From: les@jmdl.com (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2000 #83 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk JMDL Digest Thursday, February 10 2000 Volume 2000 : Number 083 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://www.jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- A Good Copy of BSN (finally) [FMYFL@aol.com] Re: Hello! NJC [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Wahhhhhhhhh!!!! [Richard Rice ] Re: A Good Copy of BSN (finally) NJC [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Re: Joni quits songwriting!! [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] "Shades of Scarlett conquering" [Relayer211@aol.com] Re: Joni quits songwriting!! [Phyliss Ward ] BSN is bitchin' - Lord, get me a chair!! [Joseph Davis ] Mesmerized.... [Joseph Davis ] RE: House of the Rising Sun NJC ["patrick leader" ] Another reply from reprise ["Alan Lorimer" ] JC: "BSN" - just the music this time [Kate Tarasenko ] The Great American Song Book [Bounced Message ] (no subject) [Bounced Message ] both sides now 2000 [Bounced Message ] for wally, from ric [Bounced Message ] full text of billboard article [Bounced Message ] BSN in Oz [Gerald McNamara ] Re: Joni Mitchell Companion [FredNow@aol.com] Both Sides Now [Emily Kirk Gray ] Re: Some words for Wally [Adriano Lucatello ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 21:14:12 EST From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: A Good Copy of BSN (finally) After returning my bad copy to Amazon.Com and writing my letter to Reprise, I decided to stop by our local Barnes & Nobles store. They only received one copy, so I told the clerk of my woes and he opened it right there in the store. It looked like a clean CD, so I bought it and took it home. The CD is truly wonderful!!!! A great way to listen to this CD is to pour yourself a glass of champaign and sit in a hot bath (did you see my bum cheekie monkey?) Truly this is a fabulous work of music whether you get the limited edition or not. Now that I could hear "A Case of You" without the skips, Joni brought chills up my spine. When she sings "Sometimes I'm Happy", I can just imagine myself dancing with her on stage like she did on "Comes Love" on the PWWAM video. Happy at last, Jimmy ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 21:32:34 EST From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Hello! NJC In a message dated 2/9/00 6:16:02 PM US Central Standard Time, jad4444@swbell.net writes: << i won't bore you with how much joni's music means to me - all i can say is my life hasn't been the same since i heard "The Circle Game". >> Welcome Joe...I don't think you're going to bore anyone with talking about how much Joni's music means to you. Kinda why we're all here. Anyway, glad you found us, looking forward to more from you! Bob in South Carolina NP: Big Sun, "St. Andrews Beach" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 20:35:29 -0500 From: Richard Rice Subject: Wahhhhhhhhh!!!! Hi all! First, I want to say I thought the "Wally, Joni, and Kilauren" post was just beautiful to read. Wow. So that's what the english language is for!?! And here I've been grunting out my native tongue like some french speaking caveman. Ughhh. As for BSN, the first of my two ordered copies arrived...AND IT SKIPS!!!!!! Very big boo-hoo. The 'lithos' were as expected. I never for a moment thought they would actually be pulled from a plate or stone. Not at fourty bucks!!! True lithos would have required the assistance of a master printer to work with Joan making color separations of her paintings. A very involved process. Besides, the price of the Arches Paper alone would send marketer's heads reeling. Alas, it may be a while before I can make an honest review of the disk since I have to return it, regretably. Someone at Reprise is going to get a good chewing out over this. It is just plain dumb, especially in this day and age of redundant packaging to ship a cd like this. Even a simple piece of tape would have spared them most of the hassles they will be presented with. It also saddens me to think that Joan will have yet another notch on her 'those bastards' belt. This should be a time of celebration for her, not fretting stupid goofs like this one. In spite of this, I feel BSN is reason for all of us Joni fans to have cause for celebration. The disk is yet another chapter in the growth and expansion of what has been a wonderful musical excursion. The girl has taken us all on a wildly unexpected ride through the sublime and beautiful. She may not make us forget Ella, or sing the standards as well as Sarah or Billy, but she has been a such wonderfully rare experience for us all. This work only enrichens that experience. Who among us could have imagined this cd twenty years ago? Or for that matter imagined any of them? From what I did hear, special commendation is due to Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. Their contributions are absolutely as fine as jazz play can be. The orchestral arrangements may be over the top and in the way for such delicate private songs as these; but their contributions are simply magical. My dream and hope is that Joni will scratch that 'all too easy' idea of doing her old material in this format. It would be sooooo fantastic beyond fantastic to hear NEW material with this much breath and atmosphere! Sort of a Paprika Plains/ Tiger Bones/ Comes Love production with her full breath of visual poetry...I melt at the thought!!! But then, who cares what any of us think, what is import is, did she win over the heart of Mark Domyancich???!!!!! john C. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 21:40:37 EST From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: A Good Copy of BSN (finally) NJC In a message dated 2/9/00 8:23:04 PM US Central Standard Time, FMYFL@aol.com writes: << The CD is truly wonderful!!!! A great way to listen to this CD is to pour yourself a glass of champaign and sit in a hot bath >> I'll bet, *especially* if you can get Cybill Shepherd to slither in the tub with you! :~) Bob, still waiting by the mailbox... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 21:43:40 EST From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni quits songwriting!! In a message dated 2/9/00 6:23:53 PM US Central Standard Time, messling@enter.net writes: << As a certified Christmas maniac, I would love a Joni Christmas album! Let's see, River, Facelift, maybe Gift of the Magi? >> I'd love to hear her do "Magi" again! I would actually settle for anything as long as she doesn't do anything from The MESSiah! :~) Bob ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 21:50:42 EST From: Relayer211@aol.com Subject: "Shades of Scarlett conquering" I saw "A streetcar named desire" again recently.I have read that "Shades of Scarlett conquering" is about Blanch Duboise,and this certainly makes sense to me,but could it also be refering to Vivian Leigh's other great performance,as Scarlett O'hara?It would fit to some extent,and fits in with the title. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 18:51:13 -0800 From: Phyliss Ward Subject: Re: Joni quits songwriting!! Randy Remote wrote: > ++Joni is quoted as saying she has no plans to write > any new material in the forseeable future, and will > concentrate on her painting This really hurts! Joni, I love you, but Write, damn it!!! > > ++BSN is the first of a symphonic trilogy, the next one > will be ALL JONI SONGS, the 3rd a Xmas album Being as I am jewish, I have never bought an Xmas album in my life. I guess one should never say never. > > ++She is planning a 12 city tour and will perform with > local symphonies (cities not mentioned) Yes, there is a god! > > ++Yes there is a single-the title track will be serviced > to radio stations Feb 15 We'll all have to start calling those stations! > Reprise plans more promotion too yeah, right! > > ++Reprise says the 15,000 unit run of the limited edition > has sold out its order to retailers Do you think in light of the faulty discs, there will be more? > > ++A UFO landed in Joni's yard, Elvis got out and > impregnated Joni hard to believe at her age but this is the 21st century! - -- Phyliss pward@lightspeed.net http://www.bodywise.com/consultants/bpward ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 21:18:07 -0600 From: Joseph Davis Subject: BSN is bitchin' - Lord, get me a chair!! Thanks for the kind words of sympathy. Am also, as I type this, am listening to BSN (postponing yet ANOTHER night in the gym - sigh) and this ain't the Joni I first heard sing "The Circle Game" Since "Ive been nicely chided that I shan't bore you all: Briefly, my mother taught at the same Catholic school my sister, brother and I went to. (THOSE TWO got her - I didn't! hehehehehe) She made friends with one of the teachers there. We went visitng that summer over at their house - and there was Joni on Mr. Gier's reel-to-reel. Something in my soul awakened then. My freshman year in college, I was doing what most freshmen do when they should be studying: burning illegal ciggies with (as it worked out) a lifelong friend. Martha, had "Ladies of the Canyon". I borrowed that album, and never looked back. It was "Amelia" that still does it though. I remember being in my bunk listening to, and being very impressed with "Coyote". I had long accepted she was getting away from what got me into her music, but that was okay. Simply put, "Amelia" put me in a space where I got no sleep that night. An aching, haunting beauty that has yet to fade. I'm a poet, and have read this as a poem, and cannot get through it without getting emotional. Amelia Earhart, as I'm sure you all know, was born in Atchison, Kansas - where I met my best friend Martha. Who lent me the "Ladies of the Canyon" album. Leonard Cohen, Bruce Cockburn, and this woman (WHY are they all CANUCKS, fercryinoutloud?!?!?!?! LOL) never fail to teach, to inspire, and to examine human possibility. (yeah, I pinched that from the Leonard page!! So SUE me, a'ready!) We are better people because of their music. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 22:47:12 -0800 From: "Eric Taylor" Subject: Re: BSN packaging The Limited Edition box I purchased for $50 at Borders yesterday was in mint condition. I plan to frame the lithos in one frame. They scan GREAT & look awesome blown up to 8x10". Classy, clean design! The coolest box I've ever seen. & what about A Case Of You?! Joni has never sounded better. E.T. __________________________________________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Get your FREE Internet Access and Email at http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 21:53:45 -0600 From: Joseph Davis Subject: Mesmerized.... Just got done.......I'm in tears. Enough said. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 22:51:58 -0500 From: "patrick leader" Subject: RE: House of the Rising Sun NJC alvin ailey's first dance masterpiece 'blues suite', made in 1958, includes a dance to a very old bluesy version of 'house of the rising sun' in a recent bio of ailey the dance is described as 'a trio for sad young prostitutes' nina may have first heard the song when she was younger, but she almost certainly saw ailey's troup (and blues suite) before 1961. the buzz about ailey among black new york artists was huge in those years; lena horne and duke ellington attended his earliest dance concerts. patrick jfp - both sides now ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 15:00:22 +1100 From: "Alan Lorimer" Subject: Another reply from reprise Hi Alan, Thanks for your letter. We are aware of the problem with the "Both Sides Now" cd and are currently addressing the problem to remedy the situation. We should have an update tomorrow. Thanks for your understanding and patience. Best, Betty ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 21:26:57 +0000 From: Kate Tarasenko Subject: JC: "BSN" - just the music this time I tried cleaning my scratched CD, thanks to the Steel Wool Contingent of the JMDL. Unfortunately, it's still trashed from tracks 4 through 6, though I was able to eek a listen out of the beginning of "A Case of You" and my jaw dropped! But I just had to chime in and say that it's really wonderful. This is music for grown-ups. I couldn't be happier for Joni with this latest musical effort, AND for us -- it's audio divinity. And I thought that Rex Reed only did movie reviews. I'm so glad that he reviewed "BSN" -- Joni needs a prominent ally in the mainstream press to get her sales going, and to just help lift that inexplicable shroud of obscurity from her career. I'm sure that I'm not alone in thinking that "BSN" represents a natural progression in Joni's repertoire -- it makes me giggle a little smugly to see that Rex (et al) is just now discovering what Joni is capable of. As good as it gets!^) Kate in CO ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 00:00:00 EST From: FredNow@aol.com Subject: Re: JONI SHEET MUSIC Howard Wright wrote: >>Matt Jones wrote: >>>I am a University of Georgia music major, working on an AB in Music >> >Theory. For my senior thesis, I am writing a book on the music of >>>Joni Mitchell. >>>I intend to take each album song by song in my book; however, to >>>perform the type of analysis I intend to do, I must have the music. >> >If anyone can help me, I am willing to pay for joni songbooks!!! >>>Please help me!! >>What kind of analysis are you intending to do? I ask because, if >>you are going to analyse the harmony of Joni's songs, some of the >>songbooks will be of little use to you. Not only do I agree with Howard's caveat, I'd go further to say that I wouldn't trust *any* of the commercially available songbooks, early or later, even the melodies, in which I've found countless discrepancies. Moreover, if I were taking on this sort of thesis (a very noble pursuit if you ask me) I would feel it mandatory to transcribe everything myself using my own two ears, and then checking and rechecking with colleagues whose ears I respected. Not only would the results be more accurate, but it seems to me that this would be a prerequisite to analysis, which would be profoundly enhanced by doing my own transcriptions. - -Fred Simon ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 22:07:25 -0700 From: Bounced Message Subject: For those who loved Wally Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2000 23:20:50 -0800 From: Casey Certis-Milby Let Evening Come Let the light of late afternoon shine through chinks in the barn, moving up the bales as the sun moves down. Let the cricket take up chafing as a woman takes up her needles and her yarn. Let evening come. Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned in long grass. Let the stars appear and the moon disclose her silver horn. Let the fox go back to its sandy den. Let the wind die down. Let the shed go black inside. Let evening come. To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop in the oats, to air in the lung let evening come. Let it come, as it will, and don't be afraid. God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come. Jane Kenyon from Let Evening Come (1990) - -- "It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end." U.K.LeG. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 22:09:05 -0700 From: Bounced Message Subject: The Great American Song Book From: "Tony Wyer" Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 20:36:01 -0000 Can anyone recommend, off list, any CD, whether by a single artist, or a compilation, that covers what I term, 'The Great American Songbook'. 'Music to watch girls go by' half covers the subject, but there are = still not enough classics on it, i.e. 'The Folks who live on the = Hill'....'Stormy Weather', etc etc (maybe I should look closer at Ella = but I dont know where to start). Any suggestions will be gratefully received. regards Tony Tony's Rough Guide to Skiing La Plagne http://www.wyer.force9.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 22:09:40 -0700 From: Bounced Message Subject: (no subject) Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 18:16:31 -0600 From: dave fairall / beth miller I agree with Mark in Seattle that it seems as if Rex hasn't heard anything Joni's done since maybe Court and Spark. Nice review, for the wrong reasons, way over the top. It's obvious he has only a cursory knowledge of the subject(s), (Joni and Jazz). Can't wait to BSN via CDNOW, at least they are guaranteed to take it back if it's damaged. I ordered a double Live Police CD that was packaged differently then any I'd seen, and thought the second CD was missing. They took me at my word, and sent a new double CD, after which I discovered I just didn't know how to access the second CD in the plasticase, oops. Dave Baltimore Weather Report: > Jaco- Three Views of a Secret ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 22:11:48 -0700 From: Bounced Message Subject: both sides now 2000 From: "patrick leader" Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:42:28 -0500 a couple days ago, i was given a preview version, on tape, so i've been listening to the album without dreaming of skips all weekend. i have to admit, i was a little disappointed, mostly in the orchestra arrangements. too many wind and string crescendo moments, esp in the ballads. i was also expecting a few songs to swing more, like other versions of 'i wish i were in love again'. but still, the more i listened to the album, the more i loved it. some of my reservations are about wayne shorter's contributions... i also got my announcement from cdnow on monday, and spent much of yesterday fretting about the scratched cds, unsatisfying packaging, etc. well, i got my special edition today, and while the box is beautiful, the presentation of the four paintings and the cards for all the lyrics and credits is not very inspiring and practical. and the cd is scratched. only 'a case of you' won't play, but still... now i have to deal. remember that this is the first time i've ever ordered a special edition of a new album. not just by joni, but by anyone. still, today i've been playing the cd over and over again, falling more deeply in love with joni's vocals, with the songs that are new to me, and very slowly with the arrangements. the songs that have a little more rhythmic oomph are more interesting for me right now. 'comes love' is sublime. 'sometimes i'm happy', a song i'm not familiar with, has just completely knocked me over. and though i think this take on 'i wish i were in love again' could have been punchier, it's still one of the high points of the album. i'm really in love with this project. and though the presentation of the paintings is completely frustrating, the paintings really are magnificent. for most of this day, and through most of this post, i've had standing in front of me the card that shows joni, in baggy green, with glass of red and face of rueful contemplation. i've never been lucky enough to see this painting in person, but i can't defend the reproduction enough. the color is brilliant. the expression is haunting. as i write this, both sides now 2k is beginning and a green/red joni is leaning on her elbow in a bar and thinking. she really doesn't know life... at all... patrick np - bsn2k ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 22:08:20 -0700 From: Bounced Message Subject: for wally, from ric From: Ric Welch Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 15:00:59 -0500 none of you should not be reading this, you know, anymore than i should be writing it. god knows, there must be something more important we could be doing. but, since we're here, we might as well proceed. no - no, please. ...after you! where do i get off, sending these signals to this list? the fact is, for most of you, i am just a name on the screen. vaguely familiar, and probably for reasons best left forgotten. for many of you, new since i took leave, not even that. just a voice from the Forests of Lurk. maybe THAT'S where, if you'll pardon the expression, i get off. at the edge of the forest. here just long enough to lay down this lament and disappear again. the last time i wrote you all i had no one to talk to, and so it is again. robert is very busy and marieve is on avery island, hanging out with the tabasco sauce tycoons. and here i am, forlorn and oppressed by the news, belated to my ears, of wally. i know many of you, more profound and timely than i, have already weighed in on this subject, and i have nothing to add. it's just that a bright star (in a dark age) has gone out. and attention must be paid! and, as this post should indicate, the attention we're talking about is mine. my attention has been otherwise engaged these past few months and, if truth be told, i dropped off your radar screens a long time ago. no complaint! this is as it should be. but during this lost year, i've learned a little bit about lights going out and attention being paid. it is especially poignant for me to think of wally dying just before joni's latest opus is released. the one where she sings both sides now. who among us does not consider this song; those lyrics, an anthem? to disappoinment and loss... but what did this 20-something ingenue know of disappointment and loss? and most of us were younger. what did we know? is that why there is such a well of affection for this song? because it anticipated the losses to come and gave voice to disappointments we had yet to feel? maybe. and now, sung by the middle aged composer, with a life to look back on, as the lyrics require, all caught in the timbre of her middle aged voice. i have heard it. it is breathtaking. and now, so sadly, to be missed by the one who most deserved the privilege. it breaks my heart, and seems contemptuous - and mean. as many of you know, i have no patience with religious impulses of any kind, or with the kind of hyperbole funerals inspire. but even i can be happily seduced by the idea that wally lives on. it's so easy, when standing where the lives of wally breese and joni mitchell so brilliantly intersect. and it occurs to me that wally's light may have gone out, but, in brilliant fact, it shines, bright as ever, on every corner of this city he built. i have heard the junk that gets tossed around over the closed lids of coffins, and this is not it. wally may be gone, but the truth is, we all know exactly where to find him. and when joni sings, again, of give and take, & win and lose , i know wally will be where he always was, somewhere, in his quiet way, applauding every note. well, duh! i also know that when some kid hears her sing for the first time, and, curious as wise, plugs her name into his computer, this metropolis will rise before them, like brigadoon! and wally will be right there, inviting them to wander the same way he invited all of us...slack-jawed and agape. thank you wally. and bless us, every one. love, ric ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2000 22:11:04 -0700 From: Bounced Message Subject: full text of billboard article From: "patrick leader" Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 20:55:57 -0500 LOS ANGELES -- For an artist as innovative as Joni Mitchell, the decision to make an album composed largely of covers wasn't an easy one. "This is very different for me because I'm a freshness freak. And I'm pretty intolerant of copycats," says Mitchell of recording "Both Sides Now," an album of standards coming March 21 on Reprise Records in the U.S. and Feb. 28 elsewhere. "The goal was to keep [the project] from being a curio or merely a reflection of the past but to make it progressive in some way." The idea for the album came after Mitchell, Billboard's 1995 Century Award winner, began incorporating classics such as "Stormy Weather" and "Comes Love," both of which appear on this album, into her live show. That led her and co-producer Larry Klein to start thinking about other standards that she could record in an orchestral setting. "I started looking at songs and thinking, 'You know, wait a minute, "You're My Thrill," what if we did this? We could take this other song and do that.' The concept was to make an album that was a commentary on romantic love in the 20th century." The journey begins with the first blush of infatuation via "You're My Thrill" and leads the listener through the slings and arrows of a relationship that ultimately ends sadly and with the displaced lover wondering when love will strike again. For Mitchell, taking the trip meant bringing something new to the material. "The people who had done the songs before had done a crackup job," she says. "You had to make it your own the only way you could. You had to [bring] your own experience to it and just bring out the drama in a way perhaps that hadn't been done." For Mitchell, the hardest song to tackle was "At Last," so clearly associated with Etta James. "I first heard that song, oddly enough, in a tampon commercial," Mitchell says. "Every time I'd hear it, I'd run towards the TV and crank it up because just as it was [fading] down in the first verse, she'd hit a couple of notes and all the hair on my arms would stand up and God came in and landed on her for four or five notes. Hardly any singers ever, no matter how good they are, get God to come in." The album was cut in three days at George Martin's Air Studios in London. Four songs were done with a 71-piece orchestra, four with a 42-piece, and four with a 22-piece big band. Mitchell seamlessly weaves two of her compositions, the famous title track and "A Case Of You" (from her seminal 1971 album "Blue") into what she calls "the play." While she wasn't surprised at how easily the songs lent themselves to orchestral arrangements, she recalls "I was surprised at how [the songs] affected the orchestra, like they jumped to their feet. A standing ovation on the first take of 'A Case Of You.' They wept and blew their noses all the way through 'Both Sides Now.' " "That was very touching to me," she adds, "because classical orchestras are typically jaded: A lot of them, their mother wouldn't let them go out and play and some of them are mean-spirited, and they're always reading The Wall Street Journal behind their music staffs." Mitchell is aware that her versions may be some people's first introductions to songs from the Great American Songbook. "The last album [1998's "Taming The Tiger"] I did was an attempt to express my contempt for music while creating a fresh approach to it, right? Who cares? So I thought this is a different way. Instead of trying to do it myself, let me display what I think was the best music of the century. 'See here? Remember this? This was music.' "It just seemed like a reminder had to made of what the bloody stuff is supposed to be, you know? And who was great," she continues. "Today, you see all these little puff creatures with unbelievably little talent. That's what the record company wants." To that end, Reprise is in the early stages of lining up an extensive awareness campaign that tentatively includes two television specials. Reprise has already inked a deal with TNT for a special that may re-create the record. That special is slated to tape in April, with an airdate still to be determined. Additionally, Reprise is in negotiations with A&E for another television special, as well as talking with VH1 about its participation. Determined to leave no stone unturned, the label even placed "Both Sides Now" on the Jan. 19 episode of "Dawson's Creek." While the album wasn't plugged on the episode, the "Dawson's Creek" Web site contained information about the track and Mitchell. "Both Sides Now" will also be the first single serviced from the project. It goes to triple-A, jazz, adult standards, and NPR stations Feb. 15. Mitchell plans to undertake a 12-city tour, where she'll sing the material with local symphonies. To prime the pump for the March 21 release, the label will release on Feb. 8 a limited-edition CD of "Both Sides Now" housed in a round, maroon, fabric-covered box that also includes four lithographs by Mitchell. The $49.98 set, limited to 15,000 units, has already sold out its order to retailers, according to Reprise. The limited edition CD is also available through Reprise's Web site. The album is the first in a trilogy Mitchell and Larry Klein have planned. The next project will feature Mitchell's music in a symphonic setting. "You know, it will be stuff like ["Judgement Of The Moon And Stars (Ludwig's Tune)"]," from 1972's "For The Roses." I had to do it low budget with just one violin player originally. So it would be a thrill to take material and orchestrate it for a big orchestra." The third album Mitchell calls "Have Yourself A Dreary Little Christmas." "It will include four of my 'something bad always happens to me on Christmas' songs, four secular Christmas songs, and four carols. I want to make a play out of it." For the foreseeable future, Mitchell doesn't see writing more material; instead she plans to focus on her artwork. "Not unless something comes along," she says. "I'm a painter that got sidetracked. You know, recently I sensed my mortality, and the painting is not fully developed. The music is pretty much fully developed and the [music] game up until recently kind of kicked me out. It kicked me out years ago. It excommunicated me for one reason or other. So seeing the best of your work designated into the obscure department doesn't make you have much hope for culture, you know what I mean?" Assistance in preparing this story was provided by Jill Pesselnick in Los Angeles. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 5:32:35 UTC From: Gerald McNamara Subject: BSN in Oz I got my copy of BSN. It had a few minor scratches, but plays OK on my computer at work. The price here is outrageous. It's on sale in Melbourne for $95 Aus which is over $60 US. I got a discount, but still can't believe I've paid that much for a single CD that will probably be available next month for $30 Aus. But, hey, it sounds good. -Gerald Melbourne, Australia (where it's currently 38 degrees, or 100 Fahrenheit) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 00:32:40 EST From: FredNow@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni Mitchell Companion Dflahm@aol.com wrote: >>Isn't it pathetic and infuriating that, as Bob says, "Stacey didn't >>have a shot a previewing the photos?" If the publisher had shown her >>the least scrap of respect, she might have caught the two different >>spellings of the grandson's name ("Marlon"/"Marlin.") LAHM Not to mention the two different spellings of her own damn name! There is another curious anomaly ... in My Secret Place: The Guitar Odyssey Of Joni Mitchell, on pages 219-223 there are guitar tunings spelled out and instead of all the sharp signs (# -- don't know if this will translate to ASCII) there are little musical notes ... what's up with that?! Here's a thought (and I'm afraid that this continues my heretical train of late) -- I actually found much merit in Perry Meisel's analysis of Hejira and the profound change in Joni's writing that that album heralded. While I don't agree with all of his conclusions, I do think he succinctly expresses for me why Joni's music has become less satisfying, especially from the melodic standpoint. Now, I don’t agree with him that Hejira is a failure, far from it, in fact; while it does represent the essential shift from song-like melodic development to the more recitative-like approach she has continued to this day, it's the most successful version of that shift, with DJRD weighing in close behind. However, after that, as folks here are no doubt tired of hearing me say, tuneful melodic inspiration drops way, way off. All in all, The Companion is a good piece of work. If Stacey is reading this, I'd love to see her give James Taylor the same treatment. - -Fred Simon ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 01:17:54 -0500 (EST) From: Emily Kirk Gray Subject: Both Sides Now hi everyone -- it's late, so i'll just write a quick note: i bought the "limited edition" BSN tonight! i got it from tower records (here in new york city). i made sure to check on their return policy and told them about all the damage reports we've noticed. they weren't overly concerned, but then again, it was like a 16 year old i was talking to...but anyway: my copy is OK -- hasn't skipped -- but has scratches visible and was loose inside the package. so i won't return it, although it's totally frustrating not to have a perfect CD for this much money. i figure, there are only so many of these maroon boxes out there (thanks to jack n.! and all the returns from damage) that if mine's anywhere close to decent condition i should hang on to it...still, i'm thinking of writing reprise a letter just to let them know. so...besides all that...this is gorgeous, gorgeous, full, glorious music. so achingly satisfying. i can't really weigh in yet, since i'm still having that "first time listen" overload, but i just wanted to toss in my two cents. i've never studied music, never took voice or instrument, and would say my knowledge of jazz or standard compositions is mediocre at best, and still...and still...i'm sorry, this record is purely wonderful! joni's voice is brimming, shivery, achy, glorious! she must have been overjoyed to work with this material (like old friends to her), because i can hear her love in the songs. that's all for now: finally: if any of you are on the fence and have the money, please buy this -- i can't imagine anyone being less than touched, contented, thrilled -- i can't wait to play it again! - -- emily ps: i stopped and stood still in the middle of the sidewalk tonight, listening to this new version of "a case of you" on my headphones. when's the last time i heard a song make me do that? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 08:03:15 +0200 From: Adriano Lucatello Subject: Re: Some words for Wally Just a couple of more words, first of all I wish to give thanks to all the JMDL friends who contacted me: At 7:05 PM +0000 9/2/00, Catherine McKay wrote: >Adriano wrote: >>Oh Lord, thanks for all the seasons of our life [...] > >That's really lovely - did you write that yourself? Thanks Catherine! Now it's only a couple of hours before the funeral here in Trieste... Nope, I did not write these words myself, I need to clarify that, I just wanted to share the peaceful feelings they convey and the acceptance of the ineluctable. They were originally written by another friend of our family last year for my father-in-law's funeral (it seems a reoccuring occasion lately) and I was given the task to read them. > >You've summed up what I would like to do as well - I just hope I can live up >to my intentions! Courage, my friend. I have alredy started working on that... and it is worth the effort ;-) also At 9:20 PM -0500 9/2/00, Jimmi wrote: >Dear Adriano, > >What lovely words you speak (in Italian and English). I'm sure that Wally >will hear them as well. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend, but God will >watch over him and Wally. I am sure of that... >I can remember some of your posts on the JMDL when I first joined. Really? I wrote very few times when I could not really keep quiet and was feeling like exploding... >It is so nice to know that you are still around and we all hope you >join us again. Thanks Jimmy, yes, I am still around, too busy to contribute more often but always trying hard to catch up with this wonderful JMDL community... Well, I will go now and carry your good words with me. Lots of love Adriano ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2000 #83 **************************** Don't forget about these ongoing projects: Glossary project: Send a blank message to for all the details. FAQ Project: Help compile the JMDL FAQ. Do you have mailing list-related questions? -send them 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?