From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2013 #834 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 Monday, June 24 2013 Volume 2013 : Number 834 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- RE: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues ["Scott Johnson" ] Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues [Dave Blackburn ] Re: Squelched? [Bob Muller ] Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues [Catherine McKay ] Re: Joni at Luminato [Michael quebec ] Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues [Moni Kellermann ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 20:57:59 -0400 From: "Scott Johnson" Subject: RE: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues All I can add to the "Furry" story is what prompted Joni into stealing the badges from cops. During the Rolling Thunder Tour, every place they played, there would be all these cops standing around. They all had bad attitudes toward cops because of Mayor Daley and the Democratic Convention. She mentioned the footage of here come the cops and here come the hippies. The hippies were with candles singing, "We shall overcome" at a peaceful demonstration and then they collided. She saw it live on television where the cops just started bashing in heads with billy clubs. It was a revelation for her generation of what was happening in America. Several years after that, the image stuck with her. Now there were all these cops standing around and she decided, "out of boredom really, to rip off cops. It was a psychological thriller." She would flirt with them for their badges. Only one New York cop said she was crazy. Most of the cops went along with the spirit of it. When she left Rolling Thunder, she proceeded on her own. In Memphis, she met the cop Catherine mentioned. She tried to make a deal with him -- his badge for a ride in her limo to the record store. That's when he took her to Beale Street instead. During the Tuesday night concert, she began speaking the lyrics: "Old Beale Street is coming down Sweeties' Snack Bar, boarded up now And Egles The Tailor and the Shine Boy's gone Then she began to SING: "Faded out with Ragtime blues..........." I'll tell you, I was sitting next to Patti P. and we both gasped and the tears started to flow. You could hear the audience at that moment gasp as well. We both had chills. I wasn't at Wednesdays show, but I think we were treated to Joni's first *back to singing* moment. It was an opening night after years of not performing, when she wasn't quite sure what the audience's reaction would be, or if she could actually sing well enough by her standards. I'll be forever grateful to have been in the audience, just at that moment of the world. I'm reminded of what Mark wrote in his parody, "As we dreamed of songs she might sing She spoke words but her voice broke free" Jody - -----Original Message----- From: owner-joni@smoe.org [mailto:owner-joni@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Catherine McKay Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 6:36 PM To: Ange T; joni@smoe.org Subject: Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues Funny you should ask about the pronunciation. A few of us commented on that on the Facebook jmdl page. The way Joni pronounces it is the way you do, Hedge-ear-uh. Jon Pareles pronounced it Hedge-eye-ruh. If you look it up on a dictionary, you might even find another way or two to pronounce it, so go with the Joni pronunciation, since it's her song. Before Joni sang "Furry" at Massey Hall last week, she told a story about how she had gone around whatever city she was in at the time, collecting badges from cops, by flirting with them. She says that, when she got to Memphis, a cop there (and she mentions he had been one of the cops present when Martin Luther King was assassinated, or one who arrived on the scene shortly after) wouldn't give her his badge, but instead offered to drive her down to Beale Street, where she met Furry Lewis. You can hear part of this story on the Youtube link below, where she describes what it was like on Beale Street at the time, when things were in ruins. Unfortunately, it doesn't include the part just before that, about getting badges from cops. Maybe someone else who was there can remember this story better than I can and can fill in some gaps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qhJHY05rX8 - ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ange T > To: "joni@smoe.org" > Cc: > Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 6:04:36 PM > Subject: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues > > Hey listers, > I've been asked to do an interview here in Australia on ABC radio. The > segment is called: Something old, something new, something borrowed, > something blue. It involves me selecting/playing songs that relate to those > themes. > > Off the back of Luminato, it seems like the obvious selection for the > 'blue' themed song would be Furry Sings the Blues (particularly given > that > Joni says one of the lyrics she is most proud of is within this song). But > before I go on air, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions: > > 1. How do I pronounce Hejira? I always pronounced it as "hedge-ear-ra" > but > after listening to her Luminato interview, where the interviewer says > "hedge-eye-ra", I'm now uncertain. I'm wondering if this is a > 'you say > tomAYto, I say tomARto' thing... or if there's a correct way of saying > it. > > 2. I was researching Furry online and found this reference on wikipedia: > > Joni Mitchell 's song, > "Furry > Sings the Blues", (on her > *Hejira > * album ) is about her visit to Furry > Lewis' apartment and a mostly ruined Beale > Street on > February 5th, 1976. Lewis despised the Mitchell song and demanded she pay > him royalties > .[4] > > Does anyone know the full story of Joni's journey to Beale Street and her > interactions with Furry? Has she ever answered questions about his reported > dislike of her song? Were they friends before she wrote the song? > > I never heard anything disrespectful in the lyrics to that song, but now > I'm wondering whether it's the best choice for this interview. Feel free > to > shed some (shadows and) light on this topic. > > Thanking you, > Ange in Oz > angetakats.com.au ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 08:04:36 +1000 From: Ange T Subject: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues Hey listers, I've been asked to do an interview here in Australia on ABC radio. The segment is called: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. It involves me selecting/playing songs that relate to those themes. Off the back of Luminato, it seems like the obvious selection for the 'blue' themed song would be Furry Sings the Blues (particularly given that Joni says one of the lyrics she is most proud of is within this song). But before I go on air, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions: 1. How do I pronounce Hejira? I always pronounced it as "hedge-ear-ra" but after listening to her Luminato interview, where the interviewer says "hedge-eye-ra", I'm now uncertain. I'm wondering if this is a 'you say tomAYto, I say tomARto' thing... or if there's a correct way of saying it. 2. I was researching Furry online and found this reference on wikipedia: Joni Mitchell 's song, "Furry Sings the Blues", (on her *Hejira * album ) is about her visit to Furry Lewis' apartment and a mostly ruined Beale Street on February 5th, 1976. Lewis despised the Mitchell song and demanded she pay him royalties .[4] Does anyone know the full story of Joni's journey to Beale Street and her interactions with Furry? Has she ever answered questions about his reported dislike of her song? Were they friends before she wrote the song? I never heard anything disrespectful in the lyrics to that song, but now I'm wondering whether it's the best choice for this interview. Feel free to shed some (shadows and) light on this topic. Thanking you, Ange in Oz angetakats.com.au ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:00:52 -0600 From: Lori Renee Fye Subject: Re: Squelched? And that was a cross between "putting up with" and "tolerating." Sheesh. I can't imagine Joni putting tolerating a film about her life while she's > still living. > > Lori > Idaho ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:25:50 -0700 From: Dave Blackburn Subject: Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues Hi Ange, Hejira is an Arabic word (it's in the dictionary) which I suspect is Anglicized from its Arabic pronunciation in all the variants we've heard. I'm sure there are listers who can read the phonetic spellings below better than me. But it seems there is a "d" sound in it and is not a soft "j". Heb"gib"ra (hI*KdJaI* rI, KhIdJ Ir I) n., pl. -ras. 1. (sometimes l.c.) Hijra. 2. (l.c.) Also, hejira.any flight or journey to a more desirable or congenial place. [1590b1600; < Medieval Latin < Arabic; see Hijra] I imagine Furry Lewis despised the song about him because he was dirt poor and this elegant blond visitor had a "limo (that was) shining on his shanty street" and he viewed the encounter as an exploitation. If it had been accompanied by a $1000 check I suspect he'd have loved the song. Dave p.s my band performs this abum in November so it will be nice to be able to pronounce it correctly. Joni is probably not a good source for its pronunciation having heard her way of saying "samba" and "cellulite"! On Jun 24, 2013, at 3:04 PM, Ange T wrote: > Hey listers, > I've been asked to do an interview here in Australia on ABC radio. The > segment is called: Something old, something new, something borrowed, > something blue. It involves me selecting/playing songs that relate to those > themes. > > Off the back of Luminato, it seems like the obvious selection for the > 'blue' themed song would be Furry Sings the Blues (particularly given that > Joni says one of the lyrics she is most proud of is within this song). But > before I go on air, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions: > > 1. How do I pronounce Hejira? I always pronounced it as "hedge-ear-ra" but > after listening to her Luminato interview, where the interviewer says > "hedge-eye-ra", I'm now uncertain. I'm wondering if this is a 'you say > tomAYto, I say tomARto' thing... or if there's a correct way of saying it. > > 2. I was researching Furry online and found this reference on wikipedia: > > Joni Mitchell 's song, "Furry > Sings the Blues", (on her *Hejira > * album ) is about her visit to Furry > Lewis' apartment and a mostly ruined Beale > Street on > February 5th, 1976. Lewis despised the Mitchell song and demanded she pay > him royalties .[4] > > Does anyone know the full story of Joni's journey to Beale Street and her > interactions with Furry? Has she ever answered questions about his reported > dislike of her song? Were they friends before she wrote the song? > > I never heard anything disrespectful in the lyrics to that song, but now > I'm wondering whether it's the best choice for this interview. Feel free to > shed some (shadows and) light on this topic. > > Thanking you, > Ange in Oz > angetakats.com.au ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:36:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues Funny you should ask about the pronunciation. A few of us commented on that on the Facebook jmdl page. The way Joni pronounces it is the way you do, Hedge-ear-uh. Jon Pareles pronounced it Hedge-eye-ruh. If you look it up on a dictionary, you might even find another way or two to pronounce it, so go with the Joni pronunciation, since it's her song. Before Joni sang "Furry" at Massey Hall last week, she told a story about how she had gone around whatever city she was in at the time, collecting badges from cops, by flirting with them. She says that, when she got to Memphis, a cop there (and she mentions he had been one of the cops present when Martin Luther King was assassinated, or one who arrived on the scene shortly after) wouldn't give her his badge, but instead offered to drive her down to Beale Street, where she met Furry Lewis. You can hear part of this story on the Youtube link below, where she describes what it was like on Beale Street at the time, when things were in ruins. Unfortunately, it doesn't include the part just before that, about getting badges from cops. Maybe someone else who was there can remember this story better than I can and can fill in some gaps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qhJHY05rX8 - ----- Original Message ----- > From: Ange T > To: "joni@smoe.org" > Cc: > Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 6:04:36 PM > Subject: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues > > Hey listers, > I've been asked to do an interview here in Australia on ABC radio. The > segment is called: Something old, something new, something borrowed, > something blue. It involves me selecting/playing songs that relate to those > themes. > > Off the back of Luminato, it seems like the obvious selection for the > 'blue' themed song would be Furry Sings the Blues (particularly given > that > Joni says one of the lyrics she is most proud of is within this song). But > before I go on air, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions: > > 1. How do I pronounce Hejira? I always pronounced it as "hedge-ear-ra" > but > after listening to her Luminato interview, where the interviewer says > "hedge-eye-ra", I'm now uncertain. I'm wondering if this is a > 'you say > tomAYto, I say tomARto' thing... or if there's a correct way of saying > it. > > 2. I was researching Furry online and found this reference on wikipedia: > > Joni Mitchell 's song, > "Furry > Sings the Blues", (on her > *Hejira > * album ) is about her visit to Furry > Lewis' apartment and a mostly ruined Beale > Street on > February 5th, 1976. Lewis despised the Mitchell song and demanded she pay > him royalties > .[4] > > Does anyone know the full story of Joni's journey to Beale Street and her > interactions with Furry? Has she ever answered questions about his reported > dislike of her song? Were they friends before she wrote the song? > > I never heard anything disrespectful in the lyrics to that song, but now > I'm wondering whether it's the best choice for this interview. Feel free > to > shed some (shadows and) light on this topic. > > Thanking you, > Ange in Oz > angetakats.com.au ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:43:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: Joni at Luminato The teleprompter was distracting me. I kept looking ahead, to see what might be coming next. If I had been at a slightly different angle, I might have managed to catch all the words to "this Rain" which I'm trying to figure out right now. It's difficult to hear some of them. >________________________________ > From: Michael quebec >To: "ivpaul42@aol.com" ; "joni@smoe.org" ; "anima_rising@yahoo.ca" >Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 6:24:57 PM >Subject: Re: Joni at Luminato > > >I hear what you say Paul, but when I see that video, (by the way, which is >different from the Teusday night performance; the piano here is more present, >Herbie ?) I see and hear a complete transformation of that song, it has become >something celebratory, almost like a jazz prayer, and the singers are just >gliding, soaring along with the music as best they can (perhaps a tad >under-rehearsed) grooving to the notion that we are stardust, golden, million >year old carbon, and we've got to get back to the garden. Yes, Joni's voice >has changed, but strangely, her delivery is now stronger and more convincing >than ever. BTW, I had not noticed onstage the teleprompter scrolling the >song's lyrics behind the singers, clearly visible in Catherine's Teusday night >video of the song. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:25:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: Squelched? When you mentioned putting, I thought maybe she had taken up golf. Bob ________________________________ From: Lori Renee Fye To: Phyliss S Ward Cc: Anita G ; Catherine McKay ; JMDL Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 6:00 PM Subject: Re: Squelched? And that was a cross between "putting up with" and "tolerating." Sheesh. I can't imagine Joni putting tolerating a film about her life while she's > still living. > > Lori > Idaho ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:41:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues I'm sure Joni doesn't pronounce it correctly and am willing to bet most of us can't, but, if it's her song and album, I'd pronounce it her way, or maybe explain that you disagree with her pronunciation because of the reasons you gave. She also says "realtors" strangely (real-a-tors or something like that.) I don't remember how she says "samba" but I think she says "cellulate" for "cellulite." We've had the "clandestine" discussion before too. Ah well, no one's perfect! I wonder whether she has ever used "nuclear" in a song? - ----- Original Message ----- > p.s my band performs this abum in November so it will be nice to be able to > pronounce it correctly. Joni is probably not a good source for its pronunciation > having heard her way of saying "samba" and "cellulite"! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 23:37:01 +0100 From: Jamie Zubairi Home Subject: Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues Hello Ange, The jonimitchell.com website should give you a wealth. But check out the Q Magazine interview from 1988 where she talks a little about the visit Jamie Zubairi Actor, Painter, Voiceover, Creative Future Appearances: June 13th Balinese Dance City University July 1st Caged Bird Sings, part of Face 2 Face festival, Lost Theatre July 7 Balinese Dance South Bank Centre On 24 Jun 2013 23:09, "Ange T" wrote: > Hey listers, > I've been asked to do an interview here in Australia on ABC radio. The > segment is called: Something old, something new, something borrowed, > something blue. It involves me selecting/playing songs that relate to those > themes. > > Off the back of Luminato, it seems like the obvious selection for the > 'blue' themed song would be Furry Sings the Blues (particularly given that > Joni says one of the lyrics she is most proud of is within this song). But > before I go on air, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions: > > 1. How do I pronounce Hejira? I always pronounced it as "hedge-ear-ra" but > after listening to her Luminato interview, where the interviewer says > "hedge-eye-ra", I'm now uncertain. I'm wondering if this is a 'you say > tomAYto, I say tomARto' thing... or if there's a correct way of saying it. > > 2. I was researching Furry online and found this reference on wikipedia: > > Joni Mitchell 's song, "Furry > Sings the Blues", (on her *Hejira< > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hejira_(album)> > * album ) is about her visit to Furry > Lewis' apartment and a mostly ruined Beale > Street on > February 5th, 1976. Lewis despised the Mitchell song and demanded she pay > him royalties .[4]< > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_Lewis#cite_note-cascade-4> > > Does anyone know the full story of Joni's journey to Beale Street and her > interactions with Furry? Has she ever answered questions about his reported > dislike of her song? Were they friends before she wrote the song? > > I never heard anything disrespectful in the lyrics to that song, but now > I'm wondering whether it's the best choice for this interview. Feel free to > shed some (shadows and) light on this topic. > > Thanking you, > Ange in Oz > angetakats.com.au ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:26:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: Luminato festival ends on a sublime note Make that a big me too. And you could feel the love, not to make it sound too smarmy. Now I'm wondering how they're going to try to top THAT next year. - ----- Original Message ----- > From: Michael quebec > To: "joni@smoe.org" > Cc: > Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 5:42:10 PM > Subject: Luminato festival ends on a sublime note > > An excerpt from an article by Martin Knelman, published in the Toronto Star, > Monday June 24, 2013. > > ...But when it came to creating mass euphoria, crowning the festival was the > superb Joni Mitchell tribute concert, which filled Massey Hall for two > consecutive nights, and will go down as one of the key "you had to be > there" > occasions in Toronto entertainment history.... > > Good God, I am so greatful I was able to attend and celebrate. > > Michael in Quebec, just home from Toronto. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:00:16 -0600 From: Lori Renee Fye Subject: Re: Squelched? I can't imagine Joni putting tolerating a film about her life while she's still living. Lori Idaho ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 22:24:57 +0000 From: Michael quebec Subject: Re: Joni at Luminato I hear what you say Paul, but when I see that video, (by the way, which is different from the Teusday night performance; the piano here is more present, Herbie ?) I see and hear a complete transformation of that song, it has become something celebratory, almost like a jazz prayer, and the singers are just gliding, soaring along with the music as best they can (perhaps a tad under-rehearsed) grooving to the notion that we are stardust, golden, million year old carbon, and we've got to get back to the garden. Yes, Joni's voice has changed, but strangely, her delivery is now stronger and more convincing than ever. BTW, I had not noticed onstage the teleprompter scrolling the song's lyrics behind the singers, clearly visible in Catherine's Teusday night video of the song. Michael in QuebecPaul wrote: Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 16:55:26 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Ivice Subject: Joni at Luminato Here's Joni (and group) singing Woodstock along with Kilauren @ Massey Hall Wednesday night (6/19) http://jonimitchell.com/library/video.cfm?id=344 Laura Those of you who don't hate me already probably will after reading this, but I tell it the way I see it. I found this video to be unwatchable. I couldn't get past the first verse. The pace is so damn slow that it drags and, I am sorry to say, her voice is so far gone that she now cannot carry a melody. It hurts me to say it because I've loved Joni's voice, music and songwriting for decades (1971), but perhaps because of that I could not bear to watch this video of a sad, sad performance. Paul Ivice ;>) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 01:11:05 +0200 From: Moni Kellermann Subject: Re: Questions regarding Furry Sings The Blues Am 25.06.2013 00:41, Wie Catherine McKay so vortrefflich formulierte: > I wonder whether she has ever used "nuclear" in a song? Nope. moni k. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 18:33:28 -0700 From: "Mark" Subject: Re: Squelched? I agree completely, Lori. Putting up with or tolerating, I don't see Joni doing either one. But does Joni really have the clout to squelch an already green-lighted movie? Or was the movie ever green-lighted? And was it the 'Girls Like Us' movie she was referring to or another project? I haven't listened to the TimesTalk interview yet so I don't know but I haven't read anything more specific than that she told a producer that a movie about her would be a piece of shit. Personally, I find the thought of Joni Mitchell saying that to a movie producer to be highly amusing. 'Kiss my ass, I said, and I threw my drink'. My feeling is that people will discover her music as time goes on with or without a Hollywood movie about Joni or a high profile young singing sensation playing her in it. Good musicians who know their stuff are never going to let Joni's music fade into obscurity. Bob Muller's collection of covers is ample proof of that. And I'm with Sue. I believe people will be studying her music in 500 years, providing there are still civilized humans in 500 years. Mark in Seattle - -----Original Message----- From: Lori Renee Fye Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 3:00 PM To: Phyliss S Ward Cc: Anita G ; Catherine McKay ; JMDL Subject: Re: Squelched? And that was a cross between "putting up with" and "tolerating." Sheesh. I can't imagine Joni putting tolerating a film about her life while she's > still living. > > Lori > Idaho ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2013 #834 ***************************** ------- To post messages to the list, sendtojoni@smoe.org. Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe -------