From: les@jmdl.com (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2000 #502 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/joni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe JMDL Digest Monday, September 18 2000 Volume 2000 : Number 502 The 'Official' Joni Mitchell Homepage, created by Wally Breese, can be found at http://www.jonimitchell.com. It contains the latest news, a detailed bio, Original Interviews, essays, lyrics and much much more. --- The JMDL website can be found at http://www.jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. --- Ashara has set up a "Wally Breese Memorial Fund" with all donations going directly towards the upkeep of the website. Wally kept the website going with his own funds. it is now up to US to help Jim continue. If you would like to donate to this fund, please make all checks payable to: Jim Johanson and send them to: Ashara Stansfield P.O. Box 215 Topsfield, MA. 01983 USA ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: JMDL [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Re: Olympics NJC [FMYFL@aol.com] Re: Yellow Wallpaper - Cop Out? [B Merrill ] Re: Yellow Wallpaper - Cop Out? [Siresorrow@aol.com] Re: Pre-quel in Richard's house ["Patricia O'Connor" ] Re: SJC, the song "come love" from Both Sides Now ["Brenda J. Walker" ] Re: Almost Famous (NJC) ["Jim L'Hommedieu" ] Shutting Down the 'voices' exhibit, Was "JMDL", NJC, 100% PC ["Jim L'Homm] re: Mendel "voices" gate ["c Karma" ] Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter there is? [quiff@earthling.co.uk] Buckley, Harris & Lanois NJC ["Kate Bennett" ] re: Prequel to Harry's House/HOSL ["Stephen Epstein" ] Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter there is? [Don Rowe ] RE: A Joni moment....(or two) ["Garret" ] Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter of our time? [B Merrill ] Re: Do I work at a great place or what? NJC [FMYFL@aol.com] Allergies (NJC) [Michael Paz ] Tatoos (NJC) [Michael Paz ] odd joni musical trivia question ["Michael Bird" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 06:30:18 EDT From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: JMDL << This is a first time post -- I have been lurking for the past few months...>> Welcome out of lurkdom, Tammi...I'd love to hear more about your experiences at the Mendel! >> Over the period of the exhibition I have had a chance to meet many of you as I was one of the two animators for the exhibition. >> I'll plead ignorance on this statement...do you mean there's a cartoon coming out with Joni in it? Will she have special powers? :~D Bob ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 07:42:34 EDT From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: Re: Olympics NJC Hell writes: << P.S. Ian Thorpe is just not human. How can anyone be that good?! >> He wears a size 17 shoe for goodness sake! Good luck to him if he ever decides to dress in drag. Jimmy ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 21:52:17 -0400 From: B Merrill Subject: Re: Yellow Wallpaper - Cop Out? MG said: >And while this is all true, Joni's portraits are still very relevant and >timeless. Women AND men STILL give up spiritual growth and adult maturity to >compete in suburban materialism. The woman can have her career, but recent >surveys show that the burden for home and children still fall mainly on her >shoulders. Whereas the options for women (esp. for middle class women) have improved greatly since the 60's, the problem of materialism (as a seduction, an obsession) is just as much with us, isn't it? Maybe it's even more with us, with this gung ho economy of the past decade and all this new wealth. And it's something that applies to both sexes, just as both Harry and Mrs. Harry are focused on it, in their own way. Bruce M. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 08:38:26 EDT From: Siresorrow@aol.com Subject: Re: Yellow Wallpaper - Cop Out? In a message dated 9/17/00 1:21:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time, KakkiB@worldnet.att.net writes: << women found themselves approaching middle age with no sense of their own identity. Some returned to college or to pursuing their own original interests in order to "find" themselves again after putting themselves second to their husbands and children for so many years. >> the exact scenario in my parents home. my mother was in nursing school when she met my father and dropped out, had 8 kids, moved to the city, he worked his career in insurance and eventually had a series of heart attacks that left him disabled at the age 47. she went back to college at age 43 and ended up working as a teacher for almost 20 years. my father died at 58 and i highly doubt they'd have made it if he had not gotten sick. their roles reversed and he became the cook and she became the bread earner. toward the end of his life, he told me he loved going to the grocery store because of all the colors he saw there. this from a man who drank beefeater martini's ...silver bullets...for lunch every day. only last thought i have is that my emotions definately come from my very italian mother who was known to fling food in the midst of heated arguments. chili, pizza, and even a handfull of spagetti on one occasion. as kids, if they started to argue, we knew to keep a very low profile and to slip under the table if the going got rough. to this day, my brother still ducks if he hears a loud voice in a restraunt. in their later years, they laughed about it all. patrick np. rt. pharoah ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 09:36:42 -0400 From: "Patricia O'Connor" Subject: Re: Pre-quel in Richard's house From: Kakki > I agree that a reading of the lyrics makes the Jose Feliciano connection > very plausible. I don't know whether Hissing was inspired by Jose Feliciano, maybe Chaka was making a joke, albeit a bad one, because of the references to darkness and blindness in the lyric, but it occurs to me, that since a blind man can't enjoy the view of the valley barbeques and the blue pools in the squinting sun from his suburban "dream" house, what he would notice is the hiss of the lawn sprinklers. Maybe he brought that sound to Joni's attention? > However, the darkness alluded to could > also be to more than his lack of sight. And almost certainly is, besides"darkness" has that nice hiS-S-S ending. Patricia O'Connor p.a.oconnor@att.net ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 10:17:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Michael Bird Subject: RE: JMDL Digest V2000 #501 >>>>>>>>Wow! Can you tell us anymore about that attribution? Unfortunately I can't. On the Jazz On A Summersday tapes Chaka introduces this song with something like, 'Joni went to visit Jose Feliciano and wrote this song after the visit.' My impression of this event, however dimmed by my notoriously faulty memory, supports the idea that Chaka's attribution was correct. After Chaka said Jose's name, I looked over at Joni (I was a couple of rows back) and she was madly gesticulating to Chaka -- a combination of a "sshh!" gesture with a waving of hands indicating, "shut up!" Chaka couldn't cover her tracks after that. Then again, Joni might have done the same thing no matter what name Chaka tossed out, to prevent giving the rich blind man of HOSL any name at all. For what it's worth, I picture Jose in that song when I hear it now, and I still have my little Canada Day flag from the event. Nickel Chief ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 07:58:41 -0700 From: "Brenda J. Walker" Subject: Re: SJC, the song "come love" from Both Sides Now Dianne Reeves also does a great version on "Quiet After The Storm." James O Phillips wrote: > On her album Both Sides Now, Joni does a wonderful version of the song > "Come Love" (the one where it goes, comes love, nothing can be done) > > Anyways, for fans of that song, on her album "Speak Love" Ella Fitzgerald > does a wonderful reading of that song, accompanied only by guitarist Joe > Pass. I highly recommend checking that version out of that wonderfuls > song. > > James Phillips > > Visit my updated web page > http://homestead.juno.com/jamespatrick7556/JamesthePage.html I've added > links to my JamesthePage2 and GCAP towards the bottom of the page. > > ________________________________________________________________ > YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! > Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! > Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 08:38:51 -0400 From: B Merrill Subject: Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter there is? NJC gene mock wrote: >that's why i'm on this list. not only that, she has the best looking and >the most erudite fans in this dimension. Also in four or five other dimensions, I'm happy to report. I was visiting a couple of the other ones last night. Brew M ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 17:01:46 GMT From: "c Karma" Subject: re: Prequel to Harry's House/HOSL Yeah, Chaka spilled the beans on HOSL being about Jose Feliciano's domescile at the Joni's Jazz tribute in Central Park last year, making remarks about the song before she sang it. Looking right at Joni, she said something like, "this is the song you told me you wrote after visiting Jose Feliciano." I seem to remember reports of a mortified, wide-eyed Joni placing a finger to her lips, attempting damage control. I couldn't see from my seat next to the sound board. Chaka noted Joni's reaction but it didn't slow her down one bit. Be careful what you tell this girl! I think that the lines using analogies to television picture tubes are especially clever knowing this association, "Tube's gone darkness darkness, no color, no contrast." "He gave her his darkness to regret and good reason to quit him." CC "I'm not above gossip, but I'll sit on a secret where honor is at stake." -- JM _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 13:03:08 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Re: Almost Famous (NJC) All this talk about the holiness of present day radio has brought back a couple of memories. Back in the 80s I was talking music with a younger student. He was reminiscing about the songs of his high school days and he actually said, "Yeah! 'Takin' Care Of Business'! Now THERE was a song! Man, they don't MAKE 'EM like that anymore!" Then later, my old friend Beth (a sculptor) said flatly, "The B52s. The B52s changed my life." I hope that wherever she is, she forgives me because I snickered. It doesn't seem funny now. Has anyone read any research about the special psychology that happens in music fans like us between the ages of 11 and 30? During that period I listened to music every night for hours, totally entertained. Was it just the dope that I used to do? I think it would make very interesting reading. Why are so many people (like me) open to new music during that period then just close up to new sounds? All the best, Jim L'Hommedieu npimh: Margo Timmins singing "Misguided Angel" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 13:13:25 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Shutting Down the 'voices' exhibit, Was "JMDL", NJC, 100% PC Checking in from Digest.... Hi Tammi, How cool that a JMDLer shut down the voices exhibit! It's nice to hear from you and I hope that you post again soon and often! How bout some Joni Moments from your own experience? Tammi wrote: This is a first time post -- I have been lurking for the past few months... Just wanted to note that I was the last one out of the 'voices' exhibition at the Mendel tonight... and early tomorrow the prepators will be packing the 87 works into crates and shiping them back to Joni. All the best, Jim L'Hommedieu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 17:46:34 GMT From: "c Karma" Subject: re: Mendel "voices" gate Tammi, Thanks for the update on the success of "voices." I'm sure that Gilles Hebert and the whole Mendel staff must be very happy with that figure (not to mention a few smiles on the faces over at the Chamber of Commerce). 80,000 visitors? Congratulations, Joni! I'm very happy to have been one of them. With a gate that large, I can't imagine we've seen the last of "voices" or another showing of Joni's visual art. CC "I'd like to call back summertime and have her stay for just another month or so." -- JM _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 18:51:37 +0100 (GMT+01:00) From: quiff@earthling.co.uk Subject: Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter there is? - --4819655.969299497339.JavaMail.nobody@www-a24 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit >Relayer wrote: > >>>Does everyone here think that Joni is THE best >>>singer/songwriter there is and ever has been? I know >>>she herself thinks she's among the best in the world. I think she's probably *among* the best, for her sheer integrity alone. I find it very reassuring when singer/songwriters have faith and pride in their work, rather than their image or back-catalogue. That said, it would surprise me if her more recent material endured and matured as well as earlier stuff has done. I think that *today* there are singer/songwriters with new things to say and new ways to say what they want to, eg Fiona Apple, David Sylvian, Morrissey, etc. To completely mess with an Oscar Wilde quote: Performers of today have Joni's work to build on - that's their blessing. Joni had nobody like that - and that's hers. Nick (with apologies to Oscar) - -"Each woman grows up to be her mother, that's their tragedy. No man does. That's his." (Fair's fair, eh?) "This will require a special blend of psychology and extreme violence"-The Young Ones Be whoever you want to be with another.com Just click here: http://another.com/jump.jsp?destDesc=another.com/login.jsp?sig=390 - --4819655.969299497339.JavaMail.nobody@www-a24-- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 11:09:16 -0700 From: "Kate Bennett" Subject: Buckley, Harris & Lanois NJC Just another fan of the recently mentioned Tim Buckley, Emmylou Harris, & Daniel Lanois checking in! I remember listening to Tim Buckley as much as Joni in my formative years. I even used one of his songs as my high school graduation quote. Emmylou is one of my very favorite singers. For several years she was someone I listened to over & over just like with Joni. Her voice is so incredibly beautiful. And Daniel Lanois is a such great producer & has at least one album I know of out of his own songs. I love that album, have to dig it out to listen again ... ******************************************** Kate Bennett featured this month at Taylor Guitars www.taylorguitars.com/artists/awp/indies/ www.katebennett.com www.cdbaby.com/katebennett www.amazon.com ******************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 14:01:26 -0400 From: "Stephen Epstein" Subject: re: Prequel to Harry's House/HOSL - ---------------------- Forwarded by Stephen Epstein/Agmont on 09/18/2000 10:45 AM --------------------------- Stephen Epstein 09/18/2000 11:00 AM To: "c Karma" cc: joni@smorg.com Subject: re: Prequel to Harry's House/HOSL (Document link not converted) I'm puzzled as to why Ms. Mitchell would have reacted so. Would she have been embarrased in any way? Or just not wanting the audience to know the "secret" or inspiration for a song? Protecting Jose? Can anyone shed a little light? Regards, Stephen in Vancouver NP: Natalie Merchant- Ophelia "c Karma" on 09/18/2000 10:01:46 AM Please respond to "c Karma" To: merrillb@crisny.org, joni@smoe.org cc: (bcc: Stephen Epstein/Agmont) Subject: re: Prequel to Harry's House/HOSL Yeah, Chaka spilled the beans on HOSL being about Jose Feliciano's domescile at the Joni's Jazz tribute in Central Park last year, making remarks about the song before she sang it. Looking right at Joni, she said something like, "this is the song you told me you wrote after visiting Jose Feliciano." I seem to remember reports of a mortified, wide-eyed Joni placing a finger to her lips, attempting damage control. I couldn't see from my seat next to the sound board. Chaka noted Joni's reaction but it didn't slow her down one bit. Be careful what you tell this girl! I think that the lines using analogies to television picture tubes are especially clever knowing this association, "Tube's gone darkness darkness, no color, no contrast." "He gave her his darkness to regret and good reason to quit him." CC "I'm not above gossip, but I'll sit on a secret where honor is at stake." - -- JM _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 14:19:44 EDT From: "claud 9" Subject: [none] Where to start? I have been wanting to write about JoniFest since I left Boston but words just aren't easy to come by at times to adequately describe all my wonderful impressions. However, seeing the fest page today and reading the incredibly funny captions, I just have to at least steal Paz's ... OH MY GAWD ... and tell all of you....What another extremely wonderful JoniFest experience this was for me!!!!! Everyone was so enjoyable and easy going and totally open to having a great time... to sing and play and listen to music together. When I walked into Ashara's house, it WAS like returning to a place that felt like home... I had the pleasure of being there in 98 (as a list newbie), had to skip 99 ;-(, and felt a rush of joy simply to be there again in 2000. Ashara, you and your team (Chuck, Maggie, and Heather) are amazing! My hat's off to all of you!!!!!!!!!!! Ashara your willingness to have 40 some people traipse around your house is awesome ... thank you soooooo very much for your vision, your organization, and for dealing with the tedious details which make it all work...simply for making it possible for all of us to gather once again on Labor Day!. How happy I was to be there really hit home when many of the N'awlins festers arrived on Friday... Les, Kakki, Paz, Jimmy, Steve, Leslie, Victor and Bob etc... and when I recognized familiar faces from 98 ... Maggie, Heather, Kenny, Patrick, .... (I am bound to forget someone, sorry ;-)...). And, putting many new faces with familiar list names was especially exciting. I wish so much I had time to acknowledge each and everyone in this note at length.. but time is almost non-existent because of a post-vacation work frenzy. Ashara --- you are a powerhouse of a woman; Jimmy --love your hugs...you and I and John are a sandwich made in heaven; Nikki --- how great of you to jump in and share your enthusiasm for Joni and great music! I will stay in touch since we are pretty much neighbors;-); Kakki -- I missed sipping Martini's with you but the mosquitoes obviously didn't miss sipping on either one of us...I was so sorry though to hear about you getting so sick after the Fest. What a drag. Hope you are feeling better now and can enjoy pleasant memories ;-); Leslie --- so very wonderful to sing with you again! ... and this time we have some of it on tape thanks to you, Steve! Your little minidisk recorder is fabulous... I can't wait to hear us sing the Gallery; Bob --- you are one rockin' dude ;-) your renditions, your voice, your rock-'n-roll moves...how many more talents are you keeping to yourself? Don't hold out on us any longer; Les -- what a pleasure to have been there when you heard Eva Cassidy for the first time... anyone who appreciates her as well as John Martyn as well as Joni has a special place in my heart :-) It was so good to see you again!!!; Paz -- king of the shrimp and the V8 juice... yes, Cold blue... that's how I felt Saturday night ... sorry I was feeling rotten and missed playing with you...but we did have a few wonderful musical moments and there will be many more ;-) ... next time I'll just quit my job a month before the next JoniFest and polish my Sarah and Joni chops so I can keep up with you! Really loved seeing you again; Alison -- thanks so much for coming up and singing Big Yellow Taxi with me... it was one of those special musical moments. Let's do it again next time!; Anne -- so glad I could hear you play and sing and put a face to your name and your posts... you are amazing and an inspiration. If you get anything recorded make sure to let me know! I would love to have you in my CD player. Oh, I could go on and on, ... Wally--thanks for the earrings and your wonderful voice; Jody -- you DO have beautiful eyes... and a great sense of humor; Victor-- thanks for your musical enthusiasm and all those songs; Rose - -- thanks for the pictures, they are great; Mags, Brian, Maggie' Heather, Patrick, Chuck, Bob Murphy, Evie, Julius, MG, Jenny, Joe, Simon ...and everybody else...it was really nice to spend time with you. Wish I had time to write more, but I don't want to wait another two weeks before this gets out ;-)))... I sure hope to see you again!!!! My best to all of you, claud9 _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 11:44:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Don Rowe Subject: Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter there is? For me, this question begs the vacuum in which it is asked. Call it the Clinton in me, but what exactly does "best" mean? And this, of course, is where it gets interesting. If we mean a comparison to the works of others, who do we select? Who writes songs like Joni? If we get technical, and judge it from a musical standpoint of interesting chord progressions and voicings ... again, who writes songs like Joni? If we get literary, and judge on some purely academic critical theory ... well, what do you know ... no one writes songs like Joni! I'll trust that you get my point by now. There are singer songwriters who play the guitar, even those who play in alternate tunings. There are those who write introspective, confessional lyrics. There are those who draw heavily from jazz influences. Those who color their songs with synthesizers. But put it together the way Joni Mitchell does? There's no one even close. So I'll say only that Joni Mitchell is certainly the most "unique" singer/songwriter there is. And in many ways, I think Ms. Mitchell herself might consider that the higher compliment. Don Rowe ===== My debut CD "Closer Now" is now available at http://www.mp3.com/donrowe __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 14:58:21 EDT From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Buckley, Harris & Lanois NJC <> Acadie was his first, then was the follow-up, For The Beauty of Wynonna. If you count the soundtrack to Slingblade, which is mostly his haunting instrumentals, he has 3 solo albums out there. And does The Slut have them all? But of course! ;~) Bob NP: Steve Polifka, "End Of Paradise" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 20:13:06 +0100 From: catman Subject: Re: Yellow Wallpaper - Cop Out?NJC Strabgely enough, I have exactly the lifestyle I hoped for when a teen and dreaming of the man who would 'take me away from all this'!!! I am married to a high powered exec who earns the money I need. I saty at home and look after the house and garden. Only I don't complain about it! Far from having lost myself, i found myself. I wouldn't say i chose it exactly. it just happened. If I hadn't been seriously ill as a teen and not become unemployable(I have a disability pension), who knows what might have happened. Although some people have questioned my lifestyle, I don't feel that I contribute little. Far from it. I take care of John and the home and bills. I also have the time to be there for others-either just for those I come in contact with who need a sounding board or on a phone line for survivors. I get to run errands for people too. One salient point-due to the nature of John's job, he would be up shit creek without someone to take care of all things domestic. Before I got my hands on his bank account, gas, leccy, phone etc would get off thru non payment, credit cards would be defaulted etc. Any person in that sort of job needs a PA! bw colin ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 17:01:10 -0300 From: "Wally Kairuz" Subject: bruce's astral traveling NJC pray tell!!!!! wallyk > > Also in four or five other dimensions, I'm happy to report. I was visiting > a couple of the other ones last night. > > Brew M > > > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 16:35:33 EDT From: FredNow@aol.com Subject: Re: s Joni the best singer/songwriter there is? Relayer211@aol.com wrote: >Does everyone here think that Joni is THE best singer/songwriter >there is and ever has been?I know she herself thinks she's among the best in >the world. Joni is correct: she's among the best. There can never be a single "best" ... and why should there be? - -Fred Simon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 21:39:40 +0100 From: "Martin Giles" Subject: Re: Hiya!! Hi Clive Great stuff. I'm sure we can arrange a Joni get together. You might know that several of us got together about a month ago in Cambridgeshire at Chris Marshall's place for a weekend of wine BBQ and song. Last January Jamie Zubairi organised an evening at a place in Earl's Court called the Troubadour when he, Chris and Marian Russell seranaded us with Joni all evening. Perhaps we can do another get together, and you guys could head the bill? I got a mail from m.harmssen in Frankfurt who's suggesting a Euro Jonifest. I'm not too sure how many mainland Eurolisters we have, but it could be a great meet and greet say in a chalet in the Austrian Alps over shnapps!! (Marian, are you reading this??) You said in your first post that you do mainly 'early Joni'. What does that include? Hejira? Don Juan's Reckless Daughter? I love those two albums, especially Hejira, which is probably my favourite album of anyone's. Another album I'm pretty fanatical about is Blue. How many gigs have you done so far? And are there many Jonifans 'round your parts' ?? atb, Martin. In London. - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2000 11:55 PM Subject: Re: Hiya!! > Hi Martin, and thanks for the message. > We are new to this list, but as musicians we've been around a while. We > formed Foni Mitchell earlier this year, and after some local gigs we are > planning to travel around looking for Joni fans to play to - and hopefully to > convert a few in the process. > We've had e-mail from a number of people who have travelled to the USA to see > Joni, and if we can provide a live (and cheaper!) alternative then hopefully > we can make some people happy. Please do keep in touch, and we hope to come > to London soon - there seems to be a high concentration of JM fans down the > good old M1 ! > Very best wishes, > Clive. > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 22:26:58 +0100 From: "Garret" Subject: RE: A Joni moment....(or two) I'm probably a little late on this thread..When i was in the United States this summer i had one or two interesting Joni moments myself. firstly, i actually heard Joni on teh radio numerous times; Big Yellow Taxi, You Turn me on Im a radio, Help Me, Free Man in Paris and Cherokee Louise. i had only ever heard BYT on the radio here in Ireland! i got for myself a little job in Borders bookshop in Hyannis. the folks there like to give one weeks training to all new staff. on my very first morning training, before the store opened my friend Donna and i went into the store only to hear Joni singing At Last on the in-store system. i made it my business to make this CD the last i heard on my last day there too. sort of corny, but it seemed to fit somehow. next Joni moment: i was abusing my Borders discount on my day off, and was purchasing some of the Joni cds i did not have- Shadows and Light, LOTC, STAS, and Mingus. i was standing at one of the info desks talking to a friend when a customer picked up LOTC and asked me if we were stocking this CD, i was more than happy to show her to hte section. i laughed to myself when her son (about eight or nine years old) said "oh god mother, what's that??". "that" seh replied "is the album that made my youth. it's fantastic" "well" he said" i bet she's no eminem"!! that was the first of many times taht i sold Joni Cds......hell, it even got to the point where i was suggesting Joni to people and they were actually buying the albums! and i have one other tale: aimee, a girl i had been living with, came rushing into our house one day and was terribly excited. "thank god for you and taht Joni one" she called "we were in a taxi home from the mall and BYT came in the radio and we were all singing along" i laughed "the driver said to us- you don't know who it is, do yoou now?" well, Aimee was thinking "its that one that Garret's always talkiing about.....but who is it? Fiona Apple, Patti Smith, or Joni MItchell" amd then it came to her"it wouldn't be Miss Joni Mitchell would it?" well, later that day another friend of mine got the same driver and he excitedly told him all about the girl that knew Joni Mitchell. sorry to fill up the bandwidth with so many silly tales:-) GARRET np- Stevie Nicks "Silver Spring" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 14:29:26 -0400 From: B Merrill Subject: Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter of our time? I assumed that the orginal question was rhetorical. But I've been thinking about this topic. So let me re-phrase it along the lines of: Which singer-songwriters of our time, Joni's time (the last 35-40 years, since the revolution in pop-rock-folk songwriting brought about by the "British Invasion," etc) are the most impressive, in terms of both the quality and quantity of their output? I'd like to underline the quantity aspect, since what is especially impressive about Joni is her SUSTAINED creative powers-- and I suspect, most of all, most consistently, her sustained lyrical powers. She has not exhausted herself, or burned out. (Whether she has peaked is another question. Time will tell...) Before answering the question, it might be useful to locate Joni among some of the other major singer-songwriters of her time. Among the contenders might be, off the top of my head, and in no order: The Ladies: Laura Nyro Joni Ricky Lee J Kate Bush The Guys: Dylan Smokey Robinson Willy Dixon Paul Simon Curtis Mayfield Who else? This is not a list of my favorites, what I like most of all. I'm just trying to list the generally venerated singer-songwriters, with a *sustained* track record. And when you emphasize the quantity part, then I suspect that the only songwriters here who might be more prolific than Joni (while keeping up an adequate quality control) would be Dylan and Smokey Robinson. Does that sound right? Please note that I'm ruling out Bachrach because he is not a lyricist, and Sondheim because he is not a singer. I'm also setting aside composing pairs, such as Lennon & McCartney, Becker & Fagen. Apologies if that seems too arbitrary. ciao, Bruce Relayer211@aol.com wrote: > Does everyone here think that Joni is THE best singer/songwriter there >is and ever has been? I know she herself thinks she's among the best in the >world. I only wish she wrote less love songs and more songs about other >subjects. I *think* I agree on this last point.... But But But maybe I don't... 'Cause hasn't she written a great deal on topics outside of her romance de jour? Who else might write a song about, say, Ethiopia? What subjects did you have in mind? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 18:55:55 -0400 From: "Stephen Epstein" Subject: Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter of our time? For the guys, I think you must include Van Morrisson, And Elvis Costello, though he hasn't been around quite so long. Not sure if I could add to the girls list. Stephen in Vancouver B Merrill on 09/18/2000 11:29:26 AM Please respond to B Merrill To: Joni@smoe.org cc: (bcc: Stephen Epstein/Agmont) Subject: Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter of our time? I assumed that the orginal question was rhetorical. But I've been thinking about this topic. So let me re-phrase it along the lines of: Which singer-songwriters of our time, Joni's time (the last 35-40 years, since the revolution in pop-rock-folk songwriting brought about by the "British Invasion," etc) are the most impressive, in terms of both the quality and quantity of their output? I'd like to underline the quantity aspect, since what is especially impressive about Joni is her SUSTAINED creative powers-- and I suspect, most of all, most consistently, her sustained lyrical powers. She has not exhausted herself, or burned out. (Whether she has peaked is another question. Time will tell...) Before answering the question, it might be useful to locate Joni among some of the other major singer-songwriters of her time. Among the contenders might be, off the top of my head, and in no order: The Ladies: Laura Nyro Joni Ricky Lee J Kate Bush The Guys: Dylan Smokey Robinson Willy Dixon Paul Simon Curtis Mayfield Who else? This is not a list of my favorites, what I like most of all. I'm just trying to list the generally venerated singer-songwriters, with a *sustained* track record. And when you emphasize the quantity part, then I suspect that the only songwriters here who might be more prolific than Joni (while keeping up an adequate quality control) would be Dylan and Smokey Robinson. Does that sound right? Please note that I'm ruling out Bachrach because he is not a lyricist, and Sondheim because he is not a singer. I'm also setting aside composing pairs, such as Lennon & McCartney, Becker & Fagen. Apologies if that seems too arbitrary. ciao, Bruce Relayer211@aol.com wrote: > Does everyone here think that Joni is THE best singer/songwriter there >is and ever has been? I know she herself thinks she's among the best in the >world. I only wish she wrote less love songs and more songs about other >subjects. I *think* I agree on this last point.... But But But maybe I don't... 'Cause hasn't she written a great deal on topics outside of her romance de jour? Who else might write a song about, say, Ethiopia? What subjects did you have in mind? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 17:57:48 -0500 (CDT) From: michael w yarbrough Subject: Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter of our time? Bruce wrote: > Among the contenders might be, off the top of my head, and in no order: > > The Ladies: > > Laura Nyro > Joni > Ricky Lee J > Kate Bush > > The Guys: > > Dylan > Smokey Robinson > Willy Dixon > Paul Simon > Curtis Mayfield Most worthy contenders, of course. As much as I love Ricky, I do think she's just a tad out of her league here, but I know many would disagree. (I do question the need to break them down by gender, however. Race and genre are at least as important factors in each of these artists' work as gender, and none of the three is as significant as a million intangibles.) To this list I would add, off the top of my head, Prince, Willy Nelson, and the most glaring omission from your list, Neil Young. I strongly suspect that PJ Harvey and Bjork will earn their own places here after a few years as well. If Stevie Wonder's lyrics didn't suck so badly he'd be here, too. But then again, Stevie's lyrics vs. Dylan's music: is one really distractingly poor to a greater degree than the other? As for the arc of Joni's work, while she clearly puts out some great stuff still, I'd say the quality control on her songwriting (thought NOT her singing) has weakened just a bit over the past ten years or so. I say that not to diminish Joni so much as to remind us to be a bit kind to other artists in their later years whom we are now comparing to her. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 19:14:23 EDT From: MGVal@aol.com Subject: Do I work at a great place or what? NJC Well, I tried to crow about this to my boyfriend, but since it does not involve baseball or water-skiing or other sports, it went right through him. Who else will appreciate this opportunity other than my fellow list members. Tomorrow at Valley, we are going to be treated to an in-house performance by Judy Collins. I am VERY excited. It's small, (not quite my cubicle, but heck, she might stop by if she has an accounting question), and very intimate. As a matter of fact, the Labor Day Fest at Belleville Church was a huge venue compared to the "Green" at Valley. To make things even better, it starts at the very civilized time of 11:30AM. None of this "up past my bedtime" stuff for me! Thanks for letting me have the bandwidth on this one! MG - off for yet another attempt at water-skiing. I want my money back from my water-ski school! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 16:21:51 PDT From: "Tim Jordan" Subject: Re: relayer at the white house: a plea Relayer211@aol.com wrote: >....they DO know it (I've heard each one refer to it as a Joni Mitchell >song on tv-Hillary on the Joni tribute special,Bill on a music program on >MTV >),in their hearts they think of it as a Judy Collins song.I think that's >the >way it always shall be... At least she doesn't have to go by Nathan La Franeer. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 20:33:12 EDT From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Is Joni the best singer/songwriter of our time? << The Ladies: Laura Nyro Joni Ricky Lee J Kate Bush The Guys: Dylan Smokey Robinson Willy Dixon Paul Simon Curtis Mayfield >> Stephen already said Elvis Costello, but I'll second that vote. Probably THE most prolific songwriter of the last 20 years and master of every genre there is, just about. I'd also include Bruce Springsteen, our generation's Woody Guthrie, who explores a consistent theme but does it with such brilliance much like Joni can write love song after love song and never duplicate herself...and thanks for including Curtis Mayfield. And the Willie Dixon choice is inspired but odd...many bluesmen would also be eligible (John Le Hooker, Muddy Waters), including most obviously Chuck Berry. Also, I know you have that Kate Bush thing going on, but I wouldn't include her in this group. She's not very prolific, is she? I would name Carole King before RLJ OR Kate... Obviously, these kinds of lists are always subjective, but they are a lot of fun as well! Thanks for the thought-provoking post... Bob NP: Fleetwood Mac, "Over My Head" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 18:05:22 -0700 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: Prequel to Harry's House/HOSL > Yeah, Chaka spilled the beans on HOSL being about Jose Feliciano's domescile > at the Joni's Jazz tribute in Central Park last year, making remarks about > the song before she sang it. Looking right at Joni, she said something > like, "this is the song you told me you wrote after visiting Jose > Feliciano." snip> I think that the lines using analogies to television picture tubes are > especially clever knowing this association, "Tube's gone darkness darkness, > no color, no contrast." "He gave her his darkness to regret and good reason > to quit him." Well I can see how it fits if it is true, but personally I would prefer to believe that it isn't. Or if it is true that Jose's home life inspired the song, I would hope that Joni was trying to convey something more than the image of a wealthy blind man and his wife living a suburban life style. The references to darkness and the tube always seemed to be referring to the stagnant, colorless routine of this woman's life. The darkness he gives her to regret is his own dissatisfaction & anger - all that baggage that material success has never managed to dispel. I see the woman as a trophy wife that this man has built a show case for. The diamond for her throat is like a collar. Fences & security systems seem to imprison more than they protect. The man has succeeded, however, in keeping 'out the unknown'. Nothing new or challenging can get in. I've always felt the blindness was metaphorical, representing an inability to see what is wrong with the situation or perceive that there is a world of alternative possibilities waiting just outside. Both the man and the woman are blind to these possibilities, so she stays with a love of some kind... Somehow giving the references to blindness a literal meaning just ruins the song for me. Chaka should have kept her mouth shut. Maybe it's some kind of running joke that the two of them have about the song. I prefer to be in denial on this subject! Mark in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 21:08:09 EDT From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: Re: Do I work at a great place or what? NJC In a message dated 9/18/00 7:45:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time, MGVal@aol.com writes: << Tomorrow at Valley, we are going to be treated to an in-house performance by Judy Collins. >> That's fantastic MG! You really do work in a great place. If you get a chance to talk to her, and if by chance she really does read her own email, please apologize to her for me. A few months back when someone on the list posted her email address, I added her name to my address book. This past Friday when I posted the silly list about "Getting Older", I sent it to EVERYONE in my address book. Judy was unfortunately a recipient too! Since she's on AOL, I can tell that she (or her management team) read it. I still can't imagine that she reads all of her email, but if she does I hope she has a good sense of humour :~) Jimmy ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 21:42:40 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Allergies (NJC) Rev Vince wrote: "and maybe I am sitting in front of the tv so much because I haven't been feeling all that well (actually, quite unwell) for a while and the doctor ran some food allergy tests and listen to what I have to give up FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE (no little Egyptian virus that will pass, this is a lifetime of dietary restrictions): all milk - cool, except no cheese, no pizza, no yogurt, no ice cream ever again, and no cheese ravioli, no manicotti, no lasagna... you can't have those with no cheese! No ricotta! I am Italian, damn it! all alcoholic beverages (not much of a drinker anyway) malt and oats (there goes Captain Crunch, but hell, I can't have cereal anyway without milk....) cauliflower, horseradish, mushrooms, sauerkraut (these are good things to be told by your doctor never to eat again except for horseradish at Passover but then, I'm not Jewish, but with these dietary restrictions I'll sure be able to keep a kosher kitchen!) garlic (damn, I am Italian, how can I give up garlic?) bananas, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, cherries (remember all those I ate at the Pine Knob Joni Fest and forever after?), cranberry (Thanksgiving will be a disaster!), grapes, pineapple, watermelon, strawberries... that is like a listing of all of my favorite fruits, all forbidden forever. There have been days that all I ate was from this list thinking it was healthy! And what this does to strawberry sundaes, blueberry turnovers, etc., is frightening. My local baker had to lay off two employees today... no raspberries, olives, figs, dates, prune, raisins, sesame seeds... no loss to me on these at all No wine vinegar (no more of my special pasta sauce) maple syrup, honey, sugar cane, molasses, rice syrup, corn syrup... I can't have any (F word inserted here) ice cream but I can't even have sherbet, whose main ingredient is corn syrup; go the store and find anything packaged with corn syrup! No grape juice... with the no wine (no alcoholic beverages) what will I do on Sundays when I get to the part of the liturgy about communion, "drink all of it..." no orange juice (although oranges are allowed?????) no baker's yeast, no brewers yeast: and aren't these in all pastas,breads and cakes desserts? what I can eat: quinoa, kamut, spelt, agar, chard, carrageen, star fruit, longan: I have no clue what these are and they sure aren't products one buys in western Michigan! I can also eat: artichoke, chicory, escarole, leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, beets, spinach, parsnips; ok, I can eat these, but I won't, no way. I can also eat limes and lemons. Ok, who eats limes and lemons? I have, but that was usually to win a bet, not on a daily basis. I can eat: eggs (I hate eggs!) including duck eggs, and poultry including duck, and I have three pet ducks, Babe, Lil Bud, and Kriss, and if anyone thinks I can eat a kin of my pets, they are nuts! Life will be meat, rice, cucumbers, corn, peas, and that seems to be about it, other than I will become the world's largest consumer of potato pancakes (they are allowed!). I can eat coconut, but how does one eat coconut? So rather than dwell on my limited food resources for the rest of my life, I turn again to MTV's Video Music Award show and watch it again, and wait for the real Slim Shady to please stand up, please stand up... (the Rev) Vince, who can never eat pizza again and that is very sad indeed" Vince- This is really sad news to hear from you and I FEEL your pain. I suffer from allergies something terrible all year around mostly from foods similar to the ones you are plus choclate, peanuts, several cooking oils (which means no potato chips ( a penalty worde than death for me) plus every grass known to man, Cypress (I have 30 some odd Cypress Trees out in the yard). Not to mention a whole host of shit I don't even know what they are. I did the dietary thing and I went for the weekly shots and I have done it all. The sad thing is none of it works for me except for Claritin. This drug is a life saver for me about 80% of the year. I try not to OVER indulge in the things I am NOT suppose to, but they will have to drag me kicking and screaming before I am going to give it all up. Gawd CHEESE!!! I would DIE!!!! Try to follow the rules there, but hey if you still feel rotten most of the time, I say to hell with it and go for quality of life. By the way the best way to eat coconut is naked on the beach in Honduras and the right out of the shell and the meat needs to be soft (not the hard kind you find in the supermarkets up here). It never hurts to drink the coconut water with a little rum and lime juice too. Hope things work out for you bro. Peace Michael NP-Half Pat Late-Pat Metheny (with Brecker Thanks John!!) P.S. They would have to chisel the garlic out of my cold deaad hands before they could get it away from me (and I am only an honorary Italian in certain circles). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 21:54:04 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Tatoos (NJC) Bob wrote: "Hey, there's an idea! If you were going to get a Joni tatoo (or maybe some of you have one already), what would it be & where?" I have always wanted to get a diamond snake around my arm, but have not been drunk or stoned enough (or both) to get it done. But I AM game. Maybe when we all go to NYC. I hear Allison is planning a JoniFest in NYC.... Michael NP-Everyday I Think Of You-Pat Metheny ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 23:06:05 -0500 From: "Michael Bird" Subject: odd joni musical trivia question does anybody know, offhand, what Joni's widest vocal leap is? meaning, the notes within one phrase with the widest spread on the scale. just curious. this came to mind while chirping to myself the line "i came in as bright as a neon light and i burned out right there before him" and couldn't get as high as "came in" nor as low as "him" and realized she does that wack note-jumpin' all the time. i had a similar problem this weekend after a few bourbons warbling the first verse of "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" at a party. "some other GUY you knew before." forget it! Nickel Chief ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2000 #502 ***************************** ------- Post messages to the list at Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe joni-digest" to ------- Siquomb, isn't she?