From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2003 #275 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 Tuesday, September 2 2003 Volume 2003 : Number 275 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- spitting in the face of God? [Zzutak@aol.com] November 8th party in England [steph@cix.co.uk (Anita Gabrielle Tedder)] Tlog and the Geffen Box ["Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" ] how do i get off this list? ["Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" ] A Quiet but Hair-raising Joni Moment [] Bugs, Phobias, & Joni Happy Songs ["Emily M. Griskavich" ] Re: A Quiet but Hair-raising Joni Moment [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Covers #44 - This 44 is loaded! [SCJoniGuy@aol.com] Re: spitting in the face of God? ["kakki" ] Today in History: September 2 [ljirvin@jmdl.com] Today's Library Links: September 2 [ljirvin@jmdl.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 03:22:22 EDT From: Zzutak@aol.com Subject: spitting in the face of God? Hello friends, Today at a birthday party I played Joni's recent "Both Sides Now" CD, as one of my in-laws is an aspiring jazz singer who likes standards. After a while I asked my wife if my sister-in-law noticed the CD or not, as I didn't see any glimmers during the bustle of activity. My wife said "Yes, she calls this CD "Spitting In The Face Of God", since Joni has stripped two octaves off her beautiful voice from smoking cigarettes. But she does like it enough to have bought a copy herself". This was essentially the same observation... minus the colorful metaphor... that a buddy made when we saw her perform in Bethel a few years ago at the "A Day In The Garden" event (this circulates on DAT and CDr, I'm sure many/most of you have it). I'm not trying to be provocative, I've liked Joni since childhood when my mom used to play "Songs To A Seagull" in the livingroom below our bedroom when my brother and I were going to sleep. I have all her albums and CDs, and "Seagull" will always be lodged deep in my subconscious as a result of those nascent listenings. Maybe this topic has been discussed ad infinitum, but I'm curious if anybody has any comments, as the subject just resurfaced today in an unexpected situation. Pax, Sean ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 10:17 +0100 (BST) From: steph@cix.co.uk (Anita Gabrielle Tedder) Subject: November 8th party in England DIARY DATE Just a short preliminary announcement that we are organising a party on Saturday November 8th from 1.30-5.00 to celebrate Joni's 60th at a performance space in Bedford, England. Live performances of Joni songs,video footage and other exciting things are envisaged. Joni look-a-likes extremely welcome! Further details to come. Anita ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 12:00:04 -0400 From: "Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Tlog and the Geffen Box Wow, Ken. This is a neat analysis of TRAVELOGUE! No one's ever called them "epic closing tracks" before so I have to give you major points for that. I was listening to TLOG last week and the live YES shows all this weekend so I'm stoked with bombast. Frankly, I like those tracks on TLOG. Like the tradition in jazz, the idea is to enrich the catalog with interpretation, not replace the original album tracks. I don't know if Sinatra was the first one to record it or not, but what if he hadn't recorded "Fly Me To The Moon" because it had already 'been done'? Would the world be a better place if he hadn't recorded "Send In the Clowns"? Not to me. Some feel that it was sacrilege to dress up "Judgment of the Moon And Stars". I think the subject of epic tragedy, the setting and the theme of carrying on [in spite of troubles] were completely right for a huge treatment. When I first heard Vince Mendoza's arrangement at the Pine Knob Amphitheatre near Detroit, Michigan, US during the 'Both Sides Now' tour..... Well, it stayed with me for days. Aaron Copeland and Keith Emerson would love it. For me, the entire cost of TRAVELOGUE is justified because I have a studio version of this magnificent arrangement. The vast collection of paintings and the other tracks are bonuses. Last night I really thought the foreboding version of "Woodstock" worked well too. I keep quoting Kate on TRAVELOGUE: it's not background music. It's foreground music. All the best, Lama ken, you said, >My problem with Tlog is that at least half of the songs sound like they're meant to be the epic closing track of the album.> In fact, I count five that actually did close their respective original albums, six if you count trouble child (since twisted, despite being one of my very favorite joni performances, is somewhat of a coda)> About the boxed set, if you don't have the LPs or the HDCD editions of the Geffen albums, then yeah, by all means, buy. I have hours and hours of interviews so her text about the songs might mean more to you than to others. Maybe I'll have to get it. You said, > it's not just a repackaging, I'm expecting these to sound substantially better than the current CDs, most of which are brittle and compressed> ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 13:03:04 -0400 From: "Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: how do i get off this list? PS, No, seriously, to get off the list, do this: 1. Create a new email and put this address in the "TO" box: majordomo@smoe.org 2. You can leave the subject line empty. 3. In the body, paste these four lines. u*subscribe onlyjoni-digest u*subscribe joni-digest u*subscribe onlyjoni u*subscribe onlyjoni 4. Replace all four * with n. 5. Send it. Happy trails, Lama You said, >From: QingCong@aol.com how do i get off this list? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 13:52:42 -0400 From: Subject: A Quiet but Hair-raising Joni Moment > Part of the heady excitement of being new to the place is the various > > invitations from well-meaning people to spend an evening or weekend > with them. > > I had one last evening -- unforgettable and heartwarming. My adviser > > and his wife invited me to dinner in their indescribably > bee-you-tee- > full house in Chatham County and they treated me like their son > (almost > everyone in UNC seems to be especially kind and helpful to me, from > that lady in the laundromat who gave me life-changing lessons in > separating the colored from the white shirts before loading my > clothes > to the machine, to the professor I met in a coffee shop down the > street > and who invited me to a martini in his place when he realized I am an > > international student). The dinner was lovely and we had great fun > talking about anything that we happen to peripherally discuss from > Bruno Latour to bartending to hummingbirds and to _The Magdalene > Sisters_. It was at this juncture when they talked about a song a > woman > sang about the Magdalene sisters. Naturally Joseph proudly said it > was > Joni Mitchell who sang Magdalene Laundries. Then my adviser took his > > Chieftains album with Joni singing Magadalene Laundries in one of the > > tracks. The three of us dimmed the light and Joni's lower registers > came oh-so-clearly in the darkened room and told the story of a > 27-year > old who may or may not have been made pregnant by her father. It was > a > very quiet moment for the 3 of us then I before I knew it, goose > bumps > were on me because of Joni's plaintive singing. The spare > arrangements > and the background vocals eerily evoked a revisionist _The Sound of > Music_ vision in the song. When the song ended I found myself misty- > eyed and so was my adviser and his wife. I have not experienced a > Joni > performance this hair-raising since she sang Little Green, and it was > > at the time I broke up with my long-time girlfriend. > > I told my adviser and his wife to get TI to discover more of Joni. > Turned out theye were long time Joni fans. They were very much in the > > California subculture thing in the mid-60s to late 60s. For the first > > time, I kind of looked at them the way I would probably look at Joni > > when I will see her for the first time -- with reverence and awe. > > I wonder what Joni thinks of _The Magdalene Sisters_ as a movie. > > Joseph in CH ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 15:36:24 -0500 From: "Emily M. Griskavich" Subject: Bugs, Phobias, & Joni Happy Songs Firstly, one time there was a really bad summer plague of grasshoppers in Grant County, WI, where many members of my family live. I was 8 or 9. I was walking down my mom's cousin's driveway after leaving her house, and it was blanketed with the little buggers (no pun intended). One really big one was standing between me and the car, with normal-sized one's all around it. I tried so hard not to step on or near the hoppers, and my family was whining at me for taking such a long time to get in the car. All the people AND hoppers were watching me, I swear. Eventually, I put my foot down right next to the big one and he jumped as high as my waist REPEATEDLY. I screamed and dodged and scared more hoppers, who began to hop and fly all over my legs. I just about had an apoplectic fit. Eventually my dad had to help me shoo them and get me down the driveway to the car. I have Obsessive-compulsive disorder (after that, who wouldn't?) and you'd be surprised what I'm afraid of. I have to pick up tinfoil and rubber bands at the side of the road or somebody's pet will eat it and have a hell of a time passing it. I have to pick up small rocks at the side of the road or a car's tires will fling them into the eyes of a little child. And I can't walk into a kitchen without making sure the stove is turned off when not in use, or the building will burn down. Of course, all that was true BEFORE I got on meds. It's not so true now. And who forgot to add "Twisted" to happy Joni songs! GRR! - -Emily ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 17:39:09 -0400 From: dsk Subject: Re: A Quiet but Hair-raising Joni Moment Hi Joseph, Welcome to the U.S.! I'm glad to hear you're being warmly welcomed and, along with all the booklearnin' you'll be doing, hope that your stay here is a happy one. You'll probably be saying "y'all" in no time. Your sensitively written description of Joni's 'Magdalene Laundries' on the Chieftains "Tears of Stone" was so inspiring I had to listen again myself. Yes, it is a misty-eye maker. Her weary voice perfectly expresses the sorrow and disgust of the story. The line that gets me most today is "We're trying to get things white as snow, all of us woebegotten daughters..." So sad. I picture women obsessively trying to remove actual dirt, which can never be done, of course, because they've been taught (horribly wrongly) that the dirt is inside themselves. What a cruel and unending torture! I'm impressed, too, that the Chieftains would record such a critical song. Good Irishmen that they are, they must have gotten a lot of flak for that. As Ron (I think) said, Joni manages to criticize in a very particular way. No one can deny the story of the Magdalene Laundries, and yet I don't get the impression that Joni ever condemns the entire Church. That's not an easy thing to avoid, as some of the responses written here to the movie have shown. It's one more thing to admire about Joni. Debra Shea palis@email.unc.edu wrote: > > > Part of the heady excitement of being new to the place is the various > > invitations from well-meaning people to spend an evening or weekend > > with them. > > I had one last evening -- unforgettable and heartwarming. > ... The three of us dimmed the light and Joni's lower registers > came oh-so-clearly in the darkened room and told the story of a > 27-year old who may or may not have been made pregnant by her father. > It was a very quiet moment for the 3 of us then I before I knew it, > goose bumps were on me because of Joni's plaintive singing. The spare > arrangements and the background vocals eerily evoked a revisionist _The > Sound of Music_ vision in the song. When the song ended I found myself > misty-eyed and so was my adviser and his wife. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 18:06:12 EDT From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Re: A Quiet but Hair-raising Joni Moment >The line that gets me >most today is "We're trying to get things white as snow, all of us >woebegotten daughters..." That's a powerful one, in a song full of them. If I can make it to "they just stuffed her in hole..." without getting teary-eyed, that one usually gets me. It's also a very moving performance on the 2001 Joni Hommage video when the one singer starts "Sunny Sunday" then the other vocalist recites "Magdalene Laundries" as prose, then the second half of Sunny Sunday closes it out. A very moving juxtaposition, and definitely two of Joni's songs that are NOT very happy. Bob ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 18:59:07 EDT From: SCJoniGuy@aol.com Subject: Covers #44 - This 44 is loaded! Well, I see by the calendar on the wall that September is here...summer's coming to a close, we begin the final third of the year, and yet another volume of Joni covers is loosed upon the world. And it's a fine collection too, if it was a meal it would be described as a platter full of tasty tidbits, some prime, some rare, some a little bitter to the taste, and some sprinkled with cheese! Here's a table of contents: 1. Melissa Errico - Night Ride Home: This one just came out this year, I like it a lot, enough to make it one of my "Sweet 16". Melissa is a NYC cabaret singer. 2. Lynn Pinto - Big Yellow Taxi: Speaking of NYC, this is from another recent release called "Broadway Romances Manhattan" from singer-actress Lynn Pinto. 3. Robert Guillaume - Both Sides Now: Benson Sings! And quite nicely I might add on this very pleasant version of BSN. 4. Seona McDowell - Morning Morgantown: This 70's recording of one of Joni's lesser-covered tunes is also quite nice, Seona is from Australia and now makes her home in New England. Thanks to John "Wombat" Low for the heads-up on this one. 5. Dave Cornell & Gini Conard - Woodstock: Have no clues as to who these people are, but I can tell you that this is a VERY rare recording on an album called "The Unconcert". Dave's guitar reminds me a lot od Stephen Stills acoustic, this one has a very folkish feel to it. 6. Wendy Colonna - Rainy Night House 7. Wendy Colonna - The Fiddle And The Drum: Two very nice live recordings by Austin, TX singer/songwriter. Hear them for yourself at: http://www.wendycolonna.com/audio.asp 8. Donald Hall - Both Sides Now: A lovely harp version...probably what they play when you enter Joni heaven! 9. R. Michael Torrey - Urge For Going: West Coast singer/songwriter, now making his home in Portland, OR. He's still recording, this is from a collection of his earliest recordings. A very haunting version too. 10. Carmina - You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio 11. Carmina - River: I just love a twofer, especially when they're both great! Carmina describes her music as a marriage between jazz and Celtic acoustic. The first of these is live, from her latest release, and River is a studio version that she recorded spontaneously in the studio and dedicated to a close friend that had passed away. 12. Denver, Boise, & Johnson - Both Sides Now: As in John Denver, David Boise, and Michael Johnson. This trio formed after the Chad Mitchell trio broke up and gigged for a couple of years before Denver went on to bigger things. 13. Becky Koch - Help Me: Again, not much is known here...another very obscure recording, similar to Joni's own recording and released in the same time frame (1978)...some nice jazzy guitar work. 14. Co Co Beaux - A Case Of You: The Men's acapella chorus from Connecticut College...hence the name Co Co Beaux. This CD is actually out of print, so I was lucky to find it. A very unique treatment of ACOY, especially being sung with all male voices. 15. Sara Hickman - Chelsea Morning: Another fairly new recording from 2002 from singer-songwriter Hickman. This one is very wonderful, features lots of fine instrumental colors, great percussion, nice string arrangements and fiddles, it's just good in every way. 16. Lyn Paul - A Case For You: A very interesting recording...Lyn used to sing with The New Seekers ("I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing") and has remained on the scene for a long time. Recently she appeared in Boy George's London musical "Tabboo" and released a promo-only cd single for radio play, and just on a whim recorded the Joni cover to go with it, calling it "A Case For You" as opposed to the correct title. Whew! I had a time hunting this one down, but eventually got in my clutches. And Lyn does a nice job as well which makes it all worthwhile. 17. Patrick Ki - Both Sides Now: Hawaiian born and slack-key influenced acoustic guitarist, now makes his home in Sedona, AZ. This is an "easy-listening" version, pretty enough but not really very inspired. 18. Chris Klich Jazz Quintet - River: San Diego jazz combo features Laura Preble on vocals on this track. 19. The Practicers - All I Want 20. The Practicers - Big Yellow Taxi: There's something about the ragged demo-ish aspect of these recordings I really like. This duo had little or no recording budget but loved Joni songs so much they just had to record a mess of 'em. I like the clean solos this guy plays, and the female vocals are on the mark more often than not. What they lack in budget, they make up for in enthusiasm. 21. Anne Lorne Gillies - Both Sides Now: 1975 release from UK singer. Pretty basic, nothing really unique about this one. So there you have it - the loaded 44. Hey don't point that thing in the house! Stay tuned to win a free copy. Bob NP: The Practicers, "All I Want" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 19:01:28 -0700 From: "kakki" Subject: Re: spitting in the face of God? Sean wrote: > My wife said "Yes, she calls this CD "Spitting In The Face Of God", since Joni has >stripped two octaves off her beautiful voice from smoking cigarettes. Only the God of human critics and conventional culture. The God I know would tell Joni to go for it - it's about more than vocal ability, just IMO. > Maybe this topic has been discussed ad infinitum, but I'm curious > if anybody has any comments, as the subject just resurfaced today in an > unexpected situation. We've discussed it a lot and it will probably always be a topic because Joni's voice changed so drastically. My opinion is that the smoking is only a small part of it. Some women after middle age lose their beautiful singing voices due to hormonal changes, some don't. I think Joi may have also strained her voice out early on. I've heard there are many opera singers who chain smoke who can still hit the notes. Maybe there is more to it with Joni, physiologically, than we might know. Kakki ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:25:53 -0400 From: ljirvin@jmdl.com Subject: Today in History: September 2 1978: Joni performed at the Bread and Roses Festival in Berkeley, California. More info: http://www.jonimitchell.com/Bread78.html 1979: Joni performed at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia. More info: http://www.jmdl.com/articles/view.cfm?id=188 http://www.jmdl.com/articles/view.cfm?id=865 http://www.jmdl.com/articles/view.cfm?id=860 http://www.jmdl.com/articles/view.cfm?id=866 - ---- For a comprehensive reference to Joni's appearances, consult Joni Mitchell ~ A Chronology of Appearances: http://www.jonimitchell.com/appearances.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:25:53 -0400 From: ljirvin@jmdl.com Subject: Today's Library Links: September 2 On September 2 the following articles were published: 1970: "Joni Mitchell" - ZigZag (Biography, with photographs) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/view.cfm?id=424 1978: "Bread and Roses Program Book" - Bread and Roses (Biography, with photographs) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/view.cfm?id=46 1979: "Mitchell And Mingus - an Odd Couple That Worked" - Charlotte Observer (Interview) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/view.cfm?id=874 1998: "Joni Mitchell Is Not A Woman" - Scotsman (Biography) http://www.jmdl.com/articles/view.cfm?id=321 ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2003 #275 ********************************* ------- 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? 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