From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #132 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 Tuesday, May 1 2007 Volume 2007 : Number 132 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Miles Beyond [Motitan@aol.com] Re: Joni & Jaco [Motitan@aol.com] Re: Miles Beyond ["AJ" ] Re: Joni & Jaco [Wtking59@cs.com] Re: Miles Beyond [Wtking59@cs.com] Re: Miles Beyond [Wtking59@cs.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:15:14 EDT From: Motitan@aol.com Subject: Re: Miles Beyond In fact, parts of THOSL sound much more dated to me than ANYTHING on C&S or MOA (particularly the comparatively lightweight sounding fluff of "Shades of Scarlett Conquering," the clichid and superficial "Harry's House," the downright hokey opener "In France They Kiss On Main Street... - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - --------------------------------------------------------------- Well what about them in particular makes you think they sound dated? And why do you find Harry's House superficial? We're all entitled to our own opinion but it's good to ask. Discussion is healthy. Just curious as always. - -Monika ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:21:42 EDT From: Motitan@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni & Jaco HEY, Monika Well, apart from her marriage to Klein--yet another bass player--you ARE aware that Jaco died relatively young, aren't you? Killed in a bar fight of some sort, if I'm not mistaken. I've forgotten the exact year, but it's been a while. - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hmm, yes I read that he died young in passing somewhere but was not aware of the year. - -Monika ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:27:00 -0500 From: "AJ" Subject: Re: Miles Beyond - ----- Original Message ----- From: > In fact, parts of THOSL sound much more dated to me than ANYTHING on C&S > or > MOA (particularly the comparatively lightweight sounding fluff of "Shades > of > Scarlett Conquering," the clichid and superficial "Harry's House," the > downright hokey opener "In France They Kiss On Main Street... > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > --------------------------------------------------------------- > Well what about them in particular makes you think they sound dated? > And why do you find Harry's House superficial? We're all entitled to our > own > opinion but it's good to ask. Discussion is healthy. Just curious as > always. > -Monika I myself find "Harry's House" one the most profound JM songs of all. The timbre of her voice when she sings/speaks "Nothing's any good" made my hair stand on end the day the album came out, and still does, these many years later, when I listen to it on my IPod. I find it an incredibly dense (in a good way) musical statement about not simply American culture in the 1970s, but still as timely in 2007 as it was when it came out. And it is a strangely bifurcated song, which makes it endlessly fascinating to me to this day. - --AJ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 00:26:14 EDT From: Wtking59@cs.com Subject: Re: Joni & Jaco Bruce -- THANKS for providing more details on Jaco's death. Such an unfortunate loss for many (including Joni, I'm sure). And I agree with your logic 100% on the possibilities of why the couple eventually parted ways, as well as your probable theories about what was responsible for Joni's lighter, more positive mood while creating WTRF. XXXOOO, Billy ================================= Bruce (LBVaughn@comcast.net) wrote: >>> Billy, >>> You are correct. Jaco died from injuries (declared brain dead after lapsing into a coma) sustained in a heated disagreement with a bouncer in an establishment that he'd been refused entrance to. His date of death, I believe was September of 1987 which would have made him about 35 or so. <<< >>> I suspect he and Joni parted ways due to Jaco's health (manic depression) and substance problems which from what I've read made him quite unpredictable and somewhat "black flagged" in the music world. I wouldn't know, but I suspect Joni is the type that when she's recording would be blisteringly angry when she had a head full of ideas and her bass player ended up MIA. <<< >>> WTRF was probably considered more of a happy album for any number of reasons. I've heard that it was supposed to be more of a rock styled album (not sure I'd call it that) but it was something different and fresh from what she had been doing. Klein was probably the largest influence on her mood at the time but WTRF was also her first release for a new record label and she might have had high hopes that they would treat her better than recent years with Asylum and it reunited her with David Geffen who was behind her more commercial successes, FTR, MOA, and CAS. Might have been a very optimistic Joni at that time. <<< Bruce in Tucson <<< ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 01:48:53 EDT From: Wtking59@cs.com Subject: Re: Miles Beyond Monika wrote: >>> Well, what about them in particular makes you think they sound dated? And why do you find Harry's House superficial? We're all entitled to our own opinion but it's good to ask. Discussion is healthy. Just curious as always. <<< Almost everything, Monika. But to be more specific, I suddenly found most of the lyrics on THOSL to be soooooooo cliched compared to the classic, deeply confessional mid-period of BLUE, FTR and CAS. Disappointingly detached and emotionally bankrupt. I think "Shades of Scarlett Conquering" is weak both musically and lyrically, and "Harry's House" isn't much better. To me, they're largely nothing more than pretty sounding, superficial gloss and glitter, with very little discernible substance (as the majority of critics pointed out in 1975). And then 'Hejira' (in '76), while a bit more profound in the lyric department (except when compared to her most seminal period), was even LESS musically challenging than its predecessor--mostly droning from one chilly dirge to another. In some ways she rebounded a bit with DJRD in '77, but it was only a matter of time before she'd attempt a return to her earlier, most acclaimed sound (on WTRF)--with only mixed results. However, this is just the most popular general opinion (and the opinion I happen to share), and certainly some people feel differently. I can appreciate that. But at the same time, I occasionally feel the need to express my own point of view (like everyone else here)--just to balance things out, so-to-speak, and to make sure Joni's earlier brilliance is never overlooked or forgotten ;-) XXXOOO, Billy NP: 'We're Children of Coincidence and Harpo Marx' (1976) by Dory Previn ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 02:37:40 EDT From: Wtking59@cs.com Subject: Re: Miles Beyond AJ (ajfashion@att.net) wrote: >>> I myself find "Harry's House" one the most profound JM songs of all. The timbre of her voice when she sings/speaks "Nothing's any good" made my hair stand on end the day the album came out, and still does... <<< Oh, yeah--and what about that thrilling part just afterwards (returning to the original melody), when she sings: "shining hair and shining skin, shining as she reeled him in..." with that all-too-brief but fabulous guitar flourish right in the middle!? Although I find it superficial, I ADORE that little moment of bliss! AJ added: >>> I find it an incredibly dense (in a good way) musical statement about not simply American culture in the 1970s, but still as timely in 2007 as it was when it came out. And it is a strangely bifurcated song, which makes it endlessly fascinating to me to this day. <<< AJ--you're not the only one who feels that way. But for me, that's part of the problem with THOSL: I didn't want a "dense, musical statement" about modern American culture coming from Joni (?). Instead, I wanted more of the brilliantly emotional, romantic poetry of the individual "heart and mind" that an entire generation had come to know and love. The style she'd finally perfected on CAS. XXXOOO, Billy NP: 'We the People' (1973) by Ellen McIlwaine ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #132 ********************************* ------- 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)