From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #25 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org 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, January 26 2007 Volume 2007 : Number 025 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Live or on record? [Bob.Muller@Fluor.com] Re: Ballet Joni, now Pirate of Penance [Bob.Muller@Fluor.com] Re: Ballet Joni, now Pirate of Penance [Catherine McKay ] Joni Photo & another ballet article [est86mlm@ameritech.net] Live reclusive [missblux@googlemail.com] Joni's Blue Period ["Cassy" ] Re: Live or on record? [Michael Flaherty ] Radio highlights of gala, CBC radio Jan 29 ["Michael O'Malley" ] Re: Joni the Zombie [Norma Jean Garza ] Joni article on CBC website [Kate Johnson ] Joni the Zombie ["Kate Bennett" ] Re: Joni the Zombie [Norma Jean Garza ] Re: Live reclusive [Ingrid Lochrenberg ] The List (JC...barely) [Victor Johnson ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 08:30:12 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Re: Live or on record? That's a good point - many artists can excel both in the studio and on the stage, Joni is certainly one of them because she has the ability to transform her music and re-invent it in many cases in a live setting. A casual listen to her live recordings proves that out; like them or not, the smooth-jazz stylings of Woodstock & Carey among others are vastly different on MOA than on their respective studio albums, and on SAL Woodstock becomes transformed again, and even the songs that aren't drastically reinvented are certainly "re-colored" with the addition of Metheny, Pastorius and the rest of that band. Her '83 tour added some musical muscle to lots of her catalogue as well, some to good effect and some to lesser effect. The point is, Joni rejects the idea of a concert being a human jukebox, regurgitating note-for-note what is on record. In that regard, one of the worst live acts I ever saw was The Eagles because their belief was that people wanted to hear exactly what they heard on record so their objective was to duplicate it as closely as possible, even going so far as playing guitar solos indentically to the studio versions. And the flip side of that is Peter Frampton...his solo albums couldn't have been more limp-dishraggish, but on Frampton Comes Alive the songs exploded with power and energy and even his vocals became stronger. As soon as he went back in the studio (with "I'm In You") the wimp factor reappeared and lo and behold, stick a fork in him he's done. Bob NP: Elvis Costello, "My Flame Burns Blue (Blood Count)" - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 08:58:27 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Re: Ballet Joni, now Pirate of Penance It comes off as being overly clever, like Gift of the Magi (which I actually like much better). A choral song being sung by one voice and in so doing losing much of its meaning. I think that besides the obvious allusion to Gilbert & Sullivan that is the title, there's an attempt to emulate the rapid patter of those Gilbert & Sullivan operettas as well. The melody takes too many quirky turns, some of the lines are overly packed with verbage, and I still say that the story is too vague for me to care about it. It puzzles me why she chose this song (which is coincidentally the ONLY one on STAS NOT to be covered) over the other GREAT songs she had written by this time. But...PoP might have been an interesting inclusion on T'log. To add alternative choral voices and some sweeping orchestral effects could have fleshed out the composition and given it new life, much like the T'log version of Dawntreader was an illumination. Bob NP: Ani, "Shy" 10.9.03 - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:10:22 -0500 (EST) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: Ballet Joni, now Pirate of Penance - --- Bob.Muller@Fluor.com wrote: > But...PoP might have been an interesting inclusion > on T'log. To add > alternative choral voices and some sweeping > orchestral effects could have > fleshed out the composition and given it new life, > much like the T'log > version of Dawntreader was an illumination. > I would be interesting to hear PoP that way. Funny how a lot of people like the T'log version of "Dawntreader" better than the original. I prefer the simplicity of the original. Catherine Toronto - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:30:47 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Joni the Zombie Check out this objet d'art on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/STEVE-KEENE-PAINTINGS-JONI-MITCHELL-ALBUMS_W0QQitemZ270083612293QQihZ017QQcategoryZ20135QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem The "Clouds" Joni looks like the stuff of nightmares. Bob NP: Ani, "Promised Land" - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:03:02 -0500 From: Victor Johnson Subject: Re: Joni the Zombie Scary stuff!!! The "Blue" Joni looks like she's strung out. And is that a hamburger in the middle of the STAS? Victor NP: 680 AM The Rude Awakening On Jan 26, 2007, at 9:30 AM, Bob.Muller@Fluor.com wrote: > Check out this objet d'art on ebay: > > http://cgi.ebay.com/STEVE-KEENE-PAINTINGS-JONI-MITCHELL- > ALBUMS_W0QQitemZ270083612293QQihZ017QQcategoryZ20135QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewIt > em > > The "Clouds" Joni looks like the stuff of nightmares. > > Bob > > NP: Ani, "Promised Land" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:13:58 -0600 From: est86mlm@ameritech.net Subject: Joni Photo & another ballet article Joni Photo here http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=6298b57e-ab76-4176-a98b-c422495d81e1&k=61959 Laura **************************************************** Hey Moms! Win a DVD prize pack. Enter every day. http://universal.eprize.net/becauseisaidso ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 15:41:44 +0000 From: missblux@googlemail.com Subject: Live reclusive Here are some thoughts about Joni being reclusive and seeing her live.... I think it is not entirely unjustified to call someone reclusive if she claims that she is a painter above all and yet doesn't exhibit her art work. Doesn't that show very clearly that she is uncomfortable with meeting the public? In those Youtube clips from 1970 I think she looks nervous and shy. The other day Mark talked about how he had met someone who turned out to be a close friend of hers; and he described the panic in the lady's eyes when he told her he was on this mailing list. I wondered if that reflects Joni's own panic at meeting the public, maybe in particular people like us who experience all sorts of deep and intimate connections with her. It must feel intimidating, like when someone is in love with you and you just don' t relate to that person in that way. Because you wonder about all the delusions going on in their minds. I'd love to see her perform live, but whenever I watch clips with her I think she looks a bit out of place. Well and right on spot at the same time... A danish writer, Suzanne Brxgger, wrote a lot of autobiographical stuff from the seventies onwards, about her love-life and about gender etc. When she became really famous, she found that some women identified so much with her that they began to write letters in her name, to men they fancied, saying that they were Suzanne Brxgger and wanted to have sex with them or whatever. It has got to make you feel queasy when people you don' t know or who yo don't feel the same for begin to identify with you in that way. Just my thoughts... Bene ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:45:02 -0500 From: "Cassy" Subject: Joni's Blue Period Here is an interesting article about Joni from the cbc site today: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/joni.html Joni's blue period The impact of Joni Mitchell's Blue album on a teen in the 80s By Katrina Onstad January 26, 2007 On Jan. 28, Joni Mitchell will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and I'm praying that no one serenades her with River. The uninvited soundtrack to Christmas 2006 was Sarah McLachlan's low-fat, fun-free, vanilla-latte version of Mitchell's 1971 classic River. Between the first and 24th of December, every time I found myself wading through a snake pit mega-chain toward the last stripy scarf in the bin, Sarah McLachlan was there, too, braying the theme song of my holiday disorganization with all the laziness that typifies a one-off Christmas cash grab: "I wish I had a river so looong." I swear she yawns during the word "long." There is something peculiar about McLachlan, founder of the successful women's music festival Lilith Fair, covering Mitchell. Mitchell has always shrugged off the "woman genius" mantle, despite her status as musical pioneer and adopted mommy figure for legions of female singer songwriters. She once told a reporter: "One guy came up to me and said, 'You're the best female singer-songwriter in the world.' I was thinking: 'What do you mean female? That's like saying you're the best Negro.'" Point taken; it's a backhanded compliment with a ghetto sting. But as a teenaged girl in the mid-'80s encountering Blue (the album containing River) for the first time, the fact that the songs - confessional but not solipsistic; folk but not earnest; pop but not empty - were written by a woman felt thrilling. Mitchell sang of adventure, disappointment, God, love, disaster. Not only was the music emotionally bloody and intricate, the lyrics - her busy phrasing pushing the words to spill out over the song's structure - made it seem like she was living a gigantic life. Pre-Google, I harassed my favourite clerk at the local second-hand record store for information, researched her in back issues of Rolling Stone, and learned that Joni Mitchell was a painter, too, and a poet. She owned all the rights to her songs. She had been smoking since she was nine. She occupied the world. That this music didn't come from Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen (her contemporaries) or REM's Michael Stipe and the Fall's Mark E. Smith (mine) provided a kind of comfort I didn't know I needed: greatness and arrogance and artistry could be female, too. That Mitchell didn't want to be considered a feminist paving the road for female musicians only made her more intriguing (though her very existence did, and still does, seem like feminism to me); that was a way of being I hadn't known, either. I first heard the song River - and this is so very sad - during an episode of the yuppie angst TV drama thirtysomething when I was 16 or 17. The female singers of my generation were Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Whitney Houston: teeny boppers, vocal acrobats and hired hands, mostly singing songs written for them by other people - often men, or Carole Bayer Sager. They sang about liking boys, and wanting to dance with somebody. I was just old enough to recognize how hard this stuff sucked, and I was rabid for music more like the poetry and fiction that had my head spinning; something speaking of all the possible ways to exist. I knew, as all teenagers do, that I was leaving adolescence, and I heard the thrill and sadness of adulthood in River's opening note, that repeated one-finger Jingle Bells piano, and then the lyrics: "It's coming on Christmas/ They're cutting down trees/ They're putting up reindeer/ Singing songs of joy and peace/ I wish I had a river so long/ I would teach my feet to fly." A song about ice-skating ! (Lou Reed didn't have one of those!) The rumours were true, then: Joni Mitchell was Canadian, too. By the end of the '60s, Mitchell had become a darling of the Laurel Canyon So-Cal folk scene. Though singers like Judy Collins and Buffy Saint-Marie had made hits out of Mitchell's songs, her own stardom wore on her, and in 1970, Mitchell "quit this crazy scene" (a phrase from River), writing most of Blue in self-imposed exile while travelling through Europe. Big Yellow Taxi and Both Sides Now may be her best-known songs, but it's the entire album Blue that is still her most resonant work. In an upcoming tribute disc, three of the 12 songs come from Blue. On Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of all time, it's ranked No. 30. Her long career since has been marked by departure and reinvention, most famously her collaboration with jazz idol Charles Mingus. At the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, Margaret Atwood will read her poetry, and jazz musician Herbie Hancock and soprano Measha Brueggergosman will perform her songs. Mitchell, who hates a box, is sure to love this. But no matter how experimental the evening gets (I fear interpretive dance), many of us watching will be hearing the clean, raw precision of Blue in our heads. The record feels like it could only exist as an album, something from before the fragmentation brought on by iPods and downloads, when you were forced to witness the whole vision, track by track. The thing Mitchell built was a house of postponed grieving: maybe for her privacy, her relationship with Graham Nash or the daughter she gave up for adoption a few years before. In the mid-'90s, when Mitchell publicly reunited with that daughter, the cryptic lyrics to Little Green made sense: "He went to California/ Hearing that everything's warmer there/ So you write him a letter and say 'Her eyes are blue'/ He sends you a poem and she's lost to you.." It's a perfect rumination on sorrow. Mitchell has said: "At that period of my life, I had no personal defences.. There's hardly a dishonest note in the vocals." Mitchell's work, while not a roadmap to her life, has always been far too personal to pass as hippie banner-waving. The exception may be the anthem Woodstock, a hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but Mitchell never actually made it to the festival, choosing instead to make an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show. Still, the vagabond principle of the era is all over Blue, as in the song Carey: "Carey get out your cane and I'll put on some silver/ Oh, you're a mean old daddy but I like you fine." Silver, linen, African winds - there's a vaguely Wiccan, Tiffany-lamp vibe to Mitchell, and her dedicated followers, that I've always tried to ignore. Yet Blue doesn't feel like an artifact. If Mitchell were merely a boomer hero, she wouldn't matter so much to Sufjan Stevens and Bjork, who cover her on the upcoming tribute disc. If she were merely a female hero, Prince and Elvis Costello wouldn't cite her as a major influence; they appear on the tribute, too. The song Prince chose to cover? A Case of You, from Blue, in which Mitchell famously sings: "I drew a map of Canada/ Oh Canada." and the word Canada loops up and down and closes in on itself. That Joni Mitchell is Canadian, and female, matters almost not at all to me now; role models get less necessary, or are abandoned entirely, with age. But studies have shown that the music we meet at our most self-involved, in youth, is the music that hits us deepest. McGill professor Daniel Levitin has done research to show the music of childhood almost burns itself into our brains, which is exactly how it feels. Maybe that's why the ubiquitous Sarah McLachlan cover of River is so grating: the River part of my brain is well travelled, sacred territory. There's no room for anyone else there. On the other hand, McLachlan's cover lacks that unfathomable combination of gravitas and weightlessness that defines Mitchell's singing, even now, with a voice smoked down to a crackling ember. Mitchell can never hit those Blue notes again, but I can always turn to them and remember who I was. When I listen to Cat Power, Lucinda Williams, Tracy Chapman, Jenny Lewis, Martha Wainwright, Will Oldham, Ben Harper - I think of Joni, who came first, reluctantly, and right on time. Hosted by CBC Radio's Andrew Craig and Radio-Canada's Sophie Durocher, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame gala will take place on Sunday, Jan. 28 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The following day, CBC Radio will broadcast segments of the tribute gala, beginning with Sounds Like Canada on Radio One at 11 a.m. and as a two-hour special beginning at 8 p.m. on Radio Two. A CBC-TV production will follow on March 5. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 08:06:39 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Flaherty Subject: Re: Live or on record? From: "Bob.Muller@Fluor.com" >>The point is, Joni rejects the idea of a concert being a human jukebox, regurgitating note-for-note what is on record. In that regard, one of the worst live acts I ever saw was The Eagles because their belief was that people wanted to hear exactly what they heard on record so their objective was to duplicate it as closely as possible, even going so far as playing guitar solos indentically to the studio versions. This is also why tapes of Joni live (at least one of every tour, and often more than that) are worth collecting. Every show is a bit different, and every tour VERY different, than the others. Michael Flaherty _____________________________________________________________________________ _______ Don't pick lemons. See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:30:19 +0000 From: "Michael O'Malley" Subject: Radio highlights of gala, CBC radio Jan 29 TORONTO (CP) - Folk music icon Joni Mitchell and country pioneer Wilf Carter are among artists to be inducted next year into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Organizers say the music legends are among four songwriters and 25 songs to be celebrated at a black-tie gala in Toronto on Sunday Jan. 28. Raymond Egan, who wrote songs for films and Broadway musicals, and Quebec chanteur Jean-Pierre Ferland are the two other artists to be honoured. The honour comes as Mitchell is said to be working on her first new album in eight years. Also scheduled to take part in the gala celebration are James Taylor, Measha Breuggergossman, Chaka Kahn, Michael Bubli, George Canyon, Emm Gryner and Corb Lund. A CBC-TV special of gala highlights is scheduled to air on March 5. Me: However, on January 29th, the day following the ceremony, we will be able to hear a one-hour program of highlights from the award ceremony on CBC Radio 1, (Sounds Like Canada) from 11 am to 12 pm. Later the same day, at 8 pm, a two-hour version of the award show will be aired on CBC Radio 2. You can hear live streaming audio of CBC Radio 1 & 2 by following the links from this url: http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html Enjoy! Michael in Quebec _________________________________________________________________ Buy, Load, Play. The new Sympatico / MSN Music Store works seamlessly with Windows Media Player. Just Click PLAY. http://musicstore.sympatico.msn.ca/content/viewer.aspx?cid=SMS_Sept192006 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:34:15 -0800 (PST) From: Norma Jean Garza Subject: Re: Joni's Blue Period This piece is worded so beautifully. I can't help but cry. I want Joni near us always.Thank you, Cassy, for sharing. I remember Suzanne Vega was acting silly and said something about Joni. I had just seen her in concert and I was so hurt and I never bought any of her albums again. Nobody did, in my world. I thank God for giving me life right now, with my family, Joni, friends and pets. I think we can make a difference and help our planet heal. NormaJean - --- Cassy wrote: > Here is an interesting article about Joni from the > cbc site today: > > http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/joni.html > > Joni's blue period > The impact of Joni Mitchell's Blue album on a teen > in the 80s > By Katrina Onstad > January 26, 2007 > > > On Jan. 28, Joni Mitchell will be inducted into the > Canadian Songwriters > Hall of Fame, and I'm praying that no one serenades > her with River. > > The uninvited soundtrack to Christmas 2006 was Sarah > McLachlan's low-fat, > fun-free, vanilla-latte version of Mitchell's 1971 > classic River. Between > the first and 24th of December, every time I found > myself wading through a > snake pit mega-chain toward the last stripy scarf in > the bin, Sarah > McLachlan was there, too, braying the theme song of > my holiday > disorganization with all the laziness that typifies > a one-off Christmas cash > grab: "I wish I had a river so looong." I swear she > yawns during the word > "long." > > There is something peculiar about McLachlan, founder > of the successful women's > music festival Lilith Fair, covering Mitchell. > Mitchell has always shrugged > off the "woman genius" mantle, despite her status as > musical pioneer and > adopted mommy figure for legions of female singer > songwriters. She once told > a reporter: "One guy came up to me and said, 'You're > the best female > singer-songwriter in the world.' I was thinking: > 'What do you mean female? > That's like saying you're the best Negro.'" > > Point taken; it's a backhanded compliment with a > ghetto sting. But as a > teenaged girl in the mid-'80s encountering Blue (the > album containing River) > for the first time, the fact that the songs - > confessional but not > solipsistic; folk but not earnest; pop but not empty > - were written by a > woman felt thrilling. Mitchell sang of adventure, > disappointment, God, love, > disaster. Not only was the music emotionally bloody > and intricate, the > lyrics - her busy phrasing pushing the words to > spill out over the song's > structure - made it seem like she was living a > gigantic life. > > Pre-Google, I harassed my favourite clerk at the > local second-hand record > store for information, researched her in back issues > of Rolling Stone, and > learned that Joni Mitchell was a painter, too, and a > poet. She owned all the > rights to her songs. She had been smoking since she > was nine. She occupied > the world. That this music didn't come from Bob > Dylan or Leonard Cohen (her > contemporaries) or REM's Michael Stipe and the > Fall's Mark E. Smith (mine) > provided a kind of comfort I didn't know I needed: > greatness and arrogance > and artistry could be female, too. That Mitchell > didn't want to be > considered a feminist paving the road for female > musicians only made her > more intriguing (though her very existence did, and > still does, seem like > feminism to me); that was a way of being I hadn't > known, either. > > I first heard the song River - and this is so very > sad - during an episode > of the yuppie angst TV drama thirtysomething when I > was 16 or 17. The female > singers of my generation were Tiffany, Debbie > Gibson, Whitney Houston: teeny > boppers, vocal acrobats and hired hands, mostly > singing songs written for > them by other people - often men, or Carole Bayer > Sager. They sang about > liking boys, and wanting to dance with somebody. I > was just old enough to > recognize how hard this stuff sucked, and I was > rabid for music more like > the poetry and fiction that had my head spinning; > something speaking of all > the possible ways to exist. I knew, as all teenagers > do, that I was leaving > adolescence, and I heard the thrill and sadness of > adulthood in River's > opening note, that repeated one-finger Jingle Bells > piano, and then the > lyrics: "It's coming on Christmas/ They're cutting > down trees/ They're > putting up reindeer/ Singing songs of joy and peace/ > I wish I had a river so > long/ I would teach my feet to fly." A song about > ice-skating ! (Lou Reed > didn't have one of those!) The rumours were true, > then: Joni Mitchell was > Canadian, too. > > By the end of the '60s, Mitchell had become a > darling of the Laurel Canyon > So-Cal folk scene. Though singers like Judy Collins > and Buffy Saint-Marie > had made hits out of Mitchell's songs, her own > stardom wore on her, and in > 1970, Mitchell "quit this crazy scene" (a phrase > from River), writing most > of Blue in self-imposed exile while travelling > through Europe. Big Yellow > Taxi and Both Sides Now may be her best-known songs, > but it's the entire > album Blue that is still her most resonant work. In > an upcoming tribute > disc, three of the 12 songs come from Blue. On > Rolling Stone's Top 500 > Albums of all time, it's ranked No. 30. Her long > career since has been > marked by departure and reinvention, most famously > her collaboration with > jazz idol Charles Mingus. At the Canadian > Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, > Margaret Atwood will read her poetry, and jazz > musician Herbie Hancock and > soprano Measha Brueggergosman will perform her > songs. Mitchell, who hates a > box, is sure to love this. > > But no matter how experimental the evening gets (I > fear interpretive dance), > many of us watching will be hearing the clean, raw > precision of Blue in our > heads. The record feels like it could only exist as > an album, something from > before the fragmentation brought on by iPods and > downloads, when you were > forced to witness the whole vision, track by track. > The thing Mitchell built > was a house of postponed grieving: maybe for her > privacy, her relationship > with Graham Nash or the daughter she gave up for > adoption a few years > before. In the mid-'90s, when Mitchell publicly > reunited with that daughter, > the cryptic lyrics to Little Green made sense: "He > went to California/ > Hearing that everything's warmer there/ So you write > him a letter and say > 'Her eyes are blue'/ He sends you a poem and she's > lost to you.." It's a > perfect rumination on sorrow. Mitchell has said: "At > that period of my life, > I had no personal defences.. There's hardly a > dishonest note in the vocals." > > Mitchell's work, while not a roadmap to her life, > has always been far too > personal to pass as hippie banner-waving. The > exception may be the anthem > Woodstock, a hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, > but Mitchell never > actually made it to the festival, choosing instead > to make an appearance on > The Dick Cavett Show. Still, the vagabond principle > of the era is all over > Blue, as in the song Carey: "Carey get out your cane > and I'll put on some > silver/ Oh, you're a mean old daddy but I like you > fine." Silver, linen, > African winds - there's a vaguely Wiccan, > Tiffany-lamp vibe to Mitchell, and > her dedicated followers, that I've always tried to > ignore. Yet Blue doesn't > feel like an artifact. If Mitchell were merely a > boomer hero, she wouldn't > matter so much to Sufjan Stevens and Bjork, who > cover her on the upcoming > tribute disc. If she were merely a female hero, > Prince and Elvis Costello > wouldn't cite her as a major influence; they appear > on the tribute, too. The > song Prince chose to cover? A Case of You, from > Blue, === message truncated === ____________________________________________________________________________________ We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:45:42 -0800 (PST) From: Norma Jean Garza Subject: Re: Joni the Zombie Hello Victor. Can you please tell me which Joni frame looks strung out? And what hamburger are you talking about? Thanks, Norma Jean - --- Victor Johnson wrote: > Scary stuff!!! The "Blue" Joni looks like she's > strung out. And is > that a hamburger in the middle of the STAS? > > > Victor > > NP: 680 AM The Rude Awakening > > > On Jan 26, 2007, at 9:30 AM, Bob.Muller@Fluor.com > wrote: > > > Check out this objet d'art on ebay: > > > > > http://cgi.ebay.com/STEVE-KEENE-PAINTINGS-JONI-MITCHELL- > > > > ALBUMS_W0QQitemZ270083612293QQihZ017QQcategoryZ20135QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewIt > > > em > > > > The "Clouds" Joni looks like the stuff of > nightmares. > > > > Bob > > > > NP: Ani, "Promised Land" > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't pick lemons. See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos. http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 13:08:21 -0600 From: Kate Johnson Subject: Joni article on CBC website Jonibs blue period The impact of Joni Mitchellbs Blue album on a teen in the 80s By Katrina Onstad January 26, 2007 o?< Joni Mitchell performs on the CBC-TV program Three's a Crowd in 1968. (Robert Ragsdale/CBC Still Photo Collection) On Jan. 28, Joni Mitchell will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Ibm praying that no one serenades her with River. The uninvited soundtrack to Christmas 2006 was Sarah McLachlanbs low- fat, fun-free, vanilla-latte version of Mitchellbs 1971 classic River. Between the first and 24th of December, every time I found myself wading through a snake pit mega-chain toward the last stripy scarf in the bin, Sarah McLachlan was there, too, braying the theme song of my holiday disorganization with all the laziness that typifies a one-off Christmas cash grab: bI wish I had a river so looongb&b I swear she yawns during the word "long." There is something peculiar about McLachlan, founder of the successful womenbs music festival Lilith Fair, covering Mitchell. Mitchell has always shrugged off the bwoman geniusb mantle, despite her status as musical pioneer and adopted mommy figure for legions of female singer songwriters. She once told a reporter: bOne guy came up to me and said, bYoubre the best female singer- songwriter in the world.b I was thinking: bWhat do you mean female? Thatbs like saying youbre the best Negro.bb Point taken; itbs a backhanded compliment with a ghetto sting. But as a teenaged girl in the mid-'80s encountering Blue (the album containing River) for the first time, the fact that the songs b confessional but not solipsistic; folk but not earnest; pop but not empty b were written by a woman felt thrilling. Mitchell sang of adventure, disappointment, God, love, disaster. Not only was the music emotionally bloody and intricate, the lyrics b her busy phrasing pushing the words to spill out over the songbs structure b made it seem like she was living a gigantic life. Pre-Google, I harassed my favourite clerk at the local second-hand record store for information, researched her in back issues of Rolling Stone, and learned that Joni Mitchell was a painter, too, and a poet. She owned all the rights to her songs. She had been smoking since she was nine. She occupied the world. That this music didnbt come from Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen (her contemporaries) or REMbs Michael Stipe and the Fallbs Mark E. Smith (mine) provided a kind of comfort I didnbt know I needed: greatness and arrogance and artistry could be female, too. That Mitchell didnbt want to be considered a feminist paving the road for female musicians only made her more intriguing (though her very existence did, and still does, seem like feminism to me); that was a way of being I hadnbt known, either. I first heard the song River b and this is so very sad b during an episode of the yuppie angst TV drama thirtysomething when I was 16 or 17. The female singers of my generation were Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Whitney Houston: teeny boppers, vocal acrobats and hired hands, mostly singing songs written for them by other people b often men, or Carole Bayer Sager. They sang about liking boys, and wanting to dance with somebody. I was just old enough to recognize how hard this stuff sucked, and I was rabid for music more like the poetry and fiction that had my head spinning; something speaking of all the possible ways to exist. I knew, as all teenagers do, that I was leaving adolescence, and I heard the thrill and sadness of adulthood in Riverbs opening note, that repeated one-finger Jingle Bells piano, and then the lyrics: bItbs coming on Christmas/ Theybre cutting down trees/ Theybre putting up reindeer/ Singing songs of joy and peace/ I wish I had a river so long/ I would teach my feet to flyb&b A song about ice-skating ! (Lou Reed didnbt have one of those!) The rumours were true, then: Joni Mitchell was Canadian, too. o?< Joni Mitchell's 1971 album, Blue. (Warner Bros. Canada) By the end of the '60s, Mitchell had become a darling of the Laurel Canyon So-Cal folk scene. Though singers like Judy Collins and Buffy Saint-Marie had made hits out of Mitchellbs songs, her own stardom wore on her, and in 1970, Mitchell bquit this crazy sceneb (a phrase from River), writing most of Blue in self-imposed exile while travelling through Europe. Big Yellow Taxi and Both Sides Now may be her best-known songs, but itbs the entire album Blue that is still her most resonant work. In an upcoming tribute disc, three of the 12 songs come from Blue. On Rolling Stonebs Top 500 Albums of all time, itbs ranked No. 30. Her long career since has been marked by departure and reinvention, most famously her collaboration with jazz idol Charles Mingus. At the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony, Margaret Atwood will read her poetry, and jazz musician Herbie Hancock and soprano Measha Brueggergosman will perform her songs. Mitchell, who hates a box, is sure to love this. But no matter how experimental the evening gets (I fear interpretive dance), many of us watching will be hearing the clean, raw precision of Blue in our heads. The record feels like it could only exist as an album, something from before the fragmentation brought on by iPods and downloads, when you were forced to witness the whole vision, track by track. The thing Mitchell built was a house of postponed grieving: maybe for her privacy, her relationship with Graham Nash or the daughter she gave up for adoption a few years before. In the mid-'90s, when Mitchell publicly reunited with that daughter, the cryptic lyrics to Little Green made sense: bHe went to California/ Hearing that everything's warmer there/ So you write him a letter and say bHer eyes are blueb/ He sends you a poem and she's lost to youb&.b Itbs a perfect rumination on sorrow. Mitchell has said: bAt that period of my life, I had no personal defences.b& Therebs hardly a dishonest note in the vocals.b Mitchellbs work, while not a roadmap to her life, has always been far too personal to pass as hippie banner-waving. The exception may be the anthem Woodstock, a hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but Mitchell never actually made it to the festival, choosing instead to make an appearance on The Dick Cavett Show. Still, the vagabond principle of the era is all over Blue, as in the song Carey: bCarey get out your cane and Ibll put on some silver/ Oh, youbre a mean old daddy but I like you fine.b Silver, linen, African winds b therebs a vaguely Wiccan, Tiffany-lamp vibe to Mitchell, and her dedicated followers, that Ibve always tried to ignore. Yet Blue doesnbt feel like an artifact. If Mitchell were merely a boomer hero, she wouldnbt matter so much to Sufjan Stevens and Bjork, who cover her on the upcoming tribute disc. If she were merely a female hero, Prince and Elvis Costello wouldnbt cite her as a major influence; they appear on the tribute, too. The song Prince chose to cover? A Case of You, from Blue, in which Mitchell famously sings: bI drew a map of Canada/ Oh Canadab&b and the word Canada loops up and down and closes in on itself. That Joni Mitchell is Canadian, and female, matters almost not at all to me now; role models get less necessary, or are abandoned entirely, with age. But studies have shown that the music we meet at our most self-involved, in youth, is the music that hits us deepest. McGill professor Daniel Levitin has done research to show the music of childhood almost burns itself into our brains, which is exactly how it feels. Maybe thatbs why the ubiquitous Sarah McLachlan cover of River is so grating: the River part of my brain is well travelled, sacred territory. Therebs no room for anyone else there. On the other hand, McLachlanbs cover lacks that unfathomable combination of gravitas and weightlessness that defines Mitchellbs singing, even now, with a voice smoked down to a crackling ember. Mitchell can never hit those Blue notes again, but I can always turn to them and remember who I was. When I listen to Cat Power, Lucinda Williams, Tracy Chapman, Jenny Lewis, Martha Wainwright, Will Oldham, Ben Harper b I think of Joni, who came first, reluctantly, and right on time. Hosted by CBC Radio's Andrew Craig and Radio-Canada's Sophie Durocher, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame gala will take place on Sunday, Jan. 28 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The following day, CBC Radio will broadcast segments of the tribute gala, beginning with Sounds Like Canada on Radio One at 11 a.m. and as a two-hour special beginning at 8 p.m. on Radio Two. A CBC-TV production will follow on March 5. Katrina Onstad writes about the arts for CBC.ca. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:23:31 -0800 From: "Kate Bennett" Subject: Joni the Zombie Aaaaahhhhhh! Scary! And Blue looks like frankenjoni... by AMERICA'S MOST PROLIFIC ARTIST !!! hopin steve isn't a lurker on this list... Bob> Check out this objet d'art on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/STEVE-KEENE-PAINTINGS-JONI-MITCHELL-ALBUMS_W0QQitemZ2700 83612293QQihZ017QQcategoryZ20135QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem The "Clouds" Joni looks like the stuff of nightmares.< ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:36:38 -0800 (PST) From: Norma Jean Garza Subject: Re: Joni the Zombie Okay, now I see it! Is this artist serious? normajean - --- Kate Bennett wrote: > Aaaaahhhhhh! Scary! And Blue looks like > frankenjoni... by AMERICA'S MOST > PROLIFIC ARTIST !!! hopin steve isn't a lurker on > this list... > > Bob> Check out this objet d'art on ebay: > > http://cgi.ebay.com/STEVE-KEENE-PAINTINGS-JONI-MITCHELL-ALBUMS_W0QQitemZ2700 > 83612293QQihZ017QQcategoryZ20135QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem > > The "Clouds" Joni looks like the stuff of > nightmares.< > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Have a burning question? Go to www.Answers.yahoo.com and get answers from real people who know. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:26:57 -0800 (PST) From: Ingrid Lochrenberg Subject: Re: Live reclusive Hi Bene Your email touches a sore point - me being a person who feels intinate and deep connection to Joni (like you say all on th list does) + having a tendency for literal delusional thinking. Joni's lyrics don't, as far as I know, give any clue to how she experiences her fame: or perhaps "Cactus tree" does a bit, with "she will love them when she sees them; they will loose her if they follow- which perhaps demonstrates a predicament, but there's no lament there". What about Joni's art exhibit in November (roundabout the tenth)...you say she never exhibits her work- do you mean she's never present? I suppose Joni is in the category of fame where elusiveness is a survival strategy.I last year was playing with the idea that Joni just postured finding her daughter, in fact had not, and that I was the cat's tail. So well, I wish to dedicate this email to everyone who ever wished they were her daughter, and I include all the madmen of the world as well as all those of poetic inclination who are so inspired by her art to hanker after her in some way or another- my connection with has been , in the past, exclusively through her music...it makes me feel an integrity in my fascination with her - I'm reminded of that interview in which she said that, as apart from the art one is capable of/produces, we are actuallt just divine idiots....I'm in an extremely painful position now, wondering how much of my fantasy was visible.. From what I've seen of Joni, she has a good measure of 'annoyance' in her personality, just sheer irritation (I cant's spell anymore) , and her displaying this so easily makes me hope that she has a good dollop of bad-temperedness to help her cope. I think, jusging by this website, that there is a full extent of true love for her- and it's not inexcusable that we imagine feeling love- we are guided and inspired by our exposure to her art ( music and visual), and our imagination, and Joni should (or will) have time for this phenomenon. Our ability to be inspired ties us to her. She must have some experience of gratification , and I hope it makes up for the trouble her fame brings.. Bene, I hope your PhD is all written up...I hope you have even greater dreams now to share with your family. I wonder about you...why you described your love landscapoe as akin to Russian snow. I wonder if your finances are looking up. I wonder if you will write back. Much love ingrid - ----- Original Message ---- From: "missblux@googlemail.com" To: Marianne Rizzo ; waytoblue@comcast.net; Joni LIST Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 7:41:44 AM Subject: Live reclusive Here are some thoughts about Joni being reclusive and seeing her live.... I think it is not entirely unjustified to call someone reclusive if she claims that she is a painter above all and yet doesn't exhibit her art work. Doesn't that show very clearly that she is uncomfortable with meeting the public? In those Youtube clips from 1970 I think she looks nervous and shy. The other day Mark talked about how he had met someone who turned out to be a close friend of hers; and he described the panic in the lady's eyes when he told her he was on this mailing list. I wondered if that reflects Joni's own panic at meeting the public, maybe in particular people like us who experience all sorts of deep and intimate connections with her. It must feel intimidating, like when someone is in love with you and you just don' t relate to that person in that way. Because you wonder about all the delusions going on in their minds. I'd love to see her perform live, but whenever I watch clips with her I think she looks a bit out of place. Well and right on spot at the same time... A danish writer, Suzanne Brxgger, wrote a lot of autobiographical stuff from the seventies onwards, about her love-life and about gender etc. When she became really famous, she found that some women identified so much with her that they began to write letters in her name, to men they fancied, saying that they were Suzanne Brxgger and wanted to have sex with them or whatever. It has got to make you feel queasy when people you don' t know or who yo don't feel the same for begin to identify with you in that way. Just my thoughts... Bene _____________________________________________________________________________ _______ Have a burning question? Go to www.Answers.yahoo.com and get answers from real people who know. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 2007 15:39:37 -0500 From: Victor Johnson Subject: The List (JC...barely) After trying about 4 or 5 stores, I finally found a copy of the 99 best songs as voted for in the Performing Songwriter Poll. Personally, I feel kind of ambivalent about most of these songs and think they left most of the best songs out, but what more do you expect. At least, Tom Waits, Stevie Wonder, and Joni each make one appearance. And there are many songs that certainly belong here but inevitably, these lists always end up being mostly a popularity contest. Most notable omission in my opinion, Lush Life by Billy Strayhorn....and of course many songs by the aforementioned songwriters. 99. Maggie May (Rod Stewart, Martin Quittenton) 98. Go Your Own Way (Lindsay Buckhingham) 97. Fortunate Son (John Fogerty) 96. Hello in There (John Prine).....cool! 95. Let's Stay Together (Al Green, Al Jackson Jr.) 94. Alison (Elvis Costello) 93. Live to Tell (Madonna, Patrick Leonard) 92. Billie Jean (Michael Jackson) 91. London Calling (Mick Jones, Joe Strummer) 90. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Kurt Cobain) 89. Hotel California (Don Henley) 88. Time of the Season (Rod Argent) 87. Have You Ever Loved a Woman? (Billy Myles) 86. Walk the Line (Johnny Cash) 85. Here, There, and Everywhere (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) 84. Purple Rain (Prince) 83. I Can't Make You Love Me (Mike Reid, Allen Shamblin) 82. Jailhouse Rock (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller) 81. Don't Fear the Reaper (Donald Roeser) 80. Dancing Queen (Benny Anderson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson) 79. Hallelujia (Leonard Cohen)...nice choice! 78. Dark End of the Street (Dan Penn, Chips Moman) 77. Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry) 76. (Looking for ) The Heart of Saturday Night (Tom Waits)....nice but should have several more in here 75. Bohemian Rhapsody (Freddie Mercury) 74. Kashmir (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham) 73. Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan) 72. Brick (Ben Folds, Darren Jesse) 71. What a Fool Believes (Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins) 70. Walking in Memphis (Marc Cohn) 69. Your Song (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) 68. By the Time I Get to Phoenix (Jimmy Webb) 67. Our Love is Here to Stay (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) 66. Losing My Religion (Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Bill Berry) 65. Suspicious Minds (Mark James) 64. The Christmas Song (Mel Torme, Robert Wells) 63. Light My Fire (Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Jim Morrison) 62. If You Don't Know Me By Know (Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff) 61. Surf's Up (Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks) 60. Black Coffee in Bed (Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook) 59. Without You (Pete Ham, Tom Evans) 58. Rapper's Delight (Michael Wright, Guy O'Brien, Henry Jackson) 57. Nature Boy (Eden Ahbez) 56. The Girl From Ipanema (Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes) 55. Only the Lonely (Roy Orbison, Joe Melson) 54. The Waiting (Tom Petty) 53. Lean On Me (Bill Withers) 52. Deacon Blues (Donald Fagen, Walter Becker) 51. At Seventeen (Janis Ian) 50. Scenes From An Italian Restaraunt (Billy Joel) 49. Changes (David Bowie) 48. Heart of Gold (Neil Young) 47. Jolene (Dolly Parton) 46. Walk Away Renee (Michael Brown, Bob Calilli, Tony Sansone) 45. In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel) 44. Solitary Man (Neil Diamond) 43. My Funny Valentine (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)....great song! 42. Georgia on My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael, Stuart Gorrell) 41. Everbody's Talkin' (Fred Neil) 40. Marie (Randy Newman) 39. Son of a Preacher Man (John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins) 38. I Say a Little Prayer (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) 37. Hot Fun in the Summertime (Sylvester Stewart) 36. He Stopped Loving Her Today (Bobby Braddock, Curly Putnam) 35. Killing Me Softly (Lori Leiberman, Norman Gimbel, Charles Fox) 34. Fire and Rain (James Taylor) 33. That'll Be the Day (Buddy Holly, Jerry Allison, Norman Petty) 32. Respect (Otis Redding) 31. Just My Imagination (Runnin' Away With Me) (Norman Whitfield, Barret Strong) 30. Ode to Billie Joe (Bobbie Gentry) 29. Sultans of Swing (Mark Knopfler) 28. Something (George Harrison) 27. Layla (Eric Clapton, Jim Gordon) 26. Sunday Morning Coming Down (Kris Kristofferson) 25. The Pretender (Jackson Browne) 24. Bridge Over Troubled Waters (Paul Simon)...two thumbs up from me 23. Moon River (Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer)....ahhhhh 22. Free Man in Paris (Joni Mitchell)....finally, a song from Joni Mitchell 21. Every Breath You Take (Sting) 20. Waterloo Sunset (Ray Davies) 19. Living for the City (Stevie Wonder)...finally, a song from Stevie Wonder, though so many amazing songs that definately belong here 18. One (Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Jr.) 17. Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb) 16. A Day in the Life (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) 15. Sympathy for the Devil (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) 14. Tracks of My Tears (Smokey Robinson, Marv Tarplin, Pete Moore) 13. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) 12. God Only Knows (Brian Wilson, Tony Asher) 11. Crazy (Willie Nelson) 10. It's Too Late (Carole King, Toni Stern) 9. Behind Blue Eyes (Pete Townshend) 8. Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg).....side note, one of my professors told me this song was named the most important song of the 20th century...don't remember by who 7. You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector) 6. Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen) 5. All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan) 4. Yesterday (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) 3. What's Going On (Marvin Gaye, Obie Benson) 2. Stardust (Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish) 1. Imagine (John Lennon) Whew...............that was a lot of work. ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #25 ******************************** ------- 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)