From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #34 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 Friday, February 4 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 034 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Joni's Most Artistic Songs ? ["Marian Russell" ] Re: Hejira a blight ["Ross, Les" ] RE: Hejira a blight....and another thing. ["Ross, Les" ] Victory! - BSN voted back on track ["Michael O'Malley" ] Re: LOTC review in latest (Jan/Feb) issue of Magnet [Bob Muller ] Re: Roberta Flack/Jen Stills/Ray LaMontagne [JRMCo1@aol.com] while traveling in some vehicle [mags h ] RE: Hejira a blight....and another thing. ["mike pritchard" Subject: Re: Joni's Most Artistic Songs ? This list is not necessarily a list of my favorite songs, but of those that I think are most artistic/creative/unusual. I tried to pick one song from every album, except for Mingus (I think all of Mingus is very artistic) and I basically ignored the compilation albums. The first two songs in the list below were never officially released; I find the guitar parts of these two songs the most interesting and complex of all the pre-STAS songs. Day After Day The Way It Is The Dawntreader Tin Angel Rainy Night House Blue Judgement Of The Moon And Stars Down To You The Jungle Line Shadows And Light Black Crow Paprika Plains God Must Be A Boogie Man A Chair In The Sky The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey Sweet Sucker Dance The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines Goodbye Pork Pie Hat Wild Things Run Fast Smokin' (Empty Try Another) The Reoccurring Dream ('cause Joni and Bobsart think so!) Passion Play (When All The Slaves Are Free) The Sire Of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song) Harlem In Havanah Marian ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 10:07:21 -0000 From: "Ross, Les" Subject: Re: Hejira a blight Far be it from to me to diss anyone's opinion about anything (yeah, right) but I'm completely at a loss to understand how the song Hejira could be considered a blight. David's quote from the lyric 'forceps and the stone' singles out just one part of a complete masterpiece of artistry. In Joni's canon of work the song is her best as far as I'm concerned and the song that drew me into the album all those many, many years ago. I've been listening to the songs from Hejira a lot these past couple of days and invariably play the title song on repeat to savour its majesty. Yes, majesty. In every respect it's perfect: the instrumentation, the arrangement, the music, the singing, the words, the... well, I think that covers it. I placed the words last in this list by accident as it happens, but it's my experience that I get my first 'in' to all music in the music rather than the words. In Joni's case the words are crafted exquisitely and take listening to. Some chance these days with attention spans truly 'blighted' that such art might be given the time to be appreciated. I mean have you listened to popular music on the radio these days? What a pile of f##king crap. Exceptions there are though that only serves to prove the rule and it does so in spades. Perhaps it's always been that way and I've just grown into an intolerant, grouchy, middle-aged man. Who knew? It's usually a sign that someone's argument is faltering when they take recourse in dictionary definitions. In the one I have in front of me here for 'blight' there are a number of references to plant decay though, significantly, without rotting taking place. But other definitions refer to the prevention of growth and also to frustrate or disappoint. Perhaps the latter is closer to what is being proposed. But I don't support that either. The song is a melancholic essay on love, love failed and the flight therefrom, life and with just a dusting of fatalism to bouy it all along. Now, in some cultures (in decline)* such melancholy is reproachfully decried as being whiny with the attendant implication that if one has nothing upbeat to say about something then better by far to shut up about it. (I'm laughing here for a moment as this last reminds me of a line from that very fine film (?) Steel Magnolias when the ever-splendid Olympia Dukakis says, "if you can't say something good about someone, come sit next to me!"..or something like that.) Anyway, back to my point, I think it indicts the listener more than the song when Hejira is described as being whiny. Especially when it was written waaaay before La Mitchell really got into whine (peevish complaints, usually repeated) mode, which if her recent utterances in the press are anything to go by, she has certainly nailed as her acte-de-guerre. Sure she has a point, we heard it but it's all we hear. Les (London, returning to box) *see, even a reference to Dog Eat Dog. Yay! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 12:44:16 -0000 From: "Ross, Les" Subject: RE: Hejira a blight....and another thing. Richard, in his support of Hejira, cites or at least appears to concede that Hejira and For the Roses are Joni's most depressing albums. Not taking Richard to task over this at all as this observation is far from unique, but again I have never understood why work of contemplation, as Joni described it 'of the inner landscape', is described in this way! Though I look like a miserable git, as those who've met me can attest to, depression is (very fortunately for me) not a crushing presence in my life though I'm certainly familiar with it. I have never in more than 30 years of listening to the work of Joni Mitchell heard it and thought, 'how depressing'. (Though I really should qualify that. Read on, if you will.) Quite the opposite. In her saddest reflections, for example Sweet Bird, I have drawn remarkable solace and reward in listening to her take on the transience of youth and beauty. It's positively wry in its identification of the futility (vain promises on beauty jars) of trying to arrest the passage of time and its deleterious effects on one's boat race (face). What I mean is, in these and indeed most of her pre-DED work, her work was about the personal in relation to the self and relationships. In those works, I think I reacted, and favourably, to recognising the human condition at an individual level. From those where I'd experienced something similar it was a relief to discover that what I'd been through or felt was not unique and was here being so well articulated. If a reaction of depression is merited at all, then it's in response to work like Ethiopia, Dog Eat Dog (and not for the popular reasons, people!), Tax Free, Cool Water, Not to Blame, Magdalene Laundries and so on, where the human condition at a cultural or more global level gives us all something to feel depressed about. These subjects are truly depressing however prettily set to music they are. So perhaps her work can be described as depressing, just not those cited. Okay, I'll shut up and get back in the box. Les (London) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 08:27:22 -0500 From: "Richard Flynn" Subject: RE: Hejira a blight....and another thing. Les makes some powerful observations here, particularly about the solace and reward one can take from listening to the personal songs. This is why I hate to hear the music from this period described as "confessional." (I don't like the term applied to the personal autobiographical lyric poem either.) I had a particularly rough time with depression from 1971 till about 1977 (ages 16-22) and I do think that the records Blue through Hejira were so attractive to me because they are, as you point out, Les "about the personal in relation to the self and relationships." When I first heard "A Case of You" and "River" I had very powerful emotional reactions to them. (The same for "For the Roses.") When I first heard the unjustly maligned "Richard," I thought of my parents, and vowed never "to meet the same fate someday." Hejira (the album) was a real life-saver--I wore out the grooves on that one--and at 21 I let it wash over me in the dark many, many times. Anyway I'm sure I returned to these record again and again because they gave me insight and helped me to articulate (at least for myself) the feelings I was having--the specific events in Joni Mitchell's "autobiography" being beside the point, though they were, typically what the rock press tended to focus on. To some, this deep emotional identification with these "popular songs" might seem self-indulgent--but if such music helps us in "recognising the human condition at an individual level" and discovering that what one feels is "not unique" but that one must necessarily articulate such feelings in order not to be consumed by them or paralyzed by them-- well, then, that music is art. Anyway, Les, thanks for your observations. - -----Original Message----- From: owner-joni@jmdl.com [mailto:owner-joni@jmdl.com] On Behalf Of Ross, Les Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 7:44 AM To: 'joni@smoe.org' Subject: RE: Hejira a blight....and another thing. Richard, in his support of Hejira, cites or at least appears to concede that Hejira and For the Roses are Joni's most depressing albums. Not taking Richard to task over this at all as this observation is far from unique, but again I have never understood why work of contemplation, as Joni described it 'of the inner landscape', is described in this way! Though I look like a miserable git, as those who've met me can attest to, depression is (very fortunately for me) not a crushing presence in my life though I'm certainly familiar with it. I have never in more than 30 years of listening to the work of Joni Mitchell heard it and thought, 'how depressing'. (Though I really should qualify that. Read on, if you will.) Quite the opposite. In her saddest reflections, for example Sweet Bird, I have drawn remarkable solace and reward in listening to her take on the transience of youth and beauty. It's positively wry in its identification of the futility (vain promises on beauty jars) of trying to arrest the passage of time and its deleterious effects on one's boat race (face). What I mean is, in these and indeed most of her pre-DED work, her work was about the personal in relation to the self and relationships. In those works, I think I reacted, and favourably, to recognising the human condition at an individual level. From those where I'd experienced something similar it was a relief to discover that what I'd been through or felt was not unique and was here being so well articulated. If a reaction of depression is merited at all, then it's in response to work like Ethiopia, Dog Eat Dog (and not for the popular reasons, people!), Tax Free, Cool Water, Not to Blame, Magdalene Laundries and so on, where the human condition at a cultural or more global level gives us all something to feel depressed about. These subjects are truly depressing however prettily set to music they are. So perhaps her work can be described as depressing, just not those cited. Okay, I'll shut up and get back in the box. Les (London) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 08:50:39 EST From: JRMCo1@aol.com Subject: Re: Hejira a blight....and another thing. You'll do no such thing. You're making perfect sense to me. I read every word. I'm intrigued by the paradigm you describe, whereby there is a subtle, yet unmistakable distinction in Joni's work, temporally, in that she began her career speaking to the human condition with a personal/individual 'voice', but evolved to render the human condition on an increasingly cultural/global plane. Thank you for my early morning epiphany and your thoughtful point of view. I concur! Now, if you're done for the moment, would you mind so much strapping on your guitar and playing your rendition of "Woodstock" for this madman across the water? Just let me know when, and I'll bend an ear toward England. - -Julius In a message dated 2/3/05 4:46:38 AM, LXROSS@ctrl.co.uk writes: > Okay, I'll shut up and get back in the box. > > Les (London) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 14:24:29 +0000 From: "Sherelle Smith" Subject: Re: "Roberta" musical play update Pooh!!!! Double Pooh!!! Don't worry Paz, if all goes as planned, there will be several more venues scheduled. I have already committed to a singing at a private function the weekend of April 23rd so there's no way I can do it then. Don't worry, everything will work out! I feel a change in the air for all of us and this is just the beginning! Love, Sherelle >From: Michael Paz >To: Sherelle Smith , Joni Digest >Subject: Re: "Roberta" musical play update >Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:16:47 -0600 > >NO NO NO Not that weekend. One of the busiest weekends of the year for me >(1st weekend of Jazz Fest) Say it's sooner please!!!! > >Paz > > >NP-Steve's Boogie-EJ > > > > Hi friends, > > > > This is only tentative but David is setting the play for the last >weekend in > > April. As soon as I get exact dates (Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday) > > confirmed as well as ticket prices confirmed I will let you know. Trust >me > > that ticket prices won't be exhorbatant because I am the new kid on the > > block! Stay tuned! > > > > Sherelle ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 14:52:36 -0000 From: "Ross, Les" Subject: RE: Hejira a blight....and another thing. Richard wrote: Oh this is a real bete noir of mine too. I mean, god should help those authors of fiction were their work to be so described. In the best examples of written fiction one would not want to sit and contemplate that the writer was 'speaking' from experience! LOL! It has forever seemed that what Joni has written in her career HAD to have been written from first-hand experience. Perhaps it was but the assessment of the work needn't be contingent upon it having been so. It's unintentionally (or maybe it's intentionally) demeaning to fail to separate the work from the personality. What illustrates this to me was when I first saw Joni in Edinburgh during the awful (IMO) WTRF tour. Up to that point I'd set Joni on a pedestal. To this puppy she could do NO wrong. Well, having had a crap review for the previous night's concert, she had a real go at us, the audience and the critics from the local rag in particular. She brought up stories of miserly Scots she'd encountered in her early life and was being a total cow. So there I was initially glowing in the glory of her presence only to have the guts kicked out of me by this harpy on the stage. Who WAS this woman? They launched into a rocked out (god-awful) version of Song for Sharon with the guitar amps cranked all the way up to eleven and it all just fell away badly from there. I left the gig that night vowing to trash her every album and commit to a life of fealty to all things disco. When eventually I calmed down - some months later, albums untouched on the shelf - I realised that the work transcended her 'feet of clay' and hammered home the dangers in signing up to the Cult of Personality. A lesson indeed for modern times. Les (London) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 12:55:38 -0500 From: "McMillan Brad" Subject: Re: Hejira a blight Les; You said: "The song is a melancholic essay on love, love failed and the flight therefrom, life and with just a dusting of fatalism to bouy it all along" Boy, that sums it up. The whole album, I have always thought, was the Hejira she named it. I read one review that panned her for pseudo-intellectualizing, and having an inflated ego, referring to her flight from life using the term for the flight of Mohammed. They even had something ugly to say about the cover referring to her "artsy beret". That is one of my favorite photos of her period. I think Joni intimidated people in her industry when she shed the flower child image and presented herself as a grown up woman who could compose and play rings around most. As to the music on Hejira, it is consistent in that, as you say, she explores her contradictory feelings about men and relationships. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ross, Les" To: Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 5:07 AM Subject: Re: Hejira a blight > Far be it from to me to diss anyone's opinion about anything (yeah, right) > but I'm completely at a loss to understand how the song Hejira could be > considered a blight. David's quote from the lyric 'forceps and the stone' > singles out just one part of a complete masterpiece of artistry. In Joni's > canon of work the song is her best as far as I'm concerned and the song that > drew me into the album all those many, many years ago. > > I've been listening to the songs from Hejira a lot these past couple of days > and invariably play the title song on repeat to savour its majesty. Yes, > majesty. In every respect it's perfect: the instrumentation, the > arrangement, the music, the singing, the words, the... well, I think that > covers it. > > I placed the words last in this list by accident as it happens, but it's my > experience that I get my first 'in' to all music in the music rather than > the words. In Joni's case the words are crafted exquisitely and take > listening to. Some chance these days with attention spans truly 'blighted' > that such art might be given the time to be appreciated. I mean have you > listened to popular music on the radio these days? What a pile of f##king > crap. Exceptions there are though that only serves to prove the rule and it > does so in spades. Perhaps it's always been that way and I've just grown > into an intolerant, grouchy, middle-aged man. Who knew? > > It's usually a sign that someone's argument is faltering when they take > recourse in dictionary definitions. In the one I have in front of me here > for 'blight' there are a number of references to plant decay though, > significantly, without rotting taking place. But other definitions refer to > the prevention of growth and also to frustrate or disappoint. Perhaps the > latter is closer to what is being proposed. But I don't support that either. > > > The song is a melancholic essay on love, love failed and the flight > therefrom, life and with just a dusting of fatalism to bouy it all along. > Now, in some cultures (in decline)* such melancholy is reproachfully decried > as being whiny with the attendant implication that if one has nothing upbeat > to say about something then better by far to shut up about it. (I'm laughing > here for a moment as this last reminds me of a line from that very fine film > (?) Steel Magnolias when the ever-splendid Olympia Dukakis says, "if you > can't say something good about someone, come sit next to me!"..or something > like that.) > > Anyway, back to my point, I think it indicts the listener more than the song > when Hejira is described as being whiny. Especially when it was written > waaaay before La Mitchell really got into whine (peevish complaints, usually > repeated) mode, which if her recent utterances in the press are anything to > go by, she has certainly nailed as her acte-de-guerre. Sure she has a point, > we heard it but it's all we hear. > > Les (London, returning to box) > *see, even a reference to Dog Eat Dog. Yay! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 18:18:19 +0000 From: "Michael O'Malley" Subject: Victory! - BSN voted back on track It's official, today it was announced on CBC's 50 Tracks that BSN recieved 50 % of listeners votes, so it will be reinstated on the list. It beat out (unfortunately for many, I suspect) Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, which was its main competitor. They also aired my telephone call today, as a representative of the Joni vote. What a shocker that was, to hear my neurotic rant for Joni on national radio! Oh well, it's all in good fun, and for a good cause to boot. Looks like I've come out, yet once again! http://www.cbc.ca/50tracks/thelist.html Michael in Quebec _________________________________________________________________ Don't just Search. Find! http://search.sympatico.msn.ca/default.aspx The new MSN Search! Check it out! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 13:01:11 -0600 From: "mackoliver" Subject: Re: Victory! - BSN voted back on track Ha ha. After reading Bob's post about voting more than once, I went back and voted 25 times. Oops. Well, if they allow it, then I had to do it, for Joan. Ah, the beauty of high speed internet. mack np: Gino Vannelli__________________________________________________ > Don't just Search. Find! http://search.sympatico.msn.ca/default.aspx The new > MSN Search! Check it out! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 12:31:39 -0800 (PST) From: mags h Subject: michael omalley votes Joni on the cbc radio and some other Joni news good for you Michael...I heard your name mentioned as I was leaving the doctor's office today....go Both Sides Now! beat out Suzanne...sorry to all of you Cohen fans..but really!!!! No contest according to the ceeb ;-) and speaking of doing things in the name of Joni, well, I couldn't help myself..as I was waiting to see the doc, I was looking at Macleans 100, Commemorative Issue...Leaders and Dreamers, Canada's greatest Innovators and How They Changed The World...well of course there's a great b&w photograph of Joni , some Joni and others content inside an article by Shanda Deziel, entitled Finding a Voice..Ive not seen this photo of Joni ... and I plan to send it to Les, as soon as I feel better. Somehow the magazine made its way into my bag... ;-) unless of course, this is in the database and I havent come across it just yet. Mags....going to eat even more chocolate :~P Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 13:51:14 -0800 From: Randy Remote Subject: Re: LOTC review in latest (Jan/Feb) issue of Magnet Bob Muller wrote: > Picked this magazine up a couple weeks ago in my my local record store, it's an alternative music magazine called Magnet. Lo & behold, on page 114 is an article called "Escape to LA: Randy Newman, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby". They review 6 records from early 70's singer-songwriters: > > Randy Newman - 12 Songs > David Crosby - If I could Only Remember My Name > Joni - LOTC > Michael Nesmith & The First National Band - Loose Salute > Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson > Jacksone Browne - Jackson Browne I would add one more: Danny O'Keefe - Breezy Stories > Here's what they say about LOTC: > Mitchell had two gentle misfires before Ladies Of The Canyon Most songwriters would die for misfires like that... > and the jazz obsession that would mar her later albums (which always seem to be quietly playing in crappy used bookstores) I must be going to the wrong crappy used bookstores- the only thing marring her "jazz" albums, IMO, is the annoying quacking of Shorter on soprano sax. Time to duck. RR ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 21:34:50 -0500 (EST) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: Hejira a blight What is it about Joni that brings out the expressions like artsy, pretentious, pseudo-this and pseudo-that? It's so frustrating when critics do that. They just don't get it, do they? Jealous, I guess. Les, your Hejira post was brilliant, and you do NOT look like a miserable git! So GIT - outta da box! --- McMillan Brad wrote: > Les; > You said: > "The song is a melancholic essay on love, love > failed and the flight > therefrom, life and with just a dusting of fatalism > to bouy it all along" > > Boy, that sums it up. The whole album, I have always > thought, was the Hejira > she named it. I read one review that panned her for > pseudo-intellectualizing, and having an inflated > ego, referring to her > flight from life using the term for the flight of > Mohammed. They even had > something ugly to say about the cover referring to > her "artsy beret". That > is one of my favorite photos of her period. > I think Joni intimidated people in her industry when > she shed the flower > child image and presented herself as a grown up > woman who could compose and > play rings around most. > As to the music on Hejira, it is consistent in that, > as you say, she > explores her contradictory feelings about men and > relationships. ===== Catherine Toronto - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 18:43:06 -0800 (PST) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: LOTC review in latest (Jan/Feb) issue of Magnet Randy Remote wrote: Ain't THAT the truth. Like Mark said earlier, this writer just didn't understand, and I think that shows by labeling her first two releases as misfires. That is to say that if they were regarded as "folk" records they were a bit off-center. The melodies and compositional structure are much more complex than that. Like they say, so few geniuses are recognized in their own time. Whoa - I'm not going there, but I'll repeat the fact that I'm nutty for Michael Brecker's work on Shadows & Light - I'm in awe every time I hear it. Bob NP: The Travellers, "The Circle Game" Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 18:56:06 -0800 (PST) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: Victory! - BSN voted back on track Michael O'Malley wrote: Awesome Michael, and how cool that you got to rant on the air as well. Joni would be proud at the devotion of her fans. It might have been Mack & I that pushed it over the top. Keep us posted... Bob NP: Prince, "Tangerine" Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term' ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 00:47:27 EST From: JRMCo1@aol.com Subject: Re: Roberta Flack/Jen Stills/Ray LaMontagne Funny you should mention Jen Stills vis a vis Roberta Flack, Kate. I have been thinking about her on the basis of her collaboration with Ray LaMontagne on his debut CD "Trouble." It is my understanding that Jennifer Stills appeared with Ray LaMontagne on January 19, 2005 at The Bowery Ballroom in NYC, too. Here's a bit I found on the relationship from a Wisconsin online newspaper: "LaMontagne's past is the dream of every folk singer trying to pass himself off as the genuine article. He was born into a family of six children from various fathers and traveled around the country throughout his younger years, not because of his mother's whims, but out of necessity. He lived in tents and cars, barely making it out of high school because he was always an outsider. It took a song by Stephen Stills to make him into a musician. LaMontagne credits Still's "Treetop Flyer" from the 1991 album Stills Alone for his conversion from a factory laborer to a folk singer. Following the revelation of Stills, Ray sought other musicians of his ilk, finding Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, among others. Trouble sounds like those artists have been gathered together and distilled in a finely crafted, simple and beautiful debut collection from a new artist with no place to go but up. "Narrow Escape," four tracks into Trouble, is another indication of LaMontagne's early accomplishment. With guest vocals by Jennifer Stills and gentle brushes of cymbals in the background, it is the tale of two lovers escaping the law. LaMontagne's takes his time on the harmonica, drawing out the somber sound while Jennifer makes the song into a effective eulogy." - -Julius In a message dated 2/3/05 9:28:01 PM, kate@katebennett.com writes: > Fun when we get going on some of these musical tangents... a couple of > years > ago I booked jen stills (steve's daughter) for some of the gigs I was doing > alongside promoting some of my fav up & coming artists- she is hugely > influenced by robert flack... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 22:21:52 -0800 (PST) From: mags h Subject: while traveling in some vehicle it took a lot of traveling in some vehicle for me to truly "get" hejira...when i first entered the university of Joni (jmdl) back in 2000, i had never heard it. I remember seeing that beret and thinking oh god she's gone all jazz on us. (gasp, tis true). no worries, i've joined the converted ;-) alas and alack, i concur with fair Les of Woodstock fame's hejirical essays...if my head was a little clearer, I'd do the clip art and say where your words resonate, but you know honey, every little thing you say is magic ;-) depressing, not at all...just a way for me to express what i've felt for a very long time... Les, Ive also been listening to that CD a lot, lately, love the synchronicity. adored fan, Mags Yahoo! Search presents - Jib Jab's 'Second Term' ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 08:34:29 +0100 From: "mike pritchard" Subject: RE: Hejira a blight....and another thing. >>So there I was initially glowing in the glory of her presence only to have the guts kicked out of me by this harpy on the stage. Who WAS this woman?<< I've said it many times before but I'll say it again: I consider the Hissing-to-Mingus period joni's best work, with Hejira my personal favourite. Therefore I completely agree with most of what Les Ross says about Hejira. His analysis is spot-on (i.e. exactly the same as mine ;-) ). However, I have to ask him why he chose to refer to Joni as a 'harpy', at best an unfortunate expression. What was it exactly that evoked the 'harpy' image? The Medusa-like curls?, the loud music (loud enough to be 'cruel and violent', normal characteristics of harpies everywhere)? Isn't there a wee bit of sexist language here? mike in barcelona np Laura Nyro - Eli... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 08:34:29 +0100 From: "mike pritchard" Subject: RE: Hejira a blight....and another thing. >>So there I was initially glowing in the glory of her presence only to have the guts kicked out of me by this harpy on the stage. Who WAS this woman?<< I've said it many times before but I'll say it again: I consider the Hissing-to-Mingus period joni's best work, with Hejira my personal favourite. Therefore I completely agree with most of what Les Ross says about Hejira. His analysis is spot-on (i.e. exactly the same as mine ;-) ). However, I have to ask him why he chose to refer to Joni as a 'harpy', at best an unfortunate expression. What was it exactly that evoked the 'harpy' image? The Medusa-like curls?, the loud music (loud enough to be 'cruel and violent', normal characteristics of harpies everywhere)? Isn't there a wee bit of sexist language here? mike in barcelona np Laura Nyro - Eli... ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #34 ******************************** ------- 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? (http://www.siquomb.com/siquomb.cfm)