From: les@jmdl.com (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #108 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 Thursday, April 14 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 108 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Joni in the Wall Street Journal [WirlyPearl@aol.com] Re: howdy from a lurker ["Ruth Davis" ] Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal [Lori Fye ] Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal ["Mark or Travis" ] Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal [jrmco1@aol.com] Joni repackagings: a confession ["Richard Flynn" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 09:19:48 EDT From: WirlyPearl@aol.com Subject: Joni in the Wall Street Journal Hi everyone, My husband Steve opened The Wall Street Journal this morning and screamed "It's Joni in the Journal! " Yes indeed, there is an article about her on page 14 in the Personal Journal section. Nothing much new here...actually a lot of the same old same old. I don't care for the title of the article "The Dropout Drops Back In". There is a portrait/painting of her in the article which is not in the reprint on the WSJ website. It actually looks to me like Joni painted it.. of the way she looks now, but I'm not sure as there's no credit on the bottom. Glad to see that the Journal is giving her some recognition. Joni does give kudos to technology a bit when she says: "All the intelligent kids today are getting iPods," she said. "They are bypassing the radio and going back to the older music." Anyway, here's the article. Enjoy! Love to all my jmdl friends. I'm always out here lurking. Pearl in Hollywood, FL Return-path: From: WirlyPearl@aol.com Full-name: WirlyPearl Message-ID: Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:10:41 EDT Subject: Joni in the Wall Street Journal To: WirlyPearl@aol.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Mailer: 9.0 Security Edition for Windows sub 1200 X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative by demime 0.97c-p1 X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain The Dropout Drops Back In By MARTIN JOHNSON April 13, 2005; Page D14 Like many musicians, Joni Mitchell hated listening to her older recordings. "Oh no, no, no, no, it would make my skin crawl," she said. "I know where the bodies are buried: where I rhymed jewels and schools or where I indulged some musical eccentricity that seemed like a good idea at the time." Thus, it's somewhat surprising that Ms. Mitchell, who retired from active performing and recording a few years ago, is devoting all of her musical endeavors to curating her own career retrospective, creating a series of anthologies based around different themes in her work. In doing so, she's bringing new light to several important and often neglected phases of her career. Although many rumors circulated about health reasons causing Ms. Mitchell's retirement, the 61-year-old singer says it was her own exasperation with the music industry that led her to cease writing and performing new music. "This is a dog race industry and there's pressure to create hits, fast dogs; everything else is regarded as failure," she said. "I wasn't a fast dog, nor did I want to be." She added, "my career wasn't one of finding a formula and sticking to it. Instead, it was one of exploration." Ms. Mitchell's first six recordings constitute a body of work that is a key part of the rock canon, but she strove toward new musical horizons and her audience failed to follow. Her early work features deceptively simple melodies and introspective lyrics of searing intimacy sung in a pristine mezzo-soprano. Her 1971 recording, "Blue" (Warner Bros), set new standards for detail in confessional songwriting as she chronicled love lost, the pain of putting a child up for adoption and the rising sense that her yearnings will never be fulfilled. While "Blue" maintained a spare, melancholy tone, Ms. Mitchell's 1974 release, "Court & Spark" (Asylum), had a breezy and jaunty tone while it examined the role of candor in relationships. Most contemporary singer/songwriters are indebted to her, but many are merely content to announce their feelings. Ms. Mitchell's work constantly probed the root sources of those feelings and evaluated them against the bigger picture of her emotional desires. However, with the release in 1975 of "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" (Asylum), she moved on from a jazzy, folk-rock style, integrating elements of African and contemporary classical music into her sound and taking her explorations of jazz to new, often ponderous lengths. This darker, urbane music was matched by Ms. Mitchell's lyrics, which turned a withering gaze at privileged life in New York and Los Angeles in songs like "Shades of Scarlett Conquering" and "Dreamland." However, she was tender and empathetic in depicting the final months of jazz great Charles Mingus on her 1980 release "Mingus" (Asylum). "Summer Lawns" and other '70s releases like "Hejira" (Asylum) that were initially released to mixed reviews ultimately found a receptive crowd among critics and musicians; in 1999, Central Park Summerstage devoted its Canada Day concert to performances of Ms. Mitchell's music from the mid- and late '70s. However, the stellar music she created on subsequent releases like "Dog Eat Dog" (Geffen, 1985) and "Taming the Tiger" (Reprise, 1998) was largely ignored.< Two years ago, Rhino Records, the imprint that specializes in archival reissues, contacted Ms. Mitchell's management about a "best of" release. When she reviewed the label's choices, the singer was dismayed. "There's no way you can call this the best of," she told officials at Rhino. "You can call it the boss's choices. These songs are catchy and popular but in no way were these my best work." Following a little back-and-forth, both sides settled on the song list for "Dreamland" (Rhino), a fine primer that ranges from early hits like "Carey" and "Help Me" to her late '90s orchestral recordings of "Both Sides Now" and "For the Roses." Ms. Mitchell and the folks at Rhino enjoyed the process, so they delved specifically into her '80s and '90s works next, on a project called "The Beginning of Survival." The 16-song program, which was released on the Geffen imprint and doesn't overlap with "Dreamland," features attacks on consumerism in "The Windfall" and "Everything for Nothing," a satire of televangelism in "Tax Free," an ode to environmentalism in "Cool Water," and "The Beat of Black Wings," a sympathetic song for soldiers returning from warfare. "It was before the election and the liberals didn't seem to have much backbone, so I decided to review my own political stance, which is neither liberal nor conservative but somewhere in between the two parties." That may surprise people who see Ms. Mitchell as a voice of the Woodstock generation antiwar movement, but she has always blazed her own independent political path. For instance, during the Vietnam War she regularly performed for soldiers in Charleston, S.C., and at Fort Bragg. "I saw them after they came back from the war, often broken," she said. "I didn't think it was right that they met with the scorn of their generation." Rhino has signed Ms. Mitchell to do three more compilations. The first one, "Songs of a Prairie Girl," will be released in April; it is a collection of songs that reflect on her upbringing in Saskatchewan, which is celebrating its centennial this year. While combing her catalog for that collection, she was contacted by the folks at the Starbucks-owned imprint, Hear Music, about doing a collection of music that influenced her for their Artist's Choice series (the company has also released a companion anthology, where fellow heavyweights like Prince and Bob Dylan present their favorite tracks by Ms. Mitchell). The concept intrigued her. "If somebody asked me what are my influences, I couldn't really say; I never stopped to think about it," she said. "You don't look back; you just keep going forward." For the Hear Music project, Ms. Mitchell made a list of the works that had "stopped me in my tracks," creating a diverse program that includes Debussy's "Claire De Lune" performed by Phillipe Entremont, Steely Dan's "Third World Man," Billie Holiday's "Solitude," Bob Dylan's "Sweetheart Like You" and Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man." What surprised her most was the sway that Duke Ellington's elegant and diverse music had on her. She said that she was impressed by the swaggering humor that his music maintained. Only one of the 18 tracks on the disc, The New Radicals' "You Get What You Give," was recorded in the past 10 years. This lack of representation reflects Ms. Mitchell's discontent with the current state of popular music. "It's not about talent anymore, it's about a look, and a willingness to cooperate." One key exception to her contempt is "Got Till It's Gone," a collaboration between Janet Jackson and the progressive rapper Q-Tip. The song is built around an audio snippet of the chorus to Ms. Mitchell's 1973 hit, "Big Yellow Taxi." She not only approved the usage but appears via a televised image in the video. "It was brilliant, full of humanity and dignity, instead of whores and criminals," she said. "It was needed. I was very pleased to be part of it." Although she is frequently cited as the inspiration for the current generation of singer/songwriters, including Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Colvin and Natalie Merchant, she's disdainful of their work. She cites a failure on their part to take more musical risks, feeling that they listened to her early recordings and failed to capture the full breadth of her recording career. Ms. Mitchell lives in Southern California, and devotes most of her time now to painting. "That concerted push -- living to paint, like a crazy artist -- really solidified my style," she said. However, don't expect any gallery shows just yet; for now, she's content to use her paintings on album covers and seems wary of mixing art and commerce again. Through emerging technologies, Ms. Mitchell does see one glimmer of hope for the future of music. "All the intelligent kids today are getting iPods," she said. "They are bypassing the radio and going back to the older music." Mr. Johnson lives in New York and writes about popular music for the Journal. URL for this article: _http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111334485687305135,00.html_ (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111334485687305135,00.html) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 16:08:36 GMT From: "Ruth Davis" Subject: Re: howdy from a lurker Hello, and thanks for the info on Twinemen. I live in Richmond, VA and we now have an "indie" low-watt radio station. I love it! It reminds me of how radio was back before Clear Channel took it all over. I heard a great satirical country song on that station. It was called "It's Hard to Kiss the Lips at Night that Chewed Your Ass All Day". I even heard Joni on the station. In response to National Child Abuse Month, they were playing Cherokee Louise. I like hearing about new and different music. Keep us posted! Ruth ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:40:12 -0400 From: Lori Fye Subject: Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal Pearl wrote: > My husband Steve opened The Wall Street Journal this morning and screamed > "It's Joni in the Journal! " Yes indeed, there is an article about her on page > 14 in the Personal Journal section. How cool! And coincidentally (or not), the WSJ happens to have landed in MY office today! There's Joni in my office!! Thanks Pearl, for sharing this. Lori ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:43:18 -0700 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal Great to see you posting, Pearl! Thanks for the article. As JMDL librarian I just added it, my very first article, to the JMDL database! Woohoo! http://www.jmdl.com/library/view.cfm?id=1269 Mark E. in Seattle WirlyPearl@aol.com wrote: > Hi everyone, > My husband Steve opened The Wall Street Journal this morning and > screamed "It's Joni in the Journal! " Yes indeed, there is an > article > about her on page 14 in the Personal Journal section. Nothing much > new here...actually a lot of the same old same old. I don't care > for > the > title of the article "The Dropout Drops Back In". ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 13:00:49 -0700 From: Randy Remote Subject: Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal Great article, new interview... WirlyPearl@aol.com wrote: > The Dropout Drops Back In > By MARTIN JOHNSON > April 13, 2005; Page D14 > Ms. Mitchell's 1974 > release, "Court & Spark" (Asylum), had a breezy and jaunty tone Down to You is breezy and jaunty? Same Situation is breezy and jaunty? Trouble Child? > However, with the release in 1975 of "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" (Asylum), > she moved on from a jazzy, folk-rock style, integrating elements of African > and contemporary classical music into her sound and taking her explorations > of jazz to new, often ponderous lengths. This darker, urbane music was matched > by Ms. Mitchell's lyrics, which turned a withering gaze at privileged life > in New York and Los Angeles in songs like "Shades of Scarlett Conquering" and > "Dreamland." If Dreamland is on HOSL, I'm Tom Hanks. I also take issue that HOSL was all that different from C&S. To me it's like C&S part II. > However, the stellar music she created on subsequent releases like "Dog Eat > Dog" (Geffen, 1985) and "Taming the Tiger" (Reprise, 1998) was largely > ignored.< No comment! > For instance, during the Vietnam War she regularly performed for > soldiers in Charleston, S.C., and at Fort Bragg. "I saw them after they came > back from the war, often broken," she said. "I didn't think it was right that > they met with the scorn of their generation." Was it regularly? > Rhino has signed Ms. Mitchell to do three more compilations. Oy. Already, some of the songs have come out 3 or 4 times. > The New Radicals' "You Get What You Give," was recorded in the > past 10 years. This lack of representation reflects Ms. Mitchell's discontent > with the current state of popular music. "It's not about talent anymore, it's > about a look, and a willingness to cooperate." OK, then Joni, listen to UNpopular music. There's a shitload of good stuff! > One key exception to her contempt is "Got Till It's Gone," wonder why > Although she is frequently cited as the inspiration for the current > generation of singer/songwriters, including Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Colvin and Natalie > Merchant, she's disdainful of their work. She cites a failure on their part > to take more musical risks, and I'm sure she has listened to all their stuff... > she's content to use her paintings on album covers and > seems wary of mixing art and commerce again. Then give the CDs away for free > Through emerging technologies, Ms. Mitchell does see one glimmer of hope for > the future of music. "All the intelligent kids today are getting iPods," she > said. "They are bypassing the radio and going back to the older music." Plus they can load it up with the music they steal from the internet. End of rant. RR ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 17:02:27 -0400 From: jrmco1@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal Nice to see Joni in the Journal, I guess. The commercialism is getting a little off-putting though. Just so happens that yesterday was the day that ITunes.com released their version of Joni's "Artist Esssentials." A collection of 75 songs from her catalogue separated down into: "The Basics," "Next Steps," and "Deep Cuts." Basically, it's a "Deep Cut" if it comes off the Geffen Set. Now I know how they're going to make money off Dreamland. They're going to parse it out on iTunes, .99 at a time. Brilliant! That's Mo' Money! Reminds me of the old joke about the Gringo who went to dine at the Mexican restaurant: "You know, you wouldn't have to re-fry them beans if you'd done it right the first time. But, I'll eat just about anything you ask if you wrap it in a fresh tortilla!" - -Julius - -----Original Message----- From: WirlyPearl@aol.com To: joni@smoe.org Sent: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 09:19:48 EDT Subject: Joni in the Wall Street Journal Through emerging technologies, Ms. Mitchell does see one glimmer of hope for the future of music. "All the intelligent kids today are getting iPods," she said. "They are bypassing the radio and going back to the older music." Mr. Johnson lives in New York and writes about popular music for the Journal. URL for this article: _http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111334485687305135,00.html_ (http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111334485687305135,00.html) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 17:31:08 -0400 From: "Richard Flynn" Subject: Joni repackagings: a confession I vowed that if I could get the Geffen box for 25 bucks or less I would. And now I won my E-bay auction for 21.00 and change, so I'll be getting it. Why? I can't say. A better sounding WTRF and NRH--maybe that'll be worth it. And the "bonus" cuts. I did find the limited NRH with the photos and the stringy thing that ties it all up in a Nashville used CD store--for 10 bucks. Being a collector is crazy-making, eh? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 16:03:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal, with new rant content! Howdy Pearl, and thanks for sending along that article, even though reading that "same old, same old" gets me hoppin' mad everytime. For crying out loud, why does Joni think she is now or ever was a player in the POP world? She's only showing her ignorance about how much the music business has changed. What about the folks in her generation - the Dylans, Baez's, Youngs, Costellos, Ians, Springsteens, and Waits (and there ARE many more) out there that don't give a sh*t about cranking out hits but do as they please (and still do a DAMN fine job)? Not to mention the NEXT generation that's also putting out great stuff today? She doesn't take the initiative to seek it out, so it's easier to blame the business and lump everyone in the same basket as the Britney's & Ashlees and so on. It's really lame and shame on her - she's no better than all those who lumped her in with the folksingers way back when. I don't care if she retires, but she should at least be honest about it and just say "I don't feel like it anymore". ALL her other excuses ring hollow. Don't you think she would be WELCOMED by Righteous Babe (Ani's label) as the original RB, and given free reign to do as she liked? She generalizes artists of today and in so doing automatically generalizes herself as an old pisspot parent who starts all their sentences with "well back in MY day..." And did I read this article right??? Does her agreement with Rhino call for TWO MORE comps?? It says "Rhino has signed Ms. Mitchell to do three more compilations. The first one, "Songs of a Prairie Girl," will be released in April". Dammit, this is practically impossible to believe. I suppose when she finally titles one "The Bottom of the F*cking Barrel" we'll all know she's done. Bob NP: The Police, "Synchronicity II" Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 18:19:31 -0500 From: "mack watson-bush" Subject: Re: Joni in the Wall Street Journal, with new rant content! Bob ranted: Dammit, this is practically impossible to believe. I suppose when she finally titles one "The Bottom of the F*cking Barrel" we'll all know she's done. Wow Bob! Whew! My take on the situation is merely supposition but maybe she is afraid and somewhere deep inside doesn't think she has the voice or 'it' anymore. Would or might explain her attitude and statements. mack np: madonna ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 19:30:13 -0400 From: "Richard Flynn" Subject: "The Bottom of the F*cking Barrel"--the rant continues And where does she get off dissing Shawn Colvin whose second album was produced by the Larry with Joni doing guitar case percussion? There is so much good music out there--no, you won't find it on Clear Channel, but my word (!) haven't we all been singing the praises of Mary Gauthier's "Mercy Now"? Lucinda William is a genius. Gillian Welch is a genius. I love Ryan Adams, Whiskeytown, Caitlin Cary, et al. Older artists like Emmylou are vital--on Stumble into Grace she's finally writing wonderful songs with a little McGarrigle assistance. Bob's comment is right on. Righteous Babe--or hell--even a major label subsidiary along the lines of Lost Highway would kill to have some innovative Joni--hell, even Warner subsidiary Nonesuch. If she'd write some jazz songs or art songs, I'd put up with the LUNAR & STELLAR ARKESTRA (your solitary path). I'll sya it and flame away, folks. The problem with Joni is that she's lost sight of the Art and now it's all commerce to her. Love or Money? All these f*cking repackagings are hung with tungsten stars. And it sucks. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 17:04:44 -0700 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Re: "The Bottom of the F*cking Barrel"--the rant continues Richard Flynn wrote: > The problem with Joni is that she's lost sight of the Art and now > it's all commerce to her. > I disagree. I do think there is a nagging insecurity that what she considers to be her best work will be forgotten. She's trying to call attention to it and hopefully keep it from disappearing into obscurity which is largely where her albums of the last 20 years have been relegated to. Can you think of another singer/songwriter who wrote a lyric like this in one of their songs? And then I looked at myself here Chicken scratching for my immortality I'm not sure that there are many who are that concerned with being classed among the 'immortals'. Call it ego, call it what you will, this is important to Joni. And in my opinion, I don't think any current artists really do measure up to her. Who really is as innovative and original and, at the same time, plays on, produces, arranges, even creates the artwork for the covers of their records these days? Who writes lyrics that can stand up along side 'Hejira' or 'A Case of You'? I will concede that she seems to have gotten to be very close-minded about music these days and some of her comments are unnecessarily negative and rough. But I also think she is entitled to a certain amount of that considering what she has accomplished and how a large chunk of her output has been dismissed as inferior, even by her most ardent admirers. She ain't perfect, but I still love her and I refuse to believe that she's a money-grubber. Mark E. in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 22:15:55 -0700 From: "Mark or Travis" Subject: Playing Blue Today I received a used, soiled, dog-eared copy of the 'Joni Mitchell Complete Songbook Volume 2' that I bought from Ebay. I just fumbled, stumbled, banged and rumbled my way through the song 'Blue' on my keyboard for the first time. It took forever for me to get all the way through it but I played it. The transcription is pretty close to Joni's playing and I am just in awe of the beauty of it. What a thrill it is to play this music! Up until now I have had a very slim repertoire of very easy versions of such megahits as 'Scarborough Fair', 'Greensleeves', 'Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring', 'Die Lorelei', 'Fur Elise' and 'Moonlight Sonata'. On a good day I can get through the first four of these without too many wrong notes if I play them over and over a half dozen or so times. Now I really have something to aspire to! Mark E. in Seattle ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2005 #108 ********************************* ------- 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)