From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2002 #38 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, February 6 2002 Volume 2002 : Number 038 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. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Today in History: February 5 [les@jmdl.com] Re: Reading music ["Nuriel Tobias" ] Regarding reading and writing. [johnirving ] Re: Jonifest CD's [anne@sandstrom.com] Re: Reading music [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Reading/writing - Paprika Plains [anne@sandstrom.com] Re: Regarding reading and writing. [Jerry Notaro ] Re: Joni in Greece [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Re: Joni Live [Gil Lamont ] Re: Joni Live [Murphycopy@aol.com] A Case of Yoo Hoo! ["William Waddell" ] Re: Joni in Greece ["Jamie Zubairi" ] Re: Regarding reading and writing. ["Bree Mcdonough" ] Notational notions.. [wolf ] Re: Joni Live ["Kakki" ] Joni's war stuff on CKUA ["Brett Code" ] Re: Regarding reading and writing. [Michael Paz ] Re: ETJC-extremely tenuous joni content [Michael Paz ] Re: Joni Live ["Kakki" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 03:03:59 -0500 From: les@jmdl.com Subject: Today in History: February 5 On February 5 in Joni Mitchell History: 1966: Joni performs again tonight at The Chess Mate in Detroit. 1974: Joni performs at Avery Fischer Hall in New York 1981: From Wally's bio page: At a ceremony in Toronto's O'Keefe Center [today] Joni was in competition for a Juno Award as Canada's Best Female Vocalist, which she lost to Anne Murray. But Joni was also inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and presenting the award to her was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. In her acceptance speech she remarked that receiving a Hall of Fame accolade like this one made her feel like hockey champion Boom Boom Geoffrion. More info: http://www.jonimitchell.com/Juno81.html - ------------------------ Search the "Today" database at http://www.jmdl.com/today ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 03:12:47 -0500 From: "Nuriel Tobias" Subject: Re: Reading music My take...What's always got me thinking of Joni as one of the first Punk girls is the fact that she was one of the first ladies in the music scene that, to put in my own unworthy words, "woke up one morning and decided to play". Punk music (Rock music is a good example too but Punk is realy about it) and Punk musicians were often called "The broom folks" for the fact that they picked up an instrument that made it's way to them and decided to see "what they could do with it". This is realy just my take and we all know Joni's music isn't Punk but she's a brilliant name in the strange and lovely story of the unread/unlearned popular music. That's always made me look at her as a real rural witch, even now, when she's recording with the London Orcherstra. I find the fact that so many housewives and country-boys, factory-workers and runaway kids from school, taught themselves to play in order to express themselves, amazing. Mind, Joni's was best in always taking her guitar playing further and learning more and getting better and better. Love, Nuri - -- _______________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup Win a ski trip! http://www.nowcode.com/register.asp?affiliate=1net2phone3a ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 03:20:14 -0600 From: johnirving Subject: Regarding reading and writing. I deeply regret that Joni does not know how to write sheet music. The 'loss' in Joni's inability to write is she cannot be the creator behind the orchestral music of her last and next project. She has to rely on someone else arranging the music, which removes it, for me, a bit away from being HER music and it becoming someone elses. She has managed to work around this shortcoming quite beautifully. It's certainly hasn't hindered her composing on piano or guitar. When she's needed to, she hums the parts. That seems to work well enough. I guess if you surround yourself with masterful players, the weakness kind of fade off into the back ground. Joni is a wonderful composer. It's a shame she never learned to put it on a page. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 05:11:15 -0800 (PST) From: anne@sandstrom.com Subject: Re: Jonifest CD's Speaking of which, I have several copies of JoniFest CDs ready to send to a few JMDLers, but I need the artwork. Does anyone have the files? Thanks. lots of love Anne ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 08:29:22 EST From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Reading music <> This is a pretty good assessment, Nuriel. Her first foray was with the ukelele, which is pretty easy to play. Then on to guitar and piano, discovering all the way. When she was in Greece for a year the government prohibited guitar (so she says in an interview) so she picked up the dulcimer and forged ahead with that. I wish she'd get to work on the accordion to challenge herself, but I don't think her post-polio syndrome would allow much accordion exploration. Bob NP: Heather Nova, "We Can Work It Out" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 05:30:07 -0800 (PST) From: anne@sandstrom.com Subject: Reading/writing - Paprika Plains One more thought on Joni and reading/writing music. My least favorite song of Joni's (aside from Smoking/try another) is Paprika Plains. I know a lot of you love it. But to me there are just too many places where my ear says "oops." To my ear, contrary to what Joni claims, she DOES hit 'wrong' notes in this composition. She doesn't bend rules in this, she breaks them. I've often thought that if Joni had some more music theory training (even if she couldn't write out lead sheets) that she would understand her own compositions - - past and present - and be able to expand on her work in an interesting way. Sometimes I think she dismisses her early work a bit too easily and may not be able to fully appreciate her innovations in a somewhat studied way. Her writing seems to be dictated by her performance ability and preferences. This is a really natural thing to do - yet I think it would be fascinating to see what she would come up with if she were writing with no intention of performing herself. lots of love Anne ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 08:35:51 -0500 From: Jerry Notaro Subject: Re: Regarding reading and writing. johnirving wrote: > I deeply regret that Joni does not know how to write sheet music. The > 'loss' in Joni's inability to write is she cannot be the creator behind > the orchestral music of her last and next project. She has to rely on > someone else arranging the music, which removes it, for me, a bit away > from being HER music and it becoming someone elses. She has managed to > work around this shortcoming quite beautifully. It's certainly hasn't > hindered her composing on piano or guitar. When she's needed to, she > hums the parts. That seems to work well enough. I guess if you surround > yourself with masterful players, the weakness kind of fade off into the > back ground. > > Joni is a wonderful composer. It's a shame she never learned to put it > on a page. I have to kindly disagree. I am a trained musician and have never regretted that. It took me places I could have never gone without it. But it can also hold you back from seeing and hearing what is not part of the "logic' and "history" of the musical system. Joni may never have played the notes, chords, chord changes, and progressions if she had not struck out with what she heard in her head, rather than what she learned from a teacher. Of course, add to that a lyric genius, and we have Joni! Jerry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 08:45:34 -0600 From: "Sharon L. Buffington" Subject: Re: Regarding reading and writing. Dear Jerry: I most respectfully agree. This was the point I wanted to make earlier in a post but you have made ever so more eloquently. :) Some people MUST have the training because it gives them the foundation and boundaries they require. Other people can not or will not conform to those foundations and boundaries touted as requisites for competence. Joni Mitchell is Joni Mitchell...flawed as any mortal and more brilliant than the sun. She can hear what sounds and feels right to her. That notwithstanding, scored orchestral pieces such as Bach, Beethoven, etc. are always altered and changed by whomever is conducting because the conductor wants a certain feeling or sound. I have heard that there is a machine or computer or some such thing that will take in the notes you are playing and convert it to sheet music. Has anyone else heard of this? Well, I am baking brioche this morning and it is about to come out of the oven. I had to follow a recipe. :) Love and Peace...Sharon Jerry Notaro wrote: > I have to kindly disagree. I am a trained musician and have never > regretted that. It took me places I could have never gone without it. But > it can also hold you back from seeing and hearing what is not part of the > "logic' and "history" of the musical system. Joni may never have played > the notes, chords, chord changes, and progressions if she had not struck > out with what she heard in her head, rather than what she learned from a > teacher. Of course, add to that a lyric genius, and we have Joni! > > Jerry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 09:43:27 EST From: AsharaJM@aol.com Subject: Re: Jonifest CD's Sherelle said: <> Here are the complete set lists for each of the CD's. I know there is artwork for them out there somewhere, but not sure who exactly has them. I know Steve Polifka has them because he DID them!! LOL!! Also, perhaps our Southern Covers Gentleman may have them as well? Les, maybe we can put them on a webpage and people could download them? Hugs, Ashara CD 1 1) Roses In The Snow-Anne Sandstrom 2) The Blue In Her Eyes-Anne Sandstrom 3) When We Were Ten-Anne Sandstrom 4) Trouble Child-Chuck E. 5) If These Old Walls Could Speak (Webb)-Chuck E. 6) Rainy Night House-Chuck E. 7) Sweetbird-Leslie Mixon, Chuck E. and Jeff Clark 8) The Hunter-Alison Einerson and Jeff Clark 9) This Flight Tonight-Alison and Jeff 10) Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire- Jeff Clark, Kay, Yael, Mags, Marilyn & Anne 11) All I Want-Gregg Cagno 12) The No Dependent Song-Gregg Cagno with Jeff Bisch 13) For Free (Parody)-Gregg Cagno 14) Peoples Parties-Gregg Cagno on VG-8 15) Take To The Sky (Tori Amos)-Stephanie Morrison 16) Today-Stephanie Morrison 17) Love Or Money-Stephanie Morrison 18) Michael From Mountains-Amy Lohman 19) For Free-Amy Lohman 20) Musta Been (Wheeler)-Ashara w/Chuck E. and Anne CD 2: 1) Marcie-Marcel Deste 2) I Think I Understand-Marcel Deste 3) Night Ride Home-Marcel Deste with Steve Mixon 4) Buckets of Rain (Dylan)-Marcel Deste w/Steve Mixon 5) Here and Gone-Kate Bennett with Jeff Bisch/Victor 6) Irene-Kate Bennett w/Jeff Bisch and Steve Mixon/Victor 7) Louisiana Roadhouse-w/Jeff Bisch and Steve Mixon/Victor 8) One Last Tear-Jeff Bisch 9) Devil On The Mountain-Jeff Bisch with Kate Bennett 10) Crucifix-Jeff Bisch 11) By The Time It Gets Dark (Denny)-Claudia Sansoucie w/Kristine 12) Fire of the Wild-Claudia Sansoucie w/Kristine 13) A Case of You-Claudia and Gregg with Kristine 14) Conversation-Claudia and Kristine with Chris Marshall on Bass 15) Father and Son-Bob Muller with Michael Paz 16) Edith and the Kingpin-Bob Muller w/ Michael Paz on Piano 17) Blue Motel Room-Bob Muller w/ Steve Polifka on Piano CD 3: 1) Way Over Yonder (Carole King)-Leslie Mixon w/ Michael on Piano 2) The Dawntreader-Leslie and Steve Mixon 3) Big Yellow Taxi-Leslie and Steve Mixon, Claudia San Soucie, Kristine and Jeff Bisch 4) For Free-Leslie Mixon with Steve Polifka 5) Shades of Scarlett Conquering-Leslie Mixon w/ S.Polifka piano and Victor Johnson on Bass 6) Chinese Cafe-Leslie Mixon w/ S.Polifka piano and Chris Marshall on Bass 7) Cobalt Blue-Steve Polifka 8) Two Grey Rooms-Steve Polifka 9) The Hissing of Summer Lawns-Steve Polifka w/Leslie, Kakki, Mags and Kristine 10) Man From Mars-Steve Polifka 11) Four Seasons In One Day-John Van Tiel, Les Ross, Chris Marshall, and Claudia San Soucie 12) Sex Kills-Michael Paz w/ Chris on Bass/Kristine Percussion 13) Furry Sings The Blues-Michael Paz 14) Offnight Backstreet-Michael Paz w/ Kristine Percussion 15) The Space Between (Matthews)-Michael Paz 16) Elsewhere (Sarah MacLachlan)-Michael Paz with Claudia 17) Dreamland-Michael Paz and Choir and Percussion CD4: 1) If I Needed You-Alison Einerson, Claudia Sansoucie, Les Irvin on Guitar 2) That Song About The Midway-Yael 3) Wanting-Yael 4) I Don't Want To Wait In Vain (Marley)-Willy the Shake 5) Slip Sliding Away (Simon)-Willy the Shake 6) Rocket Man-(John/Taupin)-Willy The Shake 7) Not To Blame-Les Ross 8) Magdalene Laundries-Les Ross 9) Peoples Parties-Kay Ashley 10) Holy Man-Kay Ashley 11) Missing in Me-Kay Ashley 12) A Strange Boy-Kay Ashley 13) Daydream Man-Kay Ashley 14) Beautiful-Kay Ashley 15) The Sea (Denny) Kay Ashley w/ Claudia CD 5: 1) Into The Sun-Victor Johnson 2) Sailing-Victor Johnson 3) Angel (Hendrix)-Victor Johnson 4) California-Victor Johnson 5) Sailing To New Orleans-Victor Johnson w/ Claudia Sansoucie and Steve Mixon 6) The Master of The Ring-Victor Johnson. Steve Mixon, Chris Marshall, Steve Polifka, Kristine 7) Miss Otis Regrets (Porter)-WallyK 8) Every Raider is a Liar-WallyK 9) Like the Bottom of the Ocean-WallyK 10) Something Cool- Wally K 11) Carey-Nikki Johnson and the Hissettes (Kakki, Alison, Claudia, Leslie) Victor on Bass + Kristine 12) The Weight-Nikki Johnson with Paz. Lamadoo, Alison, Marcel, Mixon's, Victor, Chuck E. Cast of 1000's 13) You Turn Me On (I'm A Radio)-A Cast of Thousands (Paz Vg-8, Mixon on Mandolin, ChuckE Piano Victor on Bass) 14) Amelia-A Cast of Thousands (Paz On VG-8, ChuckE Piano, Victor Bass, Vox-Yael, Leslie, Alison, Steve P., Wally K 15) Song For Sharon-Michael Paz and Choir featuring Jimmy Stewart on wooo ooooo's 16) Circle Game - Amy Lohman and Gregg Cagno ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 10:05:08 -0800 (PST) From: Nuriel Tobias Subject: Re: Joni in Greece - --- SCJoniGuy@aol.com wrote: "When she was in Greece for a year the government prohibited guitar (so she says in an interview) so she picked up the dulcimer and forged ahead with that." Wow. In Greece? For a year? Ooooowwwwhhh - do tell more, Bob - this is the first time i hear about that. Thanks, Nuriel _____________________________________________________________ Free email, web pages, news, entertainment, weather and MORE! Check out -------------------------------> http://wowmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 13:40:19 EST From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni in Greece <> Well, not really a year, but several months. After she released LOTC, she 'exiled' herself to paint & create and she wound up in Matala on the island of Crete in Greece. Carey recounts most of those times, and a couple of the other songs on Blue also reference those days. She talks about those days freely in interviews and in much of her stage patter in the early 70's. The guy who hopped up on stage at Isle of Wight was someone who had met her in Crete. The JMDL article database has 11 articles that reference Greece, so go check them out...maybe you can help educate us! :~) Bob NP: Starsailor, "Lullaby" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 13:12:26 -0800 From: Gil Lamont Subject: Re: Joni Live Kakki: >My turn to say oops, too! The performance I was thinking of was the '72. >I've never checked out the appearances page before and learned some new >details. Amazing she did a 12-day stint in '68. That may have been her heyday, before she was corrupted by The Man/Success. Anyway, judging from Second Fret Sets and other documents of that period, she really had it together in the coffee houses. >I'll have to read the story >from B. Mitchell Reed in the Crosby bio again - think he may have had fuzzy >details. The BeeMeR! I remember him from the golden days of underground FM, his deep bass voice bringing us into his confidence and lending importance to anything he told us. As for his fuzzy details ... hey, it was the 1960s. Be amazed we who survived it even can spell our names. >I do recall him saying she had become such a phenomenon (due to >his playing cuts off STAS before it was released) that she was sold out in >advance and played the second stint. The audience at the Troub gig I saw was absolutely in love with her (me too). >I don't think recordings from the '68 >or '69 Troubadour shows have surfaced here (although some lucky and diligent >traders may have these and I'd bet Mr. Dulson attended a few of the shows!). Lucky and diligent traders! Email me privately! Gil ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 16:14:45 EST From: Murphycopy@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni Live In a message dated 2/5/02 4:12:54 PM, glamont@api4animals.org writes: << Be amazed we who survived it even can spell our names. >> I agree. --Bib ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 22:42:13 -0000 From: "William Waddell" Subject: A Case of Yoo Hoo! Bree, No worries about shouting out a request for Diana Krall to do "A Case of You". If the playlist is the same as this evening in Glasgow she will do it! Yoo Hoo! William NR - Shadows and Light by Karen O'Brien. Any thoughts on the book? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 23:33:05 -0000 From: "Jamie Zubairi" Subject: Re: Joni in Greece Hi Y'all Surely she said that while in Greece she picked up a guitar that was more like an orange crate and it played so badly... and it was from that that she started her more 'slap and drag' playing (well the orange crate-guitar and watching Stephen Stills) She explains later in the London concerts about the dulcimer that it's made by some Rocky Mountain chick called Joellen (or the dulcimers are made in the Rocky Mountain style by Joellen Lapidus - isn't there an interview with Joellen on the jm.com?) So, she released LOTC, swore off touring, went to Greece, wrote some songs, premiered them in London, released Blue which had a dulcimer in it. Somewhere along the way, she picked up an American dulcimer (and I think it was Newport or another folk festival but I'd need to read the Joellen interview again) It was Big Sur. I can't see her having picked it up in Greece. But the desire to play in a different strummed style, yes. Anyway, Peace Much Joni Jamie Zoob ps: here it is: http://www.jonimitchell.com/Lapidus97.html Having just read it, I can confidently say: Joni didn't go to Woodstock, wrote the song, premiered it at Big Sur, met Joellen at the same gig ('69) wrote the rest of LOTC, swore off shopping, went to Europe, wrote most of Blue on her travels, premiered songs at the London concert. Hang on a sec, did I say shopping? - ----- Original Message ----- From: Nuriel Tobias To: Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 6:05 PM Subject: Re: Joni in Greece > --- SCJoniGuy@aol.com wrote: > "When she was in Greece for a year the government prohibited guitar (so she says in an interview) so she picked up the dulcimer and forged ahead with that." > > Wow. In Greece? For a year? Ooooowwwwhhh - do tell more, Bob - this is the first time i hear about that. > > Thanks, > > Nuriel > > _____________________________________________________________ > Free email, web pages, news, entertainment, weather and MORE! > Check out -------------------------------> http://wowmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 15:45:00 -0800 From: "Bree Mcdonough" Subject: Re: Regarding reading and writing. >I have heard that there is a machine or computer or some such thing that >will take in the notes you are playing and convert it to sheet music. >Has anyone else heard of this? Yes,with a midi keyboard and notation software installed in your computer it is possible to midi your kybd to computer and whatever notes you play will be printed on staff. If you want bells and whistles that depends on what you want to pay for your software. I hope this helps. >Well, I am baking brioche this morning and it is about to come out of >the oven. I had to follow a recipe. :) Bringing any to the fest? ;-) Lemon perhaps? Recipes can be good.. Bree >Love and Peace...Sharon _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 19:02:43 EST From: RoseMJoy@aol.com Subject: Wally Breese's Birthday Feb. 6th I stand corrected, Wally was born on February 6th. rose in nj ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 16:15:47 -0800 From: "Bree Mcdonough" Subject: Re: Regarding reading and writing. I failed to mention this,sorry. Software:Composers,I don't know the name of the CO that puts this out. And Allegro would be another. Bree (you will do great things >>I have heard that there is a machine or computer or some such thing that >>will take in the notes you are playing and convert it to sheet music. >>Has anyone else heard of this? > >Yes,with a midi keyboard and notation software installed in your computer >it >is possible to midi your kybd to computer and whatever notes you play will >be printed on staff. If you want bells and whistles that depends on what >you want to pay for your software. I hope this helps. > > >>Well, I am baking brioche this morning and it is about to come out of >>the oven. I had to follow a recipe. :) > >Bringing any to the fest? ;-) Lemon perhaps? Recipes can be good.. > >Bree > > >>Love and Peace...Sharon > > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ >MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: >http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 16:42:32 -0800 (PST) From: Nuriel Tobias Subject: Matala and the Mermaid Cafe Hi everyone Well... Mr. Richard Tenenbaum wrote an amazing journey diary and the way he describes Matala and the Mermaid cafe is only too lovely and vivid. It's a bit long - but fun to read. Hope you enjoy. Nuri "Matala boasted several seedy cafes, the most popular being the Mermaid. Its verandah spread out fan-wise towards the beach, the Mermaid was the central hang-out of the cave dwellers. Their corrugated faces hunched over kerosene lamps and candles, they huddled together, samples of all the migratory hordes gone A.W.O.L. from the anthills of the world: campus Guevarists in Fidelista fatigues, sexual Leftists and sanyasins in long-flowing robes, minstrels of sunburnt bohemianism, aspiring earringed gurus, the Eminences and Prometheus-poseurs of Hip-- all fixated in the dim waxen light like mannequins from Madame Tussaud's. But the specialty of the house consisted of dogs, a dozen starving canary-yellow mastodons in half-sitting position who would go berserk whenever one of the cave dwellers at the tables threw them a morsel. With the hounds zooming by, ravenous and snapping, the Mermaid resembled a loony-bin, intoxicating, like the rezina I kept guzzling in the corner. The next morning I had my first chance to look around. On the beach, feeling healthy as a bull and glorying in the blueness of the Greek sky, I suddenly heard a scream from the top tier of the caves. Had Neptune himself emerged on a dolphin from the waves, the metaphoric dimension of Mister Jason's descent from his cave couldn't have been more dramatic. Like Tarzan, he dangled from a rope in mid-air and in a twinkling disappeared from sight. Then contoured against the sky, unmistakable in his raffish costume-- for all that it mattered, Mister Jason might have been deep-dyed in green and armored in gold-- he meandered along the beach until he came to where I was sitting. Then sticking out his ten-foot high pole crowned with a sheep's skull he cried, "Welcome to Matala!" Mister Jason, gallivanting along in his djellabah, was the pearl in the hip oyster, but he was not by a long shot the only pearl on the beach. Next to me sat Miriam, a stunner from L.A. Life had plucked her from a world where everything was mined and fitted with booby-traps to a glorified apartment house for hippies, she complained. Unlike Mister Jason, who presided with panache in his cave, Miriam was a newcomer and lived in squalor. In this she was not alone. On any one day at least a hundred people occupied the caves on a first-come-first-serve basis. The more elegant caves were old Cretan tombs carved out of the rock with semi-circular burial niches for sleeping. These, the museum pieces, belonged to0 the established residents of Matala who looked down their noses on the new arrivals streaming in every day on the bus. For Miriam the only available cave was a hole-in-the-wall and the flies on the dung-heaps threatened with typhus. But as the sun rose in state over the bay who cared about the dangers of disease? Disinfatuated with the municipal-grays of technocracy, the cave dwellers had dropped out of the rat-races, the assembly lines, the universities, and all the other traps conjured up by the anthills of the world to rob them of their integrity; and now they sat, imigris from a remote civilization, on the rocky beach. Like latter-day Diogeneses, they had reduced the essentials of life to a sleeping bag and a rucksack. To them Matala was not a cop-out or a cultural kamikaze-act but the fulfillment of a hankering for the natural. A sociologist might argue that there were two types of cave dwellers in Matala: the typical middle-class drop-out and the unclassifiable. Mister Jason clearly belonged to the latter category. No one knew where he was from. One rumor spoke of Chile, another Italy, a third Canada. As the fifth oldest cave dweller Mister Jason enjoyed status in the pecking order of seniority, but even in this world of outsiders and desperadoes everything about Mister Jason was exotic and controversial. In the Mermaid he held court at a special table where he tried to recruit the cave dwellers to join him Mussolini-wise on a march to Athens in a plot to overthrow the Colonels. He was serious. He volunteered to drill his recruits in the olive fields and when people scoffed he mumbled about his years in the Spanish Foreign Legion and waved his sheep skull called Beelzebub at them. Several weeks after my arrival Mister Jason invited me for a visit to his cave. "Don't worry," he admonished in his thick accent as we trekked along the pathways of the cliff to his rope, "there's nothing to fear. I'll show you how to use the rope." There are things one does at thirty-- and I was certainly playing Huck Finn at thirty-- that one doesn't attempt to do ten or fifteen years later, and swinging on a rope over jagged boulders on a cliff overlooking the Aegean to have tea with a nut in a cave must certainly be one of them. Mister Jason's cave, dim, squalid, irregularly shaped, boasted none of the amenities sometimes found down below in the tombs adjacent to the bay. We sat cross-legged on the powdery floor while sipping our tea. All around us the light of the candle metamorphosed the walls into eerie kaleidoscopic formations. The whole scenario might have been a set-up for my demise. Instead Mister Jason whispered, "I must show you my coin collection." He got up and emerged a few seconds later from the darkness holding a bag of coins which he emptied on the ground. "Algerian," he said, his dark eyes glittering in the light, "My people." His story then came out in bits and pieces, perhaps a fantasy, perhaps not. Mister Jason claimed to be an Italian anthropologist from Turin. He was stranded in Matala without money ( He occasionally worked as a day-laborer in the olive fields ) and had only one all-consuming desire: to return to his tribe in Southern Algeria. The tribe had adopted him. Anywhere else he felt lost and deracinated. I stared at him as he explained his tribe's unique hieroglyphic system. Clearly Mister Jason was if daft not uneducated. The costume was tribal. The March on Athens was a scheme to rake up money for steerage to Algeria. His story fell in place. I stayed in the caves for three months. When I finally located my own cave it was with a colony of five London anarchists who inhabited a warren of adjoining tombs where one of the anarchists held periodic poetry readings. However pleasant the Brits were, I needed privacy to paint. In addition, there was only one water spigot for the entire cave population and disease of one sort or another always threatened. The cave dwellers, imigris mostly from Europe and North America, although unorganizable, all participated in one daily ritual.. At sunset they would emerge from their caves and stand on the rocks to observe the setting of the sun over the Aegean. About three weeks after my arrival I noticed during this ritual a small house perched on the opposite promontory where very few cave dwellers lived and upon inquiry found that I could rent the house with its outdoor water faucet for only eight dollars a month. The house was little more than a stone shack with two rooms and almost no light. It boasted a stone verandah with a view of the town and diagonally below in an open cave was the stall of a pig named Herman. By this time I had had enough of Matala's midnight revels. I had left America to paint and though I had become somewhat of a local celebrity by painting in the outdoor cafes-- the Mermaid once tried to commission a wall relief from me-- I needed not only privacy but security from theft. Matala's inhabitants were not known for their affluence. Some of the cave dwellers like Mister Jason hired themselves out for a pittance as day laborers in the fields. Others sold their blood for 350 drachmas a pint in the Iraklion hospital. At this time I had in my pocket my savings from Berkeley, close to $4000 in travelers checks , which in terms of today's currency represented a considerable sum. Eight dollars a month seemed then a modest outlay to continue my artistic activities. In Matala my verandah with its water faucet was a godsend. One day as I was sitting alone there occurred what I can only call an epiphany, a divine gift. Robert Motherwell once remarked that in the 20th century a painter can either follow conventional lines or find his own doodle. Sailing to Byzantium, my first original doodle, in retrospect just grew on the paper as the waves lapped beneath me. If surrealism is the spontaneous evocation of unconscious images, then Sailing to Byzantium is very much an example of surrealism, a mad map akin to the maps of schizophrenics, except that in this case the outline resembles that of the Eastern Mediterranean. Its meaning must always remain to me inscrutable, and perhaps the best commentary on Sailing to Byzantium was made by a professor and his wife who purchased a later version in Ann Arbor and two years afterwards when I bumped into them in Chicago they commented, "It's in our breakfast room. We stare at it every morning, but we still haven't exhausted its meaning, whatever it might be." (c) _____________________________________________________________ Free email, web pages, news, entertainment, weather and MORE! Check out -------------------------------> http://wowmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 12:51:31 +1100 From: wolf Subject: Notational notions.. G'day folks! As a newcomer here, and an Australian currently savouring every word of the Karen O'Brien biography Shadows & Light, I thought I'd say hello (hello!) and dive right in with my fourpence on the reading and writing thread. As a long, long time contributor to the Mike Oldfield list ( http://www.amarok.f9.co.uk ) - I thought you might be interested to know that Mikey scribbles ideas that he gets in restaurants and coffee shops on Rizla cigarette papers! These are done in his own notational style, sprung from necessity in remembering the ideas and motifs required in composing twenty minute instrumentals. It is easy to understand Joni's resistance, though, especially in the face of all those specialised tunings - surely the attempt to notate these would defeat the purpose, rendering all things standard? I'm also guessing that the liberation the dear woman felt in relating to Pastorius and Tom Scott was aural and instinctive rather than written. I honestly can't imagine these people saying, "oh Joni, can you just write that down so that we can play it?" Whether it would have had an impact on her style (to read and write traditionally) will never be known - but my punt is, since that piano teacher wrapped her knuckles with the ruler for straying from traditional paths, she has always struck out in search of new forms. Notational facility may have trapped her in the standard modes she has always rebelled against. ~wolf ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 13:01:35 -0800 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: Joni Live Gil wrote: > Ooops. My memory misinformed me. It had to have been in 1969 that I saw > Joni at the Troubadour. Her first appearance there, according to > http://www.jonimitchell.com/appearances.html, was in June 1968, and I was > still at Fort Benning waiting for my separation orders from active Army > duty. So it was January or May 1969, when I was living in Hollywood. > The other details I offered are reliable, however. > Blushing in chagrin, My turn to say oops, too! The performance I was thinking of was the '72. I've never checked out the appearances page before and learned some new details. Amazing she did a 12-day stint in '68. I'll have to read the story from B. Mitchell Reed in the Crosby bio again - think he may have had fuzzy details. I do recall him saying she had become such a phenomenon (due to his playing cuts off STAS before it was released) that she was sold out in advance and played the second stint. I don't think recordings from the '68 or '69 Troubadour shows have surfaced here (although some lucky and diligent traders may have these and I'd bet Mr. Dulson attended a few of the shows!). Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 19:08:32 -0700 From: "Brett Code" Subject: Joni's war stuff on CKUA CKUA is an independent Canadian radio network headquartered in Alberta. The collection is amazingly eclectic; the dj's, deeply knowledgeable in things musical. You can get it on the net www.ckua.org where you can see how diverse things are there - daily play lists and stuff and you can get the music online. Because they like music, they play a lot of Joni. I sponsored a few hours of a morning show, which will play some time in the next few weeks (exact date being discussed at the moment). I'm using up my requests to air a few Joni songs that don't make the radio very often - all having to do with things current in world, particularly as they concern the world war that's being engineered by our leaders: The Fiddle and the Drum The Beat of Black Wings Tax Free (the little island south of Florida is now populated by guys in orange suits in bird cages) No Apologies The Three Great Stimulants I think Joni would be pleased to hear her war stuff all in one show, trying to remind us that there is another way of looking at things. I sure will be pleased. Love and Light, Brett: trying to imagine any sane means of understanding how George Bush could be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 21:31:57 -0800 From: Michael Paz Subject: Re: Regarding reading and writing. Finale is one of the better ones available. Software Co. is Coda. They have student and teacher pricing (it is fecking expensive but a great program). Paz NP-Maybe I'm A Leo-Govt' Mule-The Deep End Volume 1 on 2/5/02 4:15 PM, Bree Mcdonough at bree_mcdonough@hotmail.com wrote: > I failed to mention this,sorry. Software:Composers,I don't know the name of > the CO that puts this out. And Allegro would be another. > > Bree (you will do great things Subject: ETJC-extremely tenuous joni content This just in- American Spirit Cigarettes (Santa Fe Tobacco), Joni's brand, has been purchased by tobacco giant RJ Reynolds. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 22:58:53 -0800 From: Michael Paz Subject: Re: ETJC-extremely tenuous joni content Phew! Quit smoking just in time! Paz NP-Worried Down With The Blues-Govt' Mule-The Deep End Vol. 1 on 2/5/02 8:35 PM, Randy Remote at guitarzan@saber.net wrote: > This just in- > American Spirit Cigarettes (Santa Fe Tobacco), Joni's brand, has > been purchased by tobacco giant RJ Reynolds. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 23:20:50 -0800 From: Michael Paz Subject: The Last Time I Saw Joni I have been enjoying the thread about seeing Joni, but have not had time to collect my thoughts and post mine. I have been fortunate enough to see her 5 times live and in different cities everytime. I have seen her twice with Dylan and was really not interested in the Dylan part both times. The first time was in Houston in 1976 for the Night of the Huricane tour. I was attending USL in Lafayette Louisiana and hitched over with some friends. I even enjoyed Dylan on this tour (I have seen him several times since and didn;t enjoy him as much as this time). Of course Joni did not play enough since it was a circus sort of Dylan planned thing. The next time was almost 10 years later in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when Freda got tickets (she was still at LSU then b4 we were married and she STILL liked Joni but I digress). She was really worried that the tickets were too far from the stage but we were about 5 rows in front of the House Console dead center. I was floored (no pun intended). Her version of Banquet on this tour was as if Robert Plant and Jimmy Page had gotten ahold of the Tab and hard rocked it out. It was so brilliant and I remember wanting a copy of that version so bad ( now I have so many versions in my collection thanks list!). I also remember her fucking up the lyrics to something from Court and Spark (my memory tells me it was Court and Spark, but it might have been Help Me). I remember thinking that this made her seem so reachable and human, where as most of the bands and artists at that time were so larger than life. The next time was in San Jose Cal. during the 1998 tour with Dylan. I was sick as a dawg, but still managed to love the show and my boy Kev got us some great seats in the floor section sort of close to where Julius was seated. This was my first time meeting other folks from the JMDL before the show. The last time I saw Joni was in LA in 00 and the orchestra. Oh what a wonderful treat to see her in this format. I wrote a review of the show for jonimitchell.com. I would love to see her again and again and am content with any way she chooses to perform, but would just love to hear her play the piano a few more times. The picture I have burned in my memory of her at the piano is one I will never forget. I have a feeling we won't be let down and that she is not quite through yet especially since she is ripe for falling in love again. Love Paz NP-Sin's A Good Man's Brother-Govt' Mule-The Deep End Vol 1 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 23:28:29 -0800 From: "Kakki" Subject: Re: Joni Live Well Gil, it's me that's fuzzy again! I looked it up and the story actually came from Joni's former manager Elliot Roberts telling about how Crosby had everyone over to hear Joni play at his house. He goes on "The next day B. Mitchell Reed talked about it on the radio, how there was this girl in town named Joni Mitchell that's recording an album and there's nothing he can play new, but whenever this album comes out, it's going to be be one of the greatest albums of all time. David set it up so that when the album finally came out, everyone in L.A. was aware of Joni Mitchell. The first club date she played, at the Troubadour, was standing room only for four nights, two shows a night.....By the time Joni's record came out she was an industry legend, properly positioned for breakout success..." Kakki > The BeeMeR! I remember him from the golden days of underground FM, his deep > bass voice bringing us into his confidence and lending importance to > anything he told us. As for his fuzzy details ... hey, it was the 1960s. Be > amazed we who survived it even can spell our names. ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2002 #38 ******************************** ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she?