From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2000 #290 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: les@jmdl.com Errors-To: les@jmdl.com Precedence: bulk Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/onlyjoni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Wednesday, July 12 2000 Volume 2000 : Number 290 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 Digest V2000 #383 [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] RE: "Russian on Prozac?" ["Nikki Johnson" ] Re: JONI INTERPRETERS [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Mystical Coincidences - Kind of long [Merk54@aol.com] Re: Paprika Plains on Hejira924's best of list [PPeterson4@aol.com] Mingus [Matthew Snyder ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 23:38:52 EDT From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: JMDL Digest V2000 #383 << The disagreements are so cordial and the pin head statements kept to a minimum. Looking forward to reading more from you folks. Just hope this doesn't just seem so righteous from the start. >> Welcome, Tim! Hope you continue to enjoy it here and that continue to live up to the observation you have made! :~) Bob NP: Joe Jackson, "Eleanor Rigby" (Didn't know this great live release was out there until I was "forced" into the record store tonight. It totally rocks! "Joe Jackson - Summer In The City, Live In New York") ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 23:40:20 -0400 From: "Nikki Johnson" Subject: RE: "Russian on Prozac?" Oh yeah I had forgotten the context she used it in...if I had a memory it'd be dangerous! Thanks for reminding me, that makes a lot of sense now that you refreshed my memory! I dunno if he really takes it or if it was just kind of a joke? Nikki "Ever since I was a baby girl the one thing I wanted most in this world was to keep my love alive" ~ Heart > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-joni@jmdl.com [mailto:owner-joni@jmdl.com]On Behalf Of Kenny > Grant > Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 6:27 PM > To: Nikki Johnson > Cc: Mark Domyancich; joni@smoe.org > Subject: Re: "Russian on Prozac?" > > > Hey Mark, Nikki, and gang, > > I had the pleasure of attending 4 of the BSN shows (NYC twice, CT > & NJ) and she > used that line at each of the shows. Prozac is one of the most popular > antidepressants - its a pill that many people take who suffer > from depression. > > It got a nice chuckle at all the shows. She used this line to > underscore that > fact that Larry, as musical director (and of course bassist) for the shows > selected several of the non-BSN songs from her catalogue that she > was going to > perform - she referred to theses songs - particularly Judgement > of the Moon and > Stars (Ludwig's Tune) - and possibly For The Roses as well - as > "some of her > most depressing work," and said, "but what can you expect from a > Russian on > Prozac." > > The "Russian" part only came in because the concertmaster/band > leader, Vince > Mendoza, is Latin, so she said (at most or all of the shows) "so > you've got a > Latin temperment, and a Russian on Prozac" - so this is the type > of material > that you get. > > Personally, I didn't understand the Latin/Russian part - in the > context of song > selection - it was really the line about Prozac that I found > amusing and that > "worked" to get a laugh out of the audience. > > After a few shows I actually got a little "analytical" about it, and asked > myself if it was really fair to "out" Larry like that and tell > the whole world > what medications he takes/disorders he suffers from, but Prozac > is really such > a popular drug, like in the "top 20" of all presecriptions > written - plus I'm > sure she got clearance from Larry to use the line - at his expense, and > therefore he doesn't feel that taking Prozac is anything to be > embarassed or > ashamed about. > > -Kenny > > Nikki Johnson wrote: > > > Mark asked: > > > A friend wanted to know what Joni meant by "Russian on Prozac" on the > > > Greek Theater show from this year. > > > > > She said this at the show I was at too in camden,NJ. Someone > please correct > > me if I am wrong(it's been known to happen) but Larry Klein, Joni's > > ex-husband, is the "Russian on Prozac." She was making reference to how > > excitable he gets. He was the one that played the bass at the shows. > > Take care > > Nikki > > > > "Ever since I was a baby girl the one thing I wanted most in > this world was > > to keep my love alive" ~ Heart > > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 23:49:42 EDT From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: JONI INTERPRETERS In a message dated 7/11/00 8:13:56 PM US Central Standard Time, davebeth@bellatlantic.net writes: << I didn't realize that Janis Siegel, of Manhattan Transfer fame, had produced any solo efforts, but confirmed that fact via CD NOW, after your making mention of her, always appreciated her voice. FYI... Dianne Reeves also recorded River, on her most recent Bridges album, a version which features nice soprano sax work by Kenny Garrett. >> Fred Hersch play piano on that Janis Siegel track...it's really pretty, as is the Dianne Reeves. Both are captured on the Covers series... Bob NP: Joe Jackson, "King Of The World" Another Steely Dan cover!!! Whoo-Hooo!!! ------------------------------ Date: Wed Jul 12 00:01:04 2000 From: Merk54@aol.com Subject: Mystical Coincidences - Kind of long Hello everyone! My name is Jack. I live in Chicago, and operate in lurk mode most of the time (I've been a subscriber since the early days). With all of the Joni activity going on lately, I've been motivated to come out of hiding, and participate once again. This message is kind of long, but, hey, I've got alot of time to make up for! Thanks to everyone for the Mendel updates - with all of the incredible posts coming out of S'toon, I feel like I was there (well, almost). Now for my topic - I have read on several occasions how fond Joni is of what I would call mystical coincidences. The most obvious example I can think of involves Mingus, who (according to the album liner notes)died at the age of 56, and on the exact day he died, 56 whales beached themselves off of the Mexican coast. Another story I remember reading involved the recording of The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey. I'm a little fuzzy on this one, but if I remember it correctly, she had recorded all of the music (without the wolf howls), and decided the song needed something extra. She then got the idea to record wolf howls, and try and mix them into the song. So she set out to the mountains with her trusty tape recorder, and managed to get some howling that she was pretty happy with. She then brought the tape back to the studio, in hopes of slicing and dicing these sounds into something useable on the track. She started by playing the howls along side the music track, and to her c! omplete astonishment - it fit perfectly - no cuts, no edits, no nothing. The timing was perfect, the pitch was perfect. What we hear on the album comes directly from that tape. In the interview I read Joni told this story so well, I got goose bumps (If anyone knows which interview this was, I would love to read it again). Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else out there has had a similar kind of mystical coincidence in their lives - especially if it involves Joni. I'll try and get the ball rolling by telling mine. Shortly after Hejira came out, I was living in Tucson, Arizona. I had been a fan of Joni's since Blue, but to be honest, I was more of casual fan - I still hadn't had that deep down, Oh my God, this stuff is amazing, type of reaction to her music yet. Well, Hejira changed all of that. At times it was almost scary to listen to - how could this woman, whom I've never met, know so much about me - how I feel - what is going on in my life? It was like listening to a recording of the last year of my life. Anyway, that's not the coincidence - I know everyone on this list probably feels that way about at least one of Joni's albums. So here I am in Tucson, with a girlfriend of 4 years still living in Chicago, (a wonderful woman, who also happens to love Joni, by the way), and I'm having all these thoughts about our relationship - should we get married, (You know it was white lace I was chasing), should we call it quits (No regrets, Coyote), when out of the blue, I end up losing my job. Back 20 some years ago, jobs weren't exactly the easiest thing to find in Tucson, so I decide to move back to Chicago, and the girl I left behind (Will she still love me, when I get back to town?) On the day I was leaving Tucson, with every earthy belonging I had in tow behind me, I slipped Hejira into the tape deck (what else?), and headed around town for a few last minute goodbyes. Finally, I was ready to hit the road and I headed for the outskirts of town. I remember how nervous I was, and how sad I was to be leaving Tucson. Was I making the right decision? I was all emotion and abstraction, and yet I remember cert! ain details from the day vividly. It was a rather mild day for Tucson in the middle of summer, only about 85 degrees, and not a cloud in the blue, blue sky. As I hit the city limits, the opening guitar riff of Black Crow started pouring out of the car stereo at me. Then all of sudden, a large black bird flew out of no where, and began flying down the middle of the road, about 20 feet in front of my car and about 10 feet off of the ground. I felt like he was there to send me off on this incredible journey - kind of like the munchkings in the Wizard of Oz. He continued to fly with me, splitting the white lines on the freeway, for the duration of the song. As the last few notes of song faded from the speakers, he rose about 20 feet into the air, and disappeared to the north. I can't even begin to explain what impact this all had on me, except to say that I pulled off to the side of road, and shook for about 10 minutes. Then an amazing calm came over me, and I knew then and! there that my returning to Chicago was the right thing to do. While it didn't work out with me and the old girlfriend, I found a good job, fell in love with a woman I worked with, and we've been married for 16 years now! To this day, when I hear Black Crow, I can picture that large black bird guiding me out of Tucson, and to my new life in the north. Jack ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 00:04:02 EDT From: PPeterson4@aol.com Subject: Re: Paprika Plains on Hejira924's best of list Hejira942@aol.com wrote: << SONGS 3) Paprika Plains (another lament on Indians, the Prairie, and a virtual symphony) >> Glad to see you put Paprika Plains on your list. I'm surprised so many people dismiss it. I was in awe the first time I heard it and have never changed my opinion about it. (Though admittedly, there was a time when I only played a version I'd spliced together that shortened the middle instrumental section) The piano playing is sublime, the lyrics almost epic and incredibly dense with meaning and connectedness - and nothing, nothing in music has ever compared to the change at the end when the piano, bass and drums explode into the final improvisation. I guess everyone has heard the story about how she came to record it, which makes it even more incredible. I'm sure it's on the Joni.COM site in the archives. So here's another cheer for Paprika Plains! If any of you are lucky enough never to have heard it, you're in for a very special Joni experience. Paul Peterson ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 01:35:12 -0400 From: Matthew Snyder Subject: Mingus David Lahm wrote: >I truly think Fables of Faubus first appeared on Mingus Ah Um. You are correct, David, however the lyrics made their first appearance on the Candid recordings in 1960. Mingus Ah Um was recorded for Columbia, who objected to the lyrical content. Candid was, suffice to say, independent. Most of my favorite Mingus is from 1960. There's the Candid stuff and also the amazing live record from Antibes. I also love the Great Concert of Charles Mingus from the 1964 European tour. Somebody asked if Mingus made any of his own version of the tunes on Joni's Mingus album. The only one, I think, was Porkpie Hat, which was first recorded decades before. The rest were new collaborations with Joni (except for two of hers) and Mingus died, of course, before the album was released. I have to admit that I consider the album somewhat of a grand failure. The most appealing aspects of it for me remain the extra-Mingusian ones: the continued brilliance of Jaco Pastorius (particularly his horn arrangement on Dry Cleaner from Des Moines), the hypnotic Wolf That Lives in Lindsey. Porkpie Hat was done much better on S&L, and Joni wrote the only good lyrics to it ever written, but I still prefer any of Mingus's own versions. Joni had done better assimilations of jazz on her earlier records; she comes off rather hestitant on Mingus compared with the unbelievable efforts that preceded it. Overall it ends up being something less than a great Joni album and significantly less than a great Mingus recording. In the final analysis I'm glad it exists, since so many grand artistic hookups never happened: Gil Evans & Miles & Jimi Hendrix, and Jaco & Jimi, and Miles & Sinatra (think about that, it would have been unbelievable). At least we don't have to fantasize about this meeting of giants, even if it isn't as great as we would wish. Perhaps it would have been better if it had happened today instead of 1978. I listen to it once every couple of years to see if my opnion changes. Maybe I'll appreciate it when I'm 50. Favorite Joni songs (today): Hejira Talk To Me Jericho The Silky Veils of Ardor The Sire of Sorrow Matt Snyder msnyder@dragonfire.net http://msnyder.dragonfire.net ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2000 #290 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list at ------- Siquomb, isn't she?