white photographic portraits of friends & family members, putting a grid over the photos and then taking each square of the grid and copying it piece by piece on to canvas with acrylic black paint. He used airbrushing & scraped away the paint to created the highlights or white portions of the pictures. These paintings are huge and when you look at them they look like black & white photographs - they are that detailed and precisely rendered. You can see each hair in a man's beard and each line around an eye. You can even see the pores in the skin. He progressed into color portraits, duplicating the tri-color process, starting out using blue and then wearing blue-tinted glasses to block it out & paint the red over it and then the yellow. Again, fabulously detailed but now full color photo-like portraits. Some of them are so large they practically fill up a whole wall. Eventually he began making the grids evident in the paintings so that the effect is similar to pointillism. He experimented with different types of paint & paper and even did whole portraits using his finger prints dipped in the paint & pressed with varying degrees of pressure on to the canvas. In color portraits that he 'finger-painted' he once again used a tri-color process, dipping his finger succesively in blue, red & yellow paint. Sometimes he would turn the grid on the diagonal and even made the grid circular in a few paintings which dramatically altered the appearance of the painted image. As he progressed the images became increasingly more abstract. The latest paintings in the exhibit are still recognizable as portraits of human faces but the individual squares (sort of like mosaic tiles) are multicolored, usually with one color inside of another inside of another in amoeba-like shapes within each square. Anyway, I was listening to the audio that went with the exhibit and most of it was commentary from Close himself. In his comments that accompanied the very last painting described he said that people asked him if he stepped back to look at the whole while he was painting the individual squares. He said no, that he would never finish a painting if he did that. And then he said that *each square was like a musical chord* and that a musician knows how a chord will sound and which instrument or instruments he wants to play it and how it will fit into the whole without actually hearing it. Isn't this pretty much what Joni has said about her music? She articulated this very clearly in the Goldmine article. Like a painter fills in the spaces on a canvas with the colors & shapes he needs to realize his vision, Joni the musician 'paints' her songs with the notes, instruments & words she needs to realize her aural 'picture'. Chuck Close really said the same thing only in reverse, using music as the metaphor to describe his painting whereas Joni used painting as the metaphor to describe her music. I think Joni says she's a painter first because in her mind that's what she's doing in both her music & her visual art. She's painting a picture....or painting a piece of music. Ok I've gone on long enough. I just wanted to share that with you all. If you ever get a chance to see any of Chuck Close's work I strongly recommend that you do. If nothing else, the process he uses is fascinating enough to draw your interest into his art. Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 21:54:27 EST From: TerryM2442@aol.com Subject: Re: Painter as musician - RJC (related Joni content) Mark, Interesting comments! Were any of the pieces recent works? He apparently no longer has the use of his hands and so I believe he paints with a brush in his mouth. Terry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 22:42:58 EST From: Dflahm@aol.com Subject: Hejira Aside from the songs, which are among her best, HEJIRA was exciting because of her vocals and the way her interest in jazz resulted in unbelievable freedom in rhythm and phrasing. It's all around the underlying beat but has a great powerful pulse of its own. As energized as she is with "Coyote" though, this track really pales in comparison to the version from SHADOWS & LIGHT. I don't think there's any achievement in her career more notable than that she could go onstage with THAT band and, in rhythm, energy and spontaneity, give as good as-or better- than-she gets. Similarly, the version of "In France..." on SHADOWS & LIGHT lands far beyond the original from "....SUMMER LAWNS." DAVID LAHM ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 22:22:55 -0800 (PST) From: Zapuppy@webtv.net (Rick & Penny Gibbons) Subject: Nancy Wilson cover's Joni Hey all, I confess sometimes I only scan the digest for reads of interest, so I don't know if this has been mentioned or not, forgive me if it has. In our paper tonight they did a review of Nancy Wilson's (Heart fame) new solo cd "Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop." In it they made quick mention that Nancy covered "A Case of You". Buzzed on over to Amazon.com and took a listen to their little blub of the cover....for Nancy's sake I hope the rest is better than what I heard! : -( Lazy lurker Penny NP Joni's "A Case of You" ahh, much better!!! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:09:03 -0400 From: dsk Subject: Painter Chuck Close (NJC) Mark-n-Travis wrote: > > We went to see an exhibit of Chuck Close's paintings last weekend. I > don't want to go into too much detail but I do need to briefly describe > this man's extraordinary work. Yes, his work really is extraordinary -- so methodically done and within such a rigid structure, and yet extremely creative. Basically he's been transferring heads from photos to huge canvases for about 30 years now, using the same grid technique taught in art schools (taught 20 yrs ago anyway -- maybe not anymore.) Chuck Close took this simple mechanical maneuver and has made an incredible body of work. I especially like his fingerprint paintings -- an artist can't get much closer to the work. His work has never neatly fit into any category, but touches on all of them, and he was somewhat ignored during the 80s, like Joni. Very glad that he's now getting some attention. His current paintings really are beautiful, getting looser and downright painterly. Each little square is a painting all by itself. Don't know where this exhibit is going after Seattle; so far it's been in NY and DC. Terry wrote: Were any of the pieces recent works? He apparently no longer has the use of his hands and so I believe he paints with a brush in his mouth. He paints almost every day that he's at home, and paintings as recently done as 1997 are in the exhibit. In 1988 he was paralyzed from the neck down from a burst spinal artery, and within about 6 months (I think) recovered the use of his arms. He's in a wheelchair and paints with the brush strapped to his forearm. Assistants grid off the canvases and photos and he uses a hydraulic lift to move the canvas up and down. It takes him a little longer to finish a painting, but the process has always been slow (3-4 paintings a year). He's always been known as a very generous man, especially to other artists, which is unusual. Debra Shea ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 02:54:31 -0400 From: dsk Subject: Re: This and that/Hejira John.Mitchell@ascend.com wrote: > > Tell you what, I will indeed listen another five times or so and see what > happens. Good idea. It may help to read the lyrics as you listen, if you haven't done that already. Hejira was bland and extremely disappointing to me when I first heard it. I listened and remember thinking, that's it?! I couldn't hear any difference in the songs, especially Song for Sharon, Refuge and Hejira; even Amelia didn't stand out. It was so shocking to me that I couldn't get into this new album, when I had instantly loved all the earlier ones, that for me this is the start of Joni's 2nd phase, where her work almost has to be studied before it sinks in. I don't remember how many times I listened to it before I was able to hear the music and the stories, and was taken in by the themes of loss, yearning, self-discovery, hope -- all basic Joni themes but here so uniquely expressed -- and to see the images and even physically feel the lyrics. Running to lose the blues to the innocence in here These are the clouds of Michaelangelo muscular with gods and sungold shine on your witness in the refuge of the roads This, to me, is a beautiful prayer. DS ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V4 #120 ************************** There is now a JMDL tape trading list. Interested traders can get more details at http://www.jmdl.com/trading ------- The Song and Album Voting Booths are open again! 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