From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2005 #287 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/joni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Saturday, July 23 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 287 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- RE: Canadian Readers' Digest Rad ["hell" ] Joni Mitchell covers Volume 66 [mags h ] Re: Joni's 45's [Jamie Zubairi ] Re: Aimee Mann [Jamie Zubairi ] on a personal note, NJC [mags h ] find the cost of freedom [mags h ] Gay Boyfriend -- njc [Smurf ] Re: Aimee Man njc [JasonMaloney71@aol.com] Re:London Hit Again? njc (cricket) [Gertus@aol.com] Re: find the cost of freedom [Bob Muller ] Re: Joni's 45's [Gary Z ] Re: Joni's 45's [Wtking59@cs.com] Re: remembering Full Moon - NJC- and France [Chuck Eisenhardt ] Camille Paglia INTERVIEWs Joni [est86mlm@ameritech.net] Shawn Colvin opening [Zachary Scot Johnson ] Joni's bittersweetness? [Parts of Yes ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 23 Jul 2005 00:21:52 +1200 From: "hell" Subject: RE: Canadian Readers' Digest Rad Deb wrote: I'm as fed up as everyone seems to be about Joni's relentless diatribes against the music business, especially when she insists that "nothing's any good," and seems so profoundly ignorant of any music that is outside the mainstream. BUT, is our view a little distorted just because we're JMDLers? We've read 20,000 of these articles, so of course we're sick of them. But normal people haven't read 20,000 Joni interviews. If they read just one, I bet a lot of them would think she's making a valid point. The commercial airwaves *are* full of junk, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of room for real artistry to slip in. A very valid point - I don't listen to commercial radio in NZ for precisely that reason (although they have raised the NZ content recently, which I do appreciate). And I must admit, my first reaction was to wonder how many times we're actually hearing the same few interviews rehashed and rewritten in a slightly different vein. And Joni does love to talk - I'd be surprised if she spent ALL her interview time bemoaning the state of the music industry and not talking about other things. But then controversy sells, doesn't it, so any journalist is going to try to make the most of any contentious issue. Oh well, I still love her - even if it does scare me sometimes, how much she's turning into my mother (but then she was a Mitchell once, so maybe there's a connection)! And I do have to chuckle at some of Joni's comments - some of them strike me as just the kind of thing Myrtle would (and did) say ;o)! Hell ___________________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman Hell's Pages - a WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE! http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 10:36:13 -0700 (PDT) From: mags h Subject: Joni Mitchell covers Volume 66 sweetness in the dark, what a gorgeous rendition of one of my most favourite Joni songs, Amelia! gorgeous. oh , there's comfort in melancholy with no need ... Looking forward to hearing the rest, the disk just arrived in the post, moments ago. gratitudinally yours, Mags~ Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:42:41 +0100 (BST) From: Jamie Zubairi Subject: Re: Joni's 45's Hi there I wonder why 'How Do You Stop?/Moon at the Window (live)/Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song) were only released in he UK on Reprise in 1994? Why not the US? And Night Ride Home/Slouching Towards Bethlehem and Come In From The Cold (edit)/Ray's Dad's Cadillac/Come In From The Cold (lp version) all 1991 on Geffen I also have a copy of 'Nothing Can Be Done (edit) on cd single but I think this was only a dj only promo that I got off eBay Much Joni Jamie Zoob - --- Wtking59@cs.com wrote: > GARY (Z-Man) !!! > > Thank you SO MUCH for this much-desired list of > Joni's 45's. I'm saving this > one for myself (although--hint, hint!--they > seriously need to be archived > somewhere on this site for future reference). > > So, are you listening Les?!?!?......... ;-) > > > XXXOOO, > Billy > > NP: "Smile / Mars" by Laura Nyro > ______________________________________ > > Gary Z (nyro_in_detroit@comcast.net) wrote: > > > Since I have a huge amount of 45's, I recently > purchased Goldmine's > 'Guide to American Records' and came across Joni's > entry for her > complete American-released singles. I know we've > discussed this before and I > think there still might be a need for this > information in our archives, > so I've copied the information from the book below. > Hope this either helps, > or is > of interest to some people on the list. > > Best regards, Gary > > > * * * * * * * * * * > > JONI MITCHELL's Complete American Singles: > > Reprise: > 0694 -- I Had A King / Night In The City (1968) > 0906 -- Big Yellow Taxi / Woodstock (1970) > 1029 -- Carey / This Flight Tonight (1971) > 1049 -- A Case Of You / California (1971) > 1154 -- Both Sides Now / Chelsea Morning ("Back To > Back Hits" series) (1972) > 1155 -- Big Yellow Taxi / Carey ("Back To Back Hits" > series) (1972) > > Asylum: > 11010 -- You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio / Urge For > Going (1972) > 11029 -- Raised On Robbery / Court And Spark (1973) > 11034 -- Help Me / Just Like This Train (1974) > 11041 -- Free Man In Paris / People's Parties (1974) > > 45221 -- Big Yellow Taxi / Rainy Night House (1974) > 45244 -- Jericho / Carey (1975) > 45298 -- In France They Kiss On Main Street / The > Boho Dance (1976) > 45377 -- Coyote / Blue Motel Room (1976) > 45467 -- Dreamland / Jericho (1978) > 46506 -- The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines / God Must > Be A Boogie Man (1979) > 47038 -- Why Do Fools Fall In Love / Black Crow > (1980) > > Geffen: > 29849 -- (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care / Love > (picture sleeve) (1982) > 29849 -- (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care / Love > (1982) > 29757 -- Underneath The Streetlights / Be Cool > (1983) > 28840 -- Good Friends / Smokin' (Empty, Try Another) > (picture sleeve) (1985) > 28840 -- Good Friends / Smokin' (Empty, Try Another) > (1985) > 28675 -- Shiny Toys / The Three Great Stimulants > (1986) > 27887 -- My Secret Place / Lakota (1988) > > Geffen (12 Inch): > PRO-A-2386 (DJ) -- Good Friends (same on both sides) > (1985) > PRO-A-2441 (DJ) -- Shiny Toys (same on both sides) > (1986) > PRO-A-3018 (DJ) -- Snakes And Ladders (same on both > sides) (1988) > PRO-A-3116 (DJ) -- My Secret Place (edit version and > LP version) (1988) > ___________________________________________________________ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:49:36 +0100 (BST) From: Jamie Zubairi Subject: Re: Aimee Mann I know what you mean, I still haven't got it yet but on a few listens from people's iTunes at work I've got to like it... I like the fact she's not afraid of being miserable, or not pretty-sounding... I find it really interesting that some listers don't like the sound of her voice (I guess that's why we're on the jmdl, not the Mannlist or whatever it's called...) but I really like that grating nasal sound that she does for her high chest-voice notes (Goodbye Caroline). She can have a really pretty sound (Wise Up, Save Me) but I like the fact she doesn't care what appeals as long as it's right for the song... Also I like the fact that somewhere Joni has named her as the one that gets close to her, lyrically... Much Joni Jamie Zoob - --- ROBMSTEEN@aol.com wrote: > Re: Aimee Mann > > Grr. That gig passed me by. For me, Aimee is one of > the best songwriters of > the past decade, and a veritable Beatle-in-a-bra > melodically-wise. Whatever, > the Magnolia soundtrack and Bachelor No.2 are among > my most listened-to albums > of the past decade. My one slight gripe is that she > has come to sound a bit > samey. The latest, which is simply too miserable for > words at times, is too > much of a retread to these ears. > > Cornish Rob > ___________________________________________________________ How much mail storage do you get for free? Yahoo! Mail gives you 1GB! Get Yahoo! Mail http://uk.mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 10:55:15 -0700 (PDT) From: mags h Subject: on a personal note, NJC as of the 31st, I'll have a new address, so if you need to know what it is , please write me off list. Thank you for the bandwidth, it's so much easier this way. love, Mags, np: Gemma Hasson, Urge for Going beautiful! - --------------------------------- Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 11:05:22 -0700 (PDT) From: mags h Subject: find the cost of freedom whoa, Bob, the cover (vol 66) ... for All I Want, interpretation by Volker Niehusmann & Christiane Weber begins with the intro from Find the Cost of Freedom....shiver me timbers, this is beautiful beyond words. Mags I exist as I am, that is enough. ~walt whitman~ Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 15:17:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Smurf Subject: Gay Boyfriend -- njc Formerly a ukulele/glockenspiel duo, The Hazzards are now a five-piece bandwith a harp! Their peppy, girly songs, including the hilarious, Gay Boyfriend, are sweet and seemingly innocent, but we can just tell those two precious, uke-strumming gals in front are up to something. - --Time Out New York "Gay Boyfriend" << http://www.ryantown.com/gayboyfriend/ >> "Shut Up & Make Out" << http://www.redheadedleague.com/films/shutup/shutup.html >> These made me laugh. I hope you enjoy them. Have a nice weekend. XO, - --Bob __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail for Mobile Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/learn/mail ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:32:10 EDT From: JasonMaloney71@aol.com Subject: Re: Aimee Man njc Not forgetting her work with 'Til Tuesday. Perhaps it's the 80s whore in me but I personally prefer the 2nd and 3rd TT albums from the second half of that decade (Welcome Home and Everything's Different Now) to her solo stuff from the 90s onwards; which seems to fall into the "really admire it but never play it that often although I know I should try to" category of my collection. Jason. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 18:44:18 EDT From: Gertus@aol.com Subject: Re:London Hit Again? njc (cricket) In a message dated 22/07/2005 22:17:15 GMT Standard Time, owner-joni-digest@smoe.org writes: > Re: London Hit Again? njc > > > > Azeem in London, trying to take solace in the fact that we're kicking Aussie > > arse in the first Test (cricket match)... > Azeem, will you never learn? There's no such thing as kicking Aussie arse in cricket. They will always come back and kick us twice as hard - that's just the way they are. Nevertheless, it's so exciting just to see us competing with their excellent team for a change and giving them something to think about. What a shame the test series didn't start a bit earlier in the season before they had a chance to acclimatise and work out our strengths! To be honest, I also harbour this romantic feeling that we could actually defeat them, at least in one match, if not the series, and wouldn't that give us all a great boost just now? Come on guys, stop messing around. Of course, the weather could have the last word. Jacky ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 15:53:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: find the cost of freedom Glad you're groovin' with it, Mags - 66 is pretty cool to be sure, and ALL of those Niehusmann/Weber tracks are amazing. According to the liner notes in the CD, there was no mixing or anything, they did the entire album non-stop in one take. I didn't realize that 'Find The Cost of Freedom' is in there - nice catch. Bob NP: Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, "Doin' It" mags h wrote: whoa, Bob, the cover (vol 66) ... for All I Want, interpretation by Volker Niehusmann & Christiane Weber begins with the intro from Find the Cost of Freedom....shiver me timbers, this is beautiful beyond words. Mags I exist as I am, that is enough. ~walt whitman~ Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:06:56 -0400 From: Gary Z Subject: Re: Joni's 45's Hi Jamie, Yes it's interesting that those recordings you mentioned were only released in the UK. I believe that the CD single of "My Secret Place" (a 3" CD) which also includes "Number One" "Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody" and "Good Friends" was also only released in Germany. But of course, the list I provided did not include CD singles, only American released 45's on vinyl. I'm pretty sure that there must be vinyl 45's that may have some differences that were only released in Europe and other places as well. I'll have to get going and see if I can compile a list of ALL of those too! For you fortunate ones attending Jonifest in France, do try to hit the record stores if you can find any, and see if you can dig up some gems we're missing! Oh, and please check out Laura Nyro for me too!! I would be very grateful!! Best to you! Gary Jamie Zubairi wrote: >Hi there > >I wonder why 'How Do You Stop?/Moon at the Window >(live)/Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song) were only >released in he UK on Reprise in 1994? Why not the US? > >And Night Ride Home/Slouching Towards Bethlehem and >Come In From The Cold (edit)/Ray's Dad's Cadillac/Come >In From The Cold (lp version) all 1991 on Geffen > >I also have a copy of 'Nothing Can Be Done (edit) on >cd single but I think this was only a dj only promo >that I got off eBay > >Much Joni > >Jamie Zoob > > >--- Wtking59@cs.com wrote: > > > >>GARY (Z-Man) !!! >> >>Thank you SO MUCH for this much-desired list of >>Joni's 45's. I'm saving this >>one for myself (although--hint, hint!--they >>seriously need to be archived >>somewhere on this site for future reference). >> >> So, are you listening Les?!?!?......... ;-) >> >> >>XXXOOO, >>Billy >> >>NP: "Smile / Mars" by Laura Nyro >> ______________________________________ >> >>Gary Z (nyro_in_detroit@comcast.net) wrote: >> >> >>Since I have a huge amount of 45's, I recently >>purchased Goldmine's >>'Guide to American Records' and came across Joni's >>entry for her >>complete American-released singles. I know we've >>discussed this before and I >>think there still might be a need for this >>information in our archives, >>so I've copied the information from the book below. >>Hope this either helps, >>or is >>of interest to some people on the list. >> >>Best regards, Gary >> >> >> * * * * * * * * * * >> >>JONI MITCHELL's Complete American Singles: >> >>Reprise: >>0694 -- I Had A King / Night In The City (1968) >>0906 -- Big Yellow Taxi / Woodstock (1970) >>1029 -- Carey / This Flight Tonight (1971) >>1049 -- A Case Of You / California (1971) >>1154 -- Both Sides Now / Chelsea Morning ("Back To >>Back Hits" series) (1972) >>1155 -- Big Yellow Taxi / Carey ("Back To Back Hits" >>series) (1972) >> >>Asylum: >>11010 -- You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio / Urge For >>Going (1972) >>11029 -- Raised On Robbery / Court And Spark (1973) >>11034 -- Help Me / Just Like This Train (1974) >>11041 -- Free Man In Paris / People's Parties (1974) >> >>45221 -- Big Yellow Taxi / Rainy Night House (1974) >>45244 -- Jericho / Carey (1975) >>45298 -- In France They Kiss On Main Street / The >>Boho Dance (1976) >>45377 -- Coyote / Blue Motel Room (1976) >>45467 -- Dreamland / Jericho (1978) >>46506 -- The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines / God Must >>Be A Boogie Man (1979) >>47038 -- Why Do Fools Fall In Love / Black Crow >>(1980) >> >>Geffen: >>29849 -- (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care / Love >>(picture sleeve) (1982) >>29849 -- (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care / Love >>(1982) >>29757 -- Underneath The Streetlights / Be Cool >>(1983) >>28840 -- Good Friends / Smokin' (Empty, Try Another) >>(picture sleeve) (1985) >>28840 -- Good Friends / Smokin' (Empty, Try Another) >>(1985) >>28675 -- Shiny Toys / The Three Great Stimulants >>(1986) >>27887 -- My Secret Place / Lakota (1988) >> >>Geffen (12 Inch): >>PRO-A-2386 (DJ) -- Good Friends (same on both sides) >>(1985) >>PRO-A-2441 (DJ) -- Shiny Toys (same on both sides) >>(1986) >>PRO-A-3018 (DJ) -- Snakes And Ladders (same on both >>sides) (1988) >>PRO-A-3116 (DJ) -- My Secret Place (edit version and >>LP version) (1988) >> >> >> > > > > >___________________________________________________________ >How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday >snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:19:50 EDT From: Wtking59@cs.com Subject: Re: Joni's 45's In a message dated 7/22/05 7:07:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Gary Z (nyro_in_detroit@comcast.net) wrote: > But of course, the list I provided did not include CD singles, only > American released 45's on vinyl. I'm pretty sure that there must be vinyl 45's THANKS AGAIN, Gary. But, of course!!!--THAT never even entered my mind...and totally explains it (they were CD-only singles)! ;-) XXXOOO, Billy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 20:28:24 -0400 From: Chuck Eisenhardt Subject: Re: remembering Full Moon - NJC- and France Who's wedding? who's the certain someones?? I'm there. I'll even get a white Tom Wolfe suit and some spectators! Chuck On Thursday, July 21, 2005, at 05:34 PM, Susan Guzzi wrote: > Hello my fest Sisters & Brothers! > > I will not be kissing any of you on Main Street this year, but will > hold on to all the memories we made at Full Moon. I do feel like > something is missing this summer. I have been to 3 fests at Full Moon > and my girlfriend Meg has only been to one - yet we are both having > the shakes over not having fest to look forward to. But I think you > are both correct - so if this is the case why can't we do both?! > After all ... I know a certain couple who is willing to do a > wedding/commitment ceremony and fest! Two parties in one! > > Cheers to all those doing Jonifest in France! I am envious but sooo > happy that the tradition continues and expands! I will miss my > Jonifest mates this year, but hope to see you all again soon! > > Peace > Susan > > > > Catherine McKay wrote: > > --- Jenny Goodspeed (who in France might be known as > Genevieve Bonnevitesse) wrote: > > My understanding was that since we could no longer > > guarantee them that we could fill the place during > > the summer season that Full Moon Fest in August is........ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 10:45:46 +0200 (CEST) From: Joseph Palis Subject: RE: shawn colvin njc Hi Kate~ And yes I am back in Manila for a brief pre-dissertation fieldwork but all I get are rallies and street demonstrations. Everytime I come back in the Philippines, there is always something brewing. If this happens again next time I will think I will have something to do with starting a revolution. How Tracy Chapman. Thanks for sharing that intimate show of Shawn Colvin. I always loved stories about artists and the way their non-popularity made for fiercely protective fan base. I like Shawn Colvin and I discovered her first via her "Cover Girl" album and I got her albums previous to that. I haven't stopped loving her although I have yet to watch her in concert. Anytime she hits the Triangle, I'm in. Joseph in rainy Manila np: Missy Higgins "The Sound of White" Kate Bennett a icrit : >Delurking briefly to chime in in support of Shawn Colvin. I love "A Few Small Repairs" too and I think it is a creative peak but I am sure there are fans out there of her other albums.< Joseph you are back in manila?... nice to hear from you! I should probably be writing this to the 'small repairs' list but that album, as much as I loved it was too me a plateau of what she had previously released... Stepping into the time machine... somewhere in the late 80's I picked up the paper & read the most intriguing interview with a songwriter who would be playing at very small venue that very night & who cited joni Mitchell & the beatles as her influences... I knew I had to be there... shawn did not disappoint... those who were there still speak about that funky show where we all sat on the floor & you could have heard a pin drop... as we listened to the remarkable voice & songs of someone we had never heard of or heard before (on the west coast- shawn had honed her skills for years in nyc I later learned).... she was right on the cusp of her skyrocket to becoming well known... steady on then fat city then cover girl were as influential to me as any of joni's albums... after a decade of feeling lost shawn renewed my hope in what joni first delivered... karla & rickie lee & emmylou many others were in there to keep the fire burning too.. kate www.katebennett.com - --------------------------------- Appel audio GRATUIT partout dans le monde avec le nouveau Yahoo! Messenger Tilichargez le ici ! ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 20:30:14 -0500 From: est86mlm@ameritech.net Subject: Camille Paglia INTERVIEWs Joni Interview Magazine August 2005 http://www.interviewmagazine.com/ Camille Paglia Reads Forty-three of the World's Best Poems (Pantheon), http://www.randomhouse.com/pantheon/catalog/results2.pperl?authorid=23065 http://www.randomhouse.com/pantheon/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375420849&view=desc http://www.campusi.com/isbn_0375420843.htm http://btobsearch.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?btob=Y&pwb=1&ean=9780375420849 J O N I M I T C H E L L "We are stardust we are golden," Joni Mitchell sang an age ago in "Woodstock," paving the way for a generation of artists to open their imaginations to the gleaming potential of pop and to making music that matters. Here, Mitchell and Camille Paglia discuss how striving for those ideals, in these new, uncertain times, has never seemed more crucial INTERVIEW BY CAMILLE PAGLIA In her new best-selling book, Break, Blow Burn: Camille Paglia Reads Forty-three of the World's Best Poems (Pantheon), Interview's contributing editor Camille Paglia offers a meditation on Joni Mitchell's classic song "Woodstock." here she talks with the music legend about her new album, Songs of a Prairie Girl (Rhino Records), and the many sources of her inspiration. CAMILLE PAGLIA: Is this Joni? JONI MITCHELL: This is Joni. CP: Oh, wow, I'm floored to be speaking to one of the great artists of our time! JM: So, what should we talk about? CP: I'm interested in your creative process. You've lived a whole life as an artist in ways that are very inspiring to young people who lack role models today. As a lifelong fan of pop culture, I'm worried about the way it's supplanting artistic experience for young people now. JM: Well, America has always loved its criminals, but in the last two decades the sediment has truly risen to the top. To me, underbelly cultures are always interesting, but when those subcultures grab the reins and rise to a dominating position, especially in youth-oriented mediums, there are sociological consequences. CP: Your music often explores the metaphysics of love-the ecstasy and melancholy, the ups and downs. Just a few days ago, I was standing in the plumbing section of Home Depot when your song "Help Me" came over the loudspeaker. it's absolutely gorgeous and has enduring popular appeal. It captures the subtleties and emotional modalities of being in love or out of love. But that kind of complex insight seems gone. Young musicians were once the cutting edge of culture, but no more. JM: When we started out, it was uncharted waters. I mean, it's not like I grew up playing air guitar in front of my bedroom mirror. Artists were still disreputable. I was a painter and wanted to go to art school, but my parents didn't want me to-to be an artist wasn't respectable. Then the Beatles hit, and suddenly people thought, "There's gold in 'dem hills." I never thought I'd have a record deal. I come from a wheat-farming community where it's the tall poppy formula: Stick your head above the crown, and they'll be happy to lop it off for you! [Paglia laughs] You weren't encouraged to be exceptional unless it was about getting A's in school-but there's no creativity to that. CP: That is why your body of work has such quality. You were developing your imagination and your voice before outside commercial pressures began. Now young people instantly covet the recording contract. Unfortunately, the fabulous music-video revolution of the '80s degenerated and turned music into image and posing. JM: I heard a record executive say on the radio that they were no longer looking for talent but rather for a look and a willingness to cooperate, because with Pro Tools they can fix anything. There's always been a disposable quality to this business. CP: I've been teaching at art schools for most of my career, and I can clearly see the way the business is short-circuiting young artists' development. They don't have time to percolate. JM: The reason I did is because the record company didn't value me at all. This was to my advantage. They got me dirt cheap-they didn't know how to market me. I looked like a folk musician because I'd been playing in clubs for several years, which I really enjoyed. You could jup down off that stage, and you were still one of the people-they didn't gasp at the mention of your name. It was comfortable, and you could experiment. Warner Reprise had no money invested in me and therefore left me alone-not out of kindness but out of disinterest. CP: But wasn't there a tremendous buzz in the music community about your songs? JM: Actually, other artists would cross the street when I walked by! Initially, I thought that was due to elitism, but I later found out they were intimidated by me. Led Zeppelin was very courageous and outspoken about liking my music, but others wouldn't admit it. My market was women, and for many years the bulk of my audience was black, but straight white males had a problem with my music. They would come up to me and say, "My girlfriend really likes your music," as if they were the wrong demographic. CP: the musical landscape has changed profoundly. In my commentary on your song "Woodstock," I stress the enormous difference between Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's upbeat hard-rock version and the way you perform it as a moody art song. Their style had the cultural momentum for decades, but I think the hard-rock moment in popular music is over. I'm sad because it was such a huge part of my youth. JM: I've seen things written about "Woodstock" in university courses on the '60s-they really like to nail me for the naive idealism of t, whereas you were able to get the ironic tone. At that time, I felt so desperately that we were placed here to be the custodians of the planet Eden. So for the first 10 or 20 performances of that song, I used to get a lump in my throat. I felt that the primitives who remained on the planet were still living in harmony with nature, versus us-the supreme white guy, with our scientific monstrosities, playing with half a deck! We need to get a grip on our original destiny and learn to love the wild and save what's left of it and not go paving over farmlands that we may need someday. This is the farmer in me speaking. I'm the first generation of my genealogy off the farm, so it's in my blood to think in terms of good soil and weather [laughs]. CP: This brings us to your new album, Songs of a Prairie Girl. You come from Central and Western Canada, a great open landscape that has clearly given you vision and perspective. JM: In looking at the album I found that it's all about winter and wanting to get out of there! [both laugh] The song "Big Yellow Taxi" was inspired by my first trip to Hawaii. I woke up after my first night there, looked out the window, and saw these green mountains and white flying birds and then, down of the ground, a parking lot as far as I could see. When that song was released as a single, it was a hit only in Hawaii at first-it took people in other places a while to realize that their region was paradise and that they were losing it too. CP: You have such a strong eye for detail, be it for nature of the city or people or colors. It's one of the hallmarks of your writing. Is is because you grew up on the prairie? JM: Well, I'm a painter, so I tend to think in pictures and store pictorial information, like an autistic person. CP: You're a superb model for young, aspiring artists because of your vast range: music, literature, and art all melded together. JM: I'm a Renaissance person in that I express myself in three arts. I work to get them all up to a certain standard through discipline and observation. You have to be self-adjudicating and self-critical. CP: You also have a gift for improvisation. JM: Improvisation takes nerve. It requires taking a chance and also failing. You have to overcome fear. My mother was always saying, "You're too sensitive," and "You think too much for a female." That comes under the banner of that generation's "Don't worry your pretty little head about it!" In Plato's utopia, you could not be a poet and a painter and a musician. You had to pick one. CP: Plato felt that poets and artists couldn't be trusted because they questioned authority and religion and therefore were dissidents who would threaten the stability of the ideal state. JM: Absolutely. I did an album called Dog Eat Dog [1985], which was not well received. It contained headline stories, such as the fall of Jimmy Swaggart. CP: I know you take the issue of evangelical Christianity very seriously. JM: I take the marriage of church and sate very seriously. On Sunset Boulevard during the Reagan era, there were pink billboards with black letters saying, "Rock 'n' Roll is the Devil," signed by Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority. Reagan was very cozy with him. When I put that album out, the church was watching rock 'n' roll, playing it backwards, looking for diabolical messages. When the album was released, I was challenged to a debate on THE 700 CLUB by Pat Robertson, though I got congratulatory letters from an Episcopalian Church and from the Crystal Cathedral, which really surprised me. They said, "We need more artists like you." CP: During the George W. Bush administration, the evangelical movement has intensified its cultural pressure in the U.S. There are more and more cable TV channels devoted to religious broadcasting. JM: Oh, it's very lucrative. It's a nice little business to get into if you're a good rapper. CP: The big scandals involving Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Baker made evangelists seem to disappear for a while, but they were still powerful under the national media radar. You took a strong public stand against them. JM: Swaggart was declaring war from the pulpit [paraphrasing her song "Tax Free" from Dog Eat Dog]: "Our nation has lost its guts, our nation has whimpered and cried and pandered to the Khomeinis and the Qaddafis for so long that we don't know how to act like men." he even declared war on Cuba! I watched all the televised church services in search of an honest man, and all I saw were criminal con men fleecing the flocks. Christianity is an ancient Egyptian myth, laminated, presented like the history of a person who actually lived. Most of the story is ancient mythology-walking on water, virgin birth. Don't get me started on the scam of Christianity! CP: Early Christianity was about renouncing materialism and worldly status. That's what's troubling about so many TV evangelists soliciting cash. JM: Christianity was basically the Roman Empire in disguise. CP: What part did religion play in your youth? JM: My father was Lutheran, and my mother was Presbyterian. So they went to the United church, which was for mixed Christian marriages. I broke with the Church at age 7, because Genesis raised a lot of questions for me-it seemed like pages had been ripped out of the book. I'd ask in Sunday school, like, "Why did God punish Eve when he was really after Adam?" That story has been compelling to me all of my life. CP: So your parents were religious? JM: No, but they went to church. That's a distinction. My grandmother was a Bible beater-she quoted the Bible, and my mother quoted Shakespeare, mostly Ophelia's father, Polonius, all that platitudinous stuff. CP: So how did you manage to break with the church mentally at 7, given that the community was so conformist? JM: The church was loaded with holy hypocrites. Basically, it was a place to wear your new hat. But there came a new preacher, one of the great heroes of my life, a Scottish minister with a Burmese wife who never converted from Buddhism. He gave the only inspired sermon I ever heard. My father and I still talk about it. CP: How did your interest in the visual arts begin? JM: With Bambi [1942]. I always drew, but, being a sensitive child, he fire in that film haunted me. The downside of sensitivity is that when you get stuck on a topic, you can't get off it-it's another quality that artistic and autistic people share. I was down on my knees for about three days after that movie, drawing forest fires and deer running. CP: You have a fire image on the front of Dreamland [2004]. JM: Oh, that's just George W. Bush burning down the world. All my paintings lately have been Bush bonfires. It's the same as the forest fire in Bambi, with the hideous white hunger. CP: So that film started your drawing and painting? JM: That, and something that happened in the second grade. There were so many of us that year that they annexed a parish hall and dragged an old lady out of retirement ot teach us. She put all the A averages in one row she called the Bluebirds, all the B's in a row called the Robbins, the C's in a row called the Wrens, and the D's. I was in the C row. I remember how the A's looked so smug and pleased with themselves, but I didn't like any of the kids in the A row. I liked them better in the C and the D rows-the ones who were bored and not trying or even the ones who were a little simple. I have this prejuidce against the illusory sense of attainment associated with the educational system on this continent. CP: I totally agree! JM: Yes. I see that in you. I'm glad you exist and have a good loud voice, because you can do some good in terms of reeducating about poetry and everything. Thank you for including me in your book, which took some nerve. CP: I love that my book starts with Shakespeare and ends with Joni Mitchell! I write that in the 40 years since Sylvia Plath's "Daddy," no poem written in english has been more important, influential, and popular that "Woodstock." JM: The irony is that the line "I dreamed I saw the bombers ridign shotgun in the sky/and they were turning into butterflies above our nation" has been taken as girly and silly and too idealistic. but the point of it is, we've got to do that-if we don't we're done. There's a genuine urgency. Huge numbers of species have become extinct, and when that many species go, everything is out of whack. Now everybody's got these damn bombs, and they're testing them underground and under the ocean. CP: At what point did you become an environmentalist? JM: I grew up in a really tough town-the kids were as mean as New York kids, so when they got too much for me, I would ride my bike out into the country. I'd sit in the bushes, smoke, and watch the birds fly. I wrote a poem when I was 11 about a boy living on a ram who overhears his father saying he's going take this bluff down, and the bluff is everything to the boy. I take it through all of the seasons: "Slapping a puck into an orange crate goal, applauded only by the wind that banged and clanged and shuttered in the greenery door." CP: So you could have been a poet, yet you began to work with the piano. JM: Why am I not a poet? CP: No, you are a poet! What I mean is that you moved from the page to music, and somehow music allowed you to express yourself more. What was the first instrument you worked with? JM: My experience in that second-grade classroom, where I was made a third-class citizen, kind of answers that question. That teacher's approach to learning was to say something, for us to memorize it, and then to have us spit it back, which didn't interest me. I remember thinking, if she gives us something to solve that she doesn't know the answer to, then I'm in-but if not, then I don't care. What gave me the courage to become an artist though, was that one day she had us draw a three-dimensional doghouse, and everybody's was wither too tall and skinny or the perspective was off. I drew the best one, and I drew security from that. At that moment I forged my identity as a visual artist. I also pissed off the educational system by spacing out, squeaking by, and finally flunking chemistry and math in grade 12 and having to repeat it. CP: When did music enter the mix? JM: I had a hard time finding kids to play with, but I did make friends with two kids: One was a piano prodigy, and the other was studying opera. That was the only creativity in the community. They were considered kind of nerds, but they had imagination, and we used to put on circuses and get all the other kids involved and charge admission, which we'd give to the Red Cross. The father of one of these kids was the school principal, and sometimes he'd let us out to go to a movie. One we saw was The Story of Three Loves [1953] with Kirk Douglas, which was made up of three stories, with the piece "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" by Rachmaninov. The music made me swoon. I asked to buy it, but it wasn't in the budget. So I'd go down to the department store that was across from my dad's little market, and I would take the record out of its brown sleeve and go into a listening booth and play it. One day I said to my parents that I wanted to take piano lessons, and they sent me to a woman who, as all piano teachers did in those days, rapped my knuckles with a ruler. CP: [laughs] They were horrible! JM: Oof! Some people can survive it, but I couldn't. She killed my love for the piano. It was like the church and school, so I quit. And as a result my mother viewed me as a quitter and the expenditure on the piano as a waste of money, so years later when I wanted to play guitar, she refused to buy me one. Once I got into the music business, the next killer of my love would have been working with a producer. In the music business you have these unmusical people who are unjust and red queenish and domineering and untalented-they take a lot of your money and push you towards commerce instead of art. CP: Is that why you didn't want a producer for much of your career? JM: Yes. David Crosby produced my first record, but he liked my music the way it was. The record company expected him to turn me into a folk rocker, which was bankable, but he only pretended to. Then on the second record I got this really cocksure guy who was producing for the Doors. We cut one song together, and it was hell. I'd be singing with my eyes closed, and he'd burst into the middle of the performance like a heckler. Or you'd get all full of adrenaline, and he'd go, "No!" And then at the end of the session, he'd look at his watch and say, "Well, I gotta go produce the Doors, but I'll be back in two weeks." So I asked the engineer whether he thought we could get the record done before he got back, because if I had to work with him, my love of music was going to die. He grinned at me and said he thought so, and we got the record done within those two weeks. I never used a producer again until I married Larry Klein. CP: So you were producing yourself? JM: My point is, if you have a vision and you know what you want, you must definitely don't need a producer, but that was unheard of. I ultimately had to put it in my contract that I didn't have to use one. I mean, did Beethoven have a producer? Did Mozart? On Court and Spark [1974], I sang all of the melodies onto the tape. Same thing with For the Roses [1972], where some of it was written out by a scribe and reproduced by other instruments. So that was the way I was able to score my own music, by sketching it with my voice. CP: Do ideas for songs or melodies come to you at odd times, or do you consciously sit down to try to write? JM: Well, I don't write at all anymore. I quit everything in '97 when my daughter [whom Mitchell gave up for adoption in infancy in 1965-Ed.] came back. Music was something I did to deal with the tremendous disturbance of losing her. It began when she disappeared and ended when she returned. I was probably deeply disturbed emotionally for those 33 years that I had no child to raise, though I put on a brave face. Instead, I mothered the world and looked at the world in which my child was roaming from the point of view of a sociologist. And everything I worried about then has turned out to be true. CP: It sometimes sounds as if you were thinking through the piano during that period. JM: I'd just sit at the piano and lay hands on it and make shapes, kind of like abstract expressionism. But i have a gift for melody, so I know when it sounds noodley-which is more than most contemporary composers know. [both laughs] Forgive my arrogance, but it's true! CP: I read somewhere that you particularly like Cezanne. Is that true? JM: No. In fact in the '80s I bit the bullet and found an original voice as an abstractionist. Initially, I had no respect for abstraction, and I took that with me to art school, where all the profs were pouring paint down incline planes. [laughs] There I was an honor student because I had chops, but the attitude was: You're a commercial artist, not a fine artist, because the time of the camera has come. but for a painter especially, originality is the goal. You want to plant the flag where no one else has been, whereas in music, if you adhere to a tradition, you'll do better. If you're after money, don't try anything original in music, because you won't get the votes. In order to have a hit, you have to dumb down a lot. CP: Do you mostly paint in a home studio? JM: I've had official studios, especially for the abstract expressionist work, which is messy and big. But in the '90s, I thought, No, I'm going to go back to where my heart is: I'm going to paint as they did during the period of Van Gogh and Gauguin-postimpressionism. So I paint like that, although those artists were formed by their religions. You hae to be trained to believe in your imagination in order to swallow the Bible, where as the Calvinists concluded that the Bible was really just an archaic relic and that Jesus would be more approving of taking long walks in the woods than he would of studying religious dogma. CP: Calvinism has been the source of a lot of the hostility or indifference toward the arts in the U.S. The Puritan tradtiion was directed toward practicality and work, and therefore art and beauty were considered frivolous. JM: Practical-I have those values, and Van Gogh had them too. CP: Do you do your landscapes in the studio, or do you actually go out into nature? JM: Both. But like Picasso, I never know when they're done. I live with them. I'll go, "That part is not quite right." You know, they once stopped an old man in the Louvre trying to deface a Picasso, and it turned out to be Picasso himself [laughs] He was continuously dissatisfied and sometimes buried the best painting underneath the final work. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:55:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Zachary Scot Johnson Subject: Shawn Colvin opening Hi everyone, I apologize if this isn't ENTIRELY on topic, though it is Joni-related. We were talking about Shawn Colvin, who was produced at one point by Larry Klein. Well, I found out tonight that I'll be opening for Shawn at her July 29th (one week from tonight, Friday) show at the Barrymore in Madison. http://www.barrymorelive.com/ Certainly will be bringing up Joni and had hoped to play something, but we'll see...Just wanted to mention that if anyone is in the area and feels like dropping by the show, Shawn Colvin never disappoints. And I hope I won't. :) My cover of 'A Case of You' is on my first cd, "Moment of Clarity", which will be sold at the show. The great Bob Muller also added it to one of the cover cd's. Anyways, I'm very excited to open for Shawn, truly one of my top two or three heroes--I even thanked her (and Joni!) in the liner notes of my cd, so imagine my thrill at getting to open for her! Anyone interested can check out my webpage at: http://www.geocities.com/zacharyscot/ Again, I apologize if this isn't ENTIRELY on topic. Hopefully I won't get bashed for this... My Best, Zachary Johnson Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 20:27:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: Shawn Colvin opening Hi Zachary, Congrats on opening for SHAWN COLVIN! Man, that rocks, and I know that you will too. Break a leg buddy, and we'll be expecting a full report. Bob NP: Los Lobos, "Tony & Maria" - --------------------------------- Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2005 22:58:59 -0700 (PDT) From: Parts of Yes Subject: Joni's bittersweetness? Hey, I have read tens of interviews and reviews that attempt to depict Joni's bitterness at the music industry and even (if not especially) other singer-songwriters (mostly women). However, we have to remember that the author of the article may be trying to convey certain messages and s/he may not even be close to capturing Joni's true sentiments. That notwithstanding, when Joni does come across bitter in these pieces, I hope to think it somehow masks a certain sweetness. I have read that she has vacillated between thinking Rickie Lee Jones had no talent and admiring her. What do I know but I somehow think she wants to find some kindred spirits in the business but at the same time desires to feel special. Chronologically, she did come first and both because of her place in time and her talent, she was an influential pioneer. It's sort of like she is incessantly regarded as this great influence but post 1970's has not received any commerical rewards (i.e., radio play), and has seemed almost irrelevant to many younger fans (not me though - I'm only 23). Who wouldn't be bitter? Joni has also has watched many artists she truly has influenced state that they are tired of being called "the next Joni Mitchell." While I do understand their gripes, I do feel for Joni all the same. I guess it's the fault of the sexist media that is forever trying to pit women against one another. Because when women start banding together and forming bonds of solidarity, the established male order is threatened. On that note...was Joni invited to Lilith Fair? I know she did not attend, but if she was invited, does anyone know what her response was? I seem to remember reading she thought it was homogenous. Take care, Sean "Where some have found their paradise Others just come to harm" - Joni Mitchell, "Amelia" (1976) "Sometimes I'm afraid of the dark I can't find the light in my heart I can see my hand pushing away Hard as I can" - Cyndi Lauper, "Fearless" (1996) "It took an hour, maybe a day But once I really listened, the noise Just went away" - Liz Phair, "Stratford-On-Guy" (1993) "On a clear day, I bet you can see the class struggle from here..." - - Katrin Cartlidge (Hannah) in Mike Leigh's "Career Girls" (1997) "We waltzed beneath God's point of view knowing no ending to our rendezvous we expressed such sweet vows: oh till death do us part oh till death do us part" -Patti Smith, "My Madrigal" (1996) "Take this Mute mouth Broken tongue. Now this Dark life Is shot through with light" - Suzanne Vega "Pilgrimage" (1990) "She could outrun the fastest slug" - Tori Amos, "Marianne" (1996) "All I know of you is in my memory All I ask is you Remember me." - Suzanne Vega "Rosemary" (1998) Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2005 #287 ***************************** ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she? (http://www.siquomb.com/siquomb.cfm)