From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2013 #1348 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 Website:http://jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Tuesday, October 8 2013 Volume 2013 : Number 1348 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Linda Ronstadt's book (vljc) [Lindsay Moon ] Fun, Fun, Fun, njc [jlhommedieu@insight.rr.com] Re: JMDL Digest V2013 #1346 ["Mark" ] Re: Fun, Fun, Fun, njc [Catherine McKay ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2013 18:33:34 -0700 From: Lindsay Moon Subject: Linda Ronstadt's book (vljc) Okay, finished Linda's book. I know Linda is a very intelligent, thoughtful person, and this book merely confirmed that. She reads voraciously and has SO much knowledge about how she wants her music to sound. And surprisingly is somewhat insecure about her vocal talents (which seems unbelievable to me). But as I've mentioned before, I give her a lot of credit for exploring areas she felt compelled to explore and challenge herself and try hard to learn various styles of music (Gilbert & Sullivan, La Boheme, Mexican canciones). Very light on the "gossip" aspect. She does say she and John David Souther were together, as well as Jerry Brown. She never mentions her decision to adopt children but has one photo of her and her daughter and mentions her kids are now teens/young adults. Huh. What was that all about?. She mentions working at the recording studios of George Lucas but never mentions any relationship with him. I suppose it's none of our business. I'm just kind of a gossip junkie. There were, I'd say, some areas or friends important to her early development that then kind of inexplicably drop off. She was very close with singer Nicollette Larson (A Lotta Love) who died but there's never any mention of her death or how it affected her. She at first talks a great deal about her upbringing in Tucson and her parents but then they are not mentioned again until they died. Unfortunate. So all in all I'd say it's a good book, but her writing style may be a little stiff? Still a good read for the musical history ('they told me I should meet this guy who'd worked his way up the William Morris organization in New York and was just out in LA trying to meet artists  his name was David Geffen.') Good Lord. On to Graham Nash's book. Some kind of weird nostalgic bent has come over me. I got some Facebook notification that my high school graduating class has a Facebook page so I went there and looked at some photos. Most names I didn't know but I kept saying, "Wow! Who are these old looking people!!??" Uh, hello? I'm that old??? And then I got a notification about my elementary school Facebook page and that was really weird too. A lot remembered, a lot forgotten. Sigh. Looking forward to Paz Fest reports!! Lindsay ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2013 19:07:10 -0400 From: jlhommedieu@insight.rr.com Subject: Fun, Fun, Fun, njc Okay, I've been hearing this Beach Boys song all of my life, although it was before my time. Tonight I noticed that the guitar intro is a lift from Chuck Berry. It not even subtle; It is a STEAL. i don't know why I didn't notice it before. Jim L. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2013 12:42:07 -0700 From: "Mark" Subject: Re: JMDL Digest V2013 #1346 I admit I was skeptical about lumping Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Carly Simon's lives into one book. It seemed ridiculous to event attempt it. I resisted reading 'Girls Like Us' for a long time, especially after reading excerpts that seemed to be comprised of sensationalized gossip. Seemed like another trashy celebrity biography to me. Well, a lot of it does read like a guilty pleasure or travesty, depending on your tastes. But I have to admit, there is more to the book than gossip. Sheila Weller chose these three women's stories to make a larger statement about the times that they were influenced by and in turn, because of their music, themselves helped influence. I recommend that if you're going to read 'Girls Like Us', you should read all of it. There is a strong bias against Carly Simon among some people. Weller discusses it in the book, attributing it to her background. Because she comes from a wealthy family, some people tend to not take her as seriously as an artist. I have said it before and I'll say it again. Carly Simon is no great innovator like Joni is and she didn't write great R&B songs that helped push that genre into the mainstream like Carole King did. But she did create some intelligent, adult, well-crafted pop music that was certainly a cut or two above a lot of what was being done at the time and certainly most of what you hear these days. Weller chose these three women to write about for a reason. They are three distinctly different personalities who come from different backgrounds and circumstances. But they all reached the peak of their popularity as singer/songwriters at about the same time, the early 1970s. This was a time when the rules that had governed gender roles and especially how women were expected to conform to those roles were being questioned and challenged. Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Carly Simon each reacted to those times and chose their own very different paths. But ultimately they all three were part of the sea change that was happening at that time and they all had the ability to communicate their experiences to a large audience through their recordings. Whether you like the music of all three of them or not, they all had an impact, each in her own way, on all of the many people who did listen to and loved their songs. Sure, the writing style of the book is gossipy and I still question the motivations and veracity of some of the people that Weller interviewed, especially those who preferred to remain anonymous. I'm not saying it's a great book but I did learn some things I didn't know about all three women. If you skip over the sections about Carly or Carole, you're going to miss the point of the book. Joni came from a middle-class, Canadian prairie background and Carole grew up in Brooklyn, the daughter of teacher and a firefighter. Carly, the daughter of Richard Simon, co-founder of the Simon and Schuster publishing firm, balances out the triad and her story adds another, completely different perspective and experience. Her childhood in a wealthy family was not without its own special difficulties. It's a fascinating story and it is in the book for a reason. Mark in Seattle - -----Original Message----- From: Laurie Antonioli Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2013 8:10 AM To: joni@smoe.org Subject: Re: JMDL Digest V2013 #1346 On the topic of "Girls Like Us" - (I'm the one who started this thread, by the way, asking which books you all liked!) - I have it and skimmed only the Joni parts BUT, dig this: the guitarist in my band is currently doing a Broadway show, that's starting out here in San Francisco, about the music of Carole King. He said it's not a typical musical, mostly just her songs and that it's completely brilliant. This comes from a guy that played 600 shows of "Wicked" and is gearing up for "Book of Mormon" - he's loving this show and is encouraging me to go into Carole's book of music as she wrote SO many great songs - she was in the Brill building as a writer first, before she stepped out on stage herself. I'm going to go see the show and also, am going to now read the sections on Carole in the book. On Sun, Oct 6, 2013 at 12:00 AM, JMDL Digest wrote: ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2013 17:15:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: Fun, Fun, Fun, njc Everybody stole from Chuck Berry, including Chuck Berry. Did you know that the Beatles' "Come together" uses a Chuck Berry tune called "You can't catch me"? I didn't until a few minutes ago (found it while I was looking for something else.) You might, because I think you're a huge Beatles fan. I like them too but never delved into their history all that much. Here's a link to Chuck Berry's and John Lennon's version of "You can't catch me." John's is considerably slowed down and "Come together" is basically that song with different words. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/23319/John-Lennon-You-Can%27t-Catch-Me-Chuck-Berry-You-Can%27t-Catch-Me/ I think that particular website (http://www.whosampled.com/) is going to be another fun time-waster, er, source for research on, um, stuff. - ----- Original Message ----- > From: "jlhommedieu@insight.rr.com" > To: joni@smoe.org > Cc: > Sent: Monday, October 7, 2013 7:07:10 PM > Subject: Fun, Fun, Fun, njc > > Okay, I've been hearing this Beach Boys song all of my life, although it was > before my time. > > Tonight I noticed that the guitar intro is a lift from Chuck Berry. It not even > subtle; It is a STEAL. i don't know why I didn't notice it before. > > Jim L. ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2013 #1348 ****************************** ------- To post messages to the list, sendtojoni@smoe.org. 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