From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #180 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 Saturday, June 16 2007 Volume 2007 : Number 180 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life ["L. Bruce Vaughn" ] Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life ["AJ" ] 5 Albums That Changed Your Life ["Laurent Olszer" ] Re: Subject: Re: This is a rant about Rousseau, Joni, O'keefe and erotic imagery [Victor Johnson ] Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life [merk54@aol.com] Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life ["Christian MACKOWSKI" ] Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life ["Randy Remote" ] Walden Woods Project [Mark-Leon Thorne ] 5 Albums That Changed Your Life ["Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life Wow. I could probably list at least 15 of them but will stick with the earlier 5 album that came to mind first. 1. The Beatles - Meet The Beatles The first official American album. Beatlemania had started but there was just something about this early work that even at an early age told me there is more here to come. Little did I know.... 2. The Monkees - Headquarters After much criticism because they didn't play many instruments on their first two albums. Their battles with the music powers of the time (Don Kirschner) to gain more artistic control over their recordings would benefit many artists in the future. But I think the main thing about this album was that I really discovered the budding genius of a man named Michael Nesmith on this album. 3. Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow Other than introducing me to the voice of Gracie Slick. This was an album that proved you didn't need massive feedback and amplifier squeals to make "psychodelic" music. Many of the stripped down and acoustic tracks on this album (which I still listen to 40 years later) got me listening to a lot of softer music and may have opened the door to being absolutely floored by Joni's first album the following year. 4. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass Not only did George emerge from behind the Lennon/McCartney shadows with this album. The subject matter on many of these tracks were food for thought for a young man in half way through his senior year in high school and wondering what is next? It also brough refreshed hope that there would be great music to come after The Beatles. It wasn't until years later that I found out that a number of these tracks were actually demo'ed by The Beatles and passed by which helped me understand his spoken frustration with being unable to get "time" on a Beatle album. 5. Stevie Wonder - Talking Book To me this was the album (along with his previous release and Marvin Gaye's What's Going On) that changed the whole face of what we knew as Motown. A tasteful introduction to early "electronica" and a refinement of a more mature writing style. This album fascinated me from the first listening and still does today. It was the beginning of a string of ground breaking albums throughout the 70's. The first time Superstition came on the radio I had to sit back and say Whoa... What is this? Bruce >This was something interesting I noticed on a bulletin on MySpace. >Everybody was listing 5 albums that changed their life one way or another. That >being said, what are 5 albums that changed your life? > >Here are mine: >This is tough but..... >1. The Beatles- A Hard Day's Night >2. 4 Way Street- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young >3. The Wall- Pink Floyd >4. Court & Spark/Blue- Joni Mitchell (cheated here) >5. Harvest/Tonight's The Night- Neil Young (Once a cheater...always a >cheater...) > >How about you? >-Monika > > > >************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:29:55 +0100 From: "Ross, Les" Subject: re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life in some order of occurence rather than importance..... 1. Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath 12 years old and contemplative of the future referenced 'dark ladder'. Yeah right. Actually, it was directly influenced by the presence in my home village of a number of American families brought into the area to help develop our burgeoning (at the time) offshore oil industry. Among said families were many a head-banger teenager atuned the output of Sabbath, Purple and Grand Funk Railroad......whoever they were. Inside the gate-fold (aaah, gate-folds....) of this album was a rather precious, self conscious and doomy bit of writing which, if memory serves me at all, started, "still falls the rain......" I remember lifting this almost directly and completely and arranging it as blank verse poetry for a home english assignment. my teacher, a tall, very thin, bob-haircut and primary make up colour sporting, irish woman nearly went into meltdown when she read it out in front of class and earnestly enquried of me the inspiration behind this 'dark' piece.....Memory is unreliable on the subject of how i answered that enquiry though it likely featured substantial sweating and purple-age of the face. 2. The Yes Album - Yes Having practically worn out the vinyl of Black Sabbath (and the nerves of my nervous parents), i heard a track from this record on the radio show of the late great Alan Freeman. It sounded so sophisticated and well played i just ate it up after the monotheism of heavy metal and began an affair with prog rock i'm just recently rekindling (aaah, blessed middle age!). I remember hitching a ride to the nearest town with a record shop to buy it and once there having at once to fend of the dark and predatory intentions of the truly creepy and now deceased record store owner and also the disgruntlement of an 'older boy' who tried to wrest the only copy (in-store) of this album from my juvenile hands. without success. there's a reason why the scots are known to be tight-fisted and it's not always to do with being financially mean. anyhoo. 3. Miles of Aisles - Joni Mitchell 1975/6. Could not leave the house in the morning to go to school without listening to a handful of tracks from the record. A recording made onto a cassette tape from the vinyl owned by an older brother of a school mate. due to warping of the medium (a fond memory of cassette tapes of 120 minute capacity - bring back any memories to contemporaries?) i didn't actually get to hear 'you turn me on i'm a radio' or 'woodstock' until quite a few years later. 4. Hejira - Joni Mitchell There's Les before Hejira and there's Les after Hejira. Not to overstate the importance of this record and indeed the time in my life when i heard it for the first time - like everyone else i've had key moments in my life overall - - Hejira and that whole time is one of the most significant in my life. 1977. Left home, went to art school and on and on. 5. Offramp - Pat Metheny / Asylum Years - Tom Waits Hard to choose between these two for such different reasons as any who know each artist can imagine. the one sparked to new life my ongoing interest in playing guitar. the other, the antithesis of joni's clarion singing and yet totally captivating both as a melodician and maker of images.......And, while i think of it, introduced to me by the same person - now, also, sadly deceased...(uuuh, middle-age...). and all of these now quite a long time ago. i guess i'm not so impressed anymore by the output of musicians. probably an age/jaded thing rather than a diminution of quality output. though sometimes i wonder. Les (a Scot living in London) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 06:40:00 -0500 From: "AJ" Subject: Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life In roughly chronological order (as in, when I acquired them); I thin albums that change your life occur early in your life!: Bookends -- Simon & Garfunkel Company -- original Broadway cast, Stephen Sondheim After the Goldrush -- Neil Young For the Roses-- JM The Last Great Concert -- Chet Baker - --AJ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:15:04 +0200 From: "Laurent Olszer" Subject: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life 1. Canned Heat: Boogie with Canned Heat (1st heard in 70, my 1st LP "and don't foooorget to Booogie") 2. John Mayall: Blues from Laurel Canyon (1st heard 74-75, made me move to L.A. I guess that's enough of a change to qualify) 3. CSN&Y: 4 Way Street (1st heard in 75, made me move to L.A. even faster, Hi Monika) 4. Joni: Hejira (1st heard in 77) 5. Jean Luc Ponty: Upon the Wings of Music (1st heard in 75) Then: Jimi's Axis Bold As Love, Ry Cooder's Bop till you Drop, Ian Dury's New Boots & Panties Laurent ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:10:12 -0400 From: Victor Johnson Subject: Re: Subject: Re: This is a rant about Rousseau, Joni, O'keefe and erotic imagery It's a good thing to have a sense of humor. It seems these days people are too easily offended over simple misunderstandings. Laughing it all away, Victor On Jun 15, 2007, at 7:29 AM, missblux@googlemail.com wrote: > Hi Mark, > > I was indeed thinking of you - but obviously I am wrong! You sound a > bit appalled - sorry! Whoever wrote it was quite happy about his > discovery. I have no idea which song it might have been, but it was > something to do with a house or a room or a cave.... > > Bene > (laughing a bit...) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:45:28 EDT From: ROSCOE1TC@aol.com Subject: Re: onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #179 five (just five????) albums that changed my life: when i was a boy - jane siberry hounds of love - kate bush blue - joni mitchell if i could only remember my name - david crosby white album - beatles these certainly aren't albums that i play constantly, but, looking back, i have to admit that they undoubtedly provided a jolt that knocked me off course....or, maybe....they knocked me ON course. who knows? terry ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:58:12 -0400 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life I'm not sure that there are FIVE albums that CHANGED MY LIFE, but here goes: 1. American Graffiti Soundtrack: The very first LP that I bought, and the first time I experienced the joy of buying music for yourself. 2. The Doobie Brothers - What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits: The first album I bought that was not a 'Greatest Hits' album. It turned me on to enjoying songs I hadn't heard and appreciating an album as an album and not a collection of hits, and realizing that the radio didn't always give you the best stuff. 3/4. Joni Mitchell - Hejira & Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks: These two were pretty much in the same time frame and showed me that an album could be high art that opened your senses and emotions as much as film, books, etc. And to an even greater degree, Joni's Hejira locked me into her work which eventually led me to this group which has certainly been extremely life-changing. 5. Ani Difranco - To The Teeth: Because it reminded me in middle age how vital and important music is, and how it can still move me and challenge me and open my eyes and make me want to hear everything else that she had done. Didn't really change my life though. Bob NP: Ryan Adams, "The Shadowlands" - ------------------------------------------------------------ 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, 15 Jun 2007 07:35:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Flaherty Subject: Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life "L. Bruce Vaughn" wrote: >>>>Wow. I could probably list at least 15 of them but will stick with the earlier 5 album that came to mind first. Same here, but I like limiting it 5 as everyone making a long list would be less effective. In these cases, what I heard first (or was first moved by) is likely to be more important than what ended up as my favorite by a particular artist. Not necessarily in order: 1. Robert Fripp and Brian Eno: Evening Star 2. John Coltrane: Impressions 3. The Velvet Underground : White Light White Heat 4. Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark 5. Miles Davis: In a Silent Way Michael Flaherty - --------------------------------- Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:17:49 -0500 From: "Russell Laird" Subject: Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life 1) Best of the Lovin' Spoonful (Yes, Bob, you're right. That first album was/is meaningful. 2) Are You Experienced? Hendrix set most everyone's cultural foundations shaking with this one. The vibration continues today. 3) Whte Album. 4) Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. 5) Deja Vu - CSN&Y ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:24:12 -0400 From: merk54@aol.com Subject: Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life I like this thread!B Here are my top 5.B I can't believe the Beatles, Dylan, Niel Young, PeterB GabrielB or Rickie Lee aren't in this list. Elton John b Elton John.B The first album I can remember buying.B Prior to this, it was always just 45s or listening to my older brotherbs albums.B This came at a very dark time in my childhood, and somehow this album spoke to me in ways that I never knew possible.B It turned me on to the healing power of music.B I donbt know how I would have survived my teen years without this album.B Thank God for headphones!B I could lock myself in my room, turn up the volume, and all the BS going on around me would completely disappear.B It was like salvation on demand. Gentle Giant b In a Glass House.B I first heard Gentle Giant on WXRT and was blown away by how unique they sounded.B While I was always a fan of bands like Yes and ELP, there was something extra about these guys that just got to me.B Great musicianship, and very experimental. They inspired me to break out my violin and start playing again.B For that I will always be grateful. Steeleye Span b Parcel of Rouges.B Another turn on from WXRT (Damn, why canbt radio be this diverse any more!).B Traditional European folk music, played with rock instrumentation, and Maddy Priorbs voice!B B I just cannot be in a bad mood when I listen to this music.B All you Fairport Convention fans out there b if you arenbt familiar with this band, I strongly encourage you to check them out.B They definitely broadened my horizons in terms of what pop/rock and roll could sound like. Joni Mitchell b Hejira.B The first time I heard this album, it was like my soul was singing to me through this woman.B A totally profound experience.B B I probably spend about 25% of my life with music, either listening to it at home, playing it with friends, or attending concerts, but nothing since has resonated as strongly as this album. Bruce Springsteen b Darkness on the Edge of Town.B Never really a Bruce fan before this b I was turned off by all the hype.B An out of town friend was coming to Chicago and wanted to see a concert.B He talked me into getting Springsteen tickets, and I decided I should get his latest album so I would be somewhat familiar with what he might play.B Never got around to playing the album till after the concert, but once I did, I never looked back.B The next time Bruce came to town, I waited in line for three days to get tickets (ah, those were the days!) and ended up meeting 6 strangers in line (they waited for four days!).B These six strangers are now my best friends. Talking Heads b Fear of Music.B Quirky, intelligent lyrics - and you can dance to it!B Whatbs not to love?B B My favorite American band at their creative peak.B Reminded me that music can be serious and a blast at the same time.B B This was the album that convinced me I needed to see this band live.B Sitting in the third row for the Stop Making Sense tour, and then getting back stage to party with the band (special thanks to a lady friend who flirted shamelessly with the road crew) was definitely one of the great musical experiences of my life. Jack ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:41:24 +0200 From: "Christian MACKOWSKI" Subject: Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life Wonderful Monika......Here are mine in a chronological way : -Atom Heart Mother (Pink Floyd) - - Abbey Road (A real Bomb from The Beatles..) - -Court&Spark...and just after( this Thunderstorm in my mind), the faboulous" Hissing of Summer Lawns" where I got married because of it.........Perhaps one of the best Twenty Abums from the Seventies') - - Foxtrot (Peter Gabriel was a Genius of composition and he's still an incredible singer...) - -4 Way Street ....(what a thrill, when Neil sings ..."Old man sittin'by the side of the road with the Lorries rolling byyyyye.....and David, with...All along the Lee Shore..... - -For Girls who grow plump in the Night (Caravan),wich is a true Monument of sweetness , melody & creativity. Good Evening, everybody............."CHRIS" (France) - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Friday, June 15, 2007 3:02 AM Subject: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life > This was something interesting I noticed on a bulletin on MySpace. > Everybody was listing 5 albums that changed their life one way or > another. That > being said, what are 5 albums that changed your life? > > Here are mine: > This is tough but..... > 1. The Beatles- A Hard Day's Night > 2. 4 Way Street- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young > 3. The Wall- Pink Floyd > 4. Court & Spark/Blue- Joni Mitchell (cheated here) > 5. Harvest/Tonight's The Night- Neil Young (Once a cheater...always a > cheater...) > > How about you? > -Monika > > > > ************************************** See what's free at > http://www.aol.com. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:03:15 -0400 From: brianasymes@aol.com Subject: Report Card for Robert Hurwitz : Subject A tribute to Joni Mitchell A life time of a incredible, colors, words, and emotions,B the songs of Joni are distilled into one CD Cover Art : EB remarks,B A potrait of Joni that looks to be thrown into a mud puddle, Amelia my 8 yeardaughther old could do better. Interior Booklet Art:B EB remarks, Robbie Cavolina takes credit for Art Direction butB what art is in the black letters on white paper NONE may be this is why CD sales are down. The songs Sufian:B B B DB remarks, Reduces Free Man in Paris to sounding like a game show jingle. BjorkB B B B B B B remarksB B The Celeste Sounds so Bitter Sweet against the Vocalist. CaetonoB B C remarksB B B Weak vocalB the drum paradeB needs more rum! BradB B B B B B B B B B remarksB B Thoughtfull Piano harmonies.B CassandraB A+B remarksB For Effort and the soul it takes, plus for the harmonica PrinceB B B B B B B B- remarksB Just Sing the song please show off on your on time dear. BlueB B B B B B B B B B B+ remarksB This is good enough for Radio Play AnnieB B B B B B B B AB B remarksB The song really sets the timeB machine and walks meB up the canyon.B B B B EmmylouB B B B C remarksB I love your voiceB but "Borderline" or "Blue Hotel"B would have been a better song for you. ElvisB B B B B B B B B B D remarksB I heard this song in Borders and my first reaction was WTF. k.d.B B B B B B B B B B B BB remarksB She got the chordsB to feel goodB it felt so goodB JamesB B B B A- remarksB Minus for starting the song with the wrong christmas songB B I wishB JT would do 11B more.B I have been deleting to many JMDL post please forgive my late review of this just discovered CD Brian B B B B B B B B ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:07:04 -0400 From: Subject: 5 albums that changed your life I have to get in on this one. These are more feelings of why I love music and not really top albums but the feeling these albums brought. 1. The Beatles Meet The Beatles We were in 4th grade and it was raining outside so we had to stay indoors and play games for our recess. A girl (Debbie Bennett) brought up Meet The Beatles and we listened to that over the recess and I will never forget the feelings that I had from that album. For some reason I started laughing listening to it and it felt so good I couldn't believe it. I was hooked on music since then. She was my first girlfriend and sadly she moved away a few years later but I will never forget that time and that feeling. 2. Kind of cheating but they were bought at the same music store Jenkins Music in Oklahoma City on the same day. That one day was a mind opening experience. I bought Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced (man that album was from another universe) The Doors First album with The End & Light My Fire Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention Freak Out. It was a 2 album set for the same price as a single album so I thought I would try it and was intrigued by the cover art and quotes etc. At first I thought this was a joke and they were horrible musicians and even worse singers but it grew on me and I must say I love this album to this day and listen to it more than the other two combined. I always go back to this album by Zappa and the Mothers. Great album and a hint of things to come. I lost interest in them though along the time of Sheik Yer Bouti. They got into the comedy music stuff and not the social commentary and jazz music their first 5 or 6 albums had. Try this one and Hot Rats. 3. Bob Dylan Greatest Hits Volume 2 and Blood on the Tracks. What great albums those 2 were/are. 4. Joni Mitchell Blue>For The Roses>Court & Spark. What a great trilogy of albums from our friend Joni. Only Mr. Dylan is her equal lyrically. And I love her voice during that time even though my wife cannot stand her!!!!! She doesn't like her voice. Go figure. 5. Bruce Springsteen Darkness on the Edge of Town. Got me into Bruce and then Costello, The Clash, Gang of 4 and a whole different type music away from the singer songwriter type of music. Badland, Backstreets and Thunder road and what great songs they are.. even better live. Darkness was raw and exciting and those songs to me in concert was the future of rock and roll to quote Jon Landau. This to me was his very best album and one of the great tours of all time. Got me back into loving rock and roll again after all that arena rock crap that came out. Thanks. Steve Anderson ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2007 15:19:17 -0700 From: "Randy Remote" Subject: Re: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life Hmmm...albums that actually changed my life... I could list quite a few that changed my musical perspective, turned me on and tuned me in, but changed my life... 1. Meet The Beatles ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 10:41:02 +1000 From: Mark-Leon Thorne Subject: Walden Woods Project Hi folks. I was researching the Don Henley's Walden Woods Project and the Stormy Weather concert and discovered that the concert features a lot more than what appeared on the CD. Several more artists appeared in the concert such as, Deborah Cox and Reba McIntire. They each performed two songs - one jazz standard and one song of their own choice. Except Joni who, performed three songs. One of which was a reworked version of Woodstock with full orchestra. This was apparently to preview the album, Travelogue. This is taken from the Stevie Nicks fan site, www.nicksfix.com (not sure what the "(news)" means. Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Trisha Yearwood Sing For Walden Woods (11/14/02, 6 p.m. ET) -- Joni Mitchell, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks (news), Trisha Yearwood (news), and Norah Jones (news) performed Wednesday (November 13) at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles for Stormy Weather, a benefit concert for Don Henley (news)'s Walden Woods Project. The all-female lineup represented rock, pop, country, blues, and R&B, also including Reba McEntire (news), Michelle Branch (news), Paula Cole (news), Deborah Cox, and Susan Tedeschi. Though the night was billed as an evening of standards, most of the performers turned to contemporary material. Each woman performed two songs, except for Mitchell, who closed the show with three numbers, including Bob Dylan (news)'s "Sweetheart Like You" and a new, orchestral version of her classic "Woodstock," that served as a preview of her upcoming Travelogue release. Nicks performed "Landslide," originally found on Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled album, and more recently revived as a country-and-pop crossover hit by the Dixie Chicks. For her cover, she chose Etta James's "Sunday Kind of Love." McEntire sang "I Won't Mention It Again," off her 1995 release, Starting Over, followed by Irving Berlin's "I Got Lost In His Arms," from the Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun. Crow presented a re-worked "Run Baby Run," from her 1994 debut, Tuesday Night Music Club, then covered Steve Earle (news)'s delicate ballad "Goodbye." Yearwood's vignette, "On A Bus To St. Cloud," was served well by orchestration. She also performed of "The Man That Got Away," best known from the Judy Garland film, A Star Is Born. Jones offered the Band's "It Makes No Difference" and Cole sang Tom Waits (news)'s "The House Where Nobody Lives," which she dedicated to the White House. On that note, Henley, who hosted the event, took his own swipe at the White House's most famous resident, President George W. Bush, with whom he shares a Texas heritage. "He was an idiot then, and an idiot now," he said. Cox's performance included "This Better Earth," originally made famous by Dinah Washington. Blues singer Tedeschi went with a popular standard, turning to "These Foolish Things," while Branch bravely took on Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat." The evening also included an auction, conducted by actor/comedian Paul Reiser (news), along with Henley and his Eagles songwriting partner, Glenn Frey. Items auctioned included a trip on a private jet to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion (news) perform, a guitar autographed by the night's performers, and another signed by Bruce Springsteen (news) & the E Street Band. Also on the block was a chance to sing back-up on a new recording by the Eagles. Here, Frey quipped, "Who wants to buy that, besides Don Felder (news)," referring to the band's longtime guitarist who was ousted from the group in 2001. The Walden Woods Project works to preserve and protect from development the forests around Concord, Massachusetts. - -- Darryl Morden, Los Angeles Does anyone know how to get hold of the full recording? Mark in Sydney ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 10:43:05 +1000 From: Mark-Leon Thorne Subject: Walden Woods Project Sorry, I meant to send this quote. Also found on the Stevie Nicks fan site. alent burns away 'Stormy Weather' The singer-songwriter tradition takes center stage as women stars lead a benefit. By Randy Lewis, Times Staff Writer Stars aplenty shone from the Wiltern stage Wednesday at the second "Stormy Weather" concert, a fund-raiser for Don Henley's Walden Woods Project. Yet despite many stellar performances among short sets by Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, Paula Cole, Deborah Cox, Susan Tedeschi and Michelle Branch, the star of the evening wasn't a single one of them. [demime 0.97c-p1 removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of stormy_weather_2002_f.jpg] The true headliner was the singer-songwriter tradition itself. The 10 women, each given time for a couple of songs with a 60-piece orchestra, championed that tradition, from newcomer Branch's opening notes to Mitchell's captivating closing set more than two hours later. In addition to samples of their own songs, most of the participants saluted at least one of their favorite songwriters. Mitchell easily handled Bob Dylan's Mitchell-esque "Sweetheart Like You," Jones glided through the Band's "It Makes No Difference" and Crow deftly rendered Steve Earle's heartbreaking "Goodbye." Cole inhabited Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan's "House Where Nobody Lives," while Yearwood aced Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin's "The Man That Got Away." There were moments, however, when some of the relative newcomers didn't seem quite at home alone in front of an orchestra. The blues-based Tedeschi, for instance, did an admirable job as a torch singer, both on the standard "These Foolish Things" and in an appropriately moody reading of Mitchell's melancholy holiday song "River." Still, you ached for someone to hand her a guitar so she could really cut loose. Likewise, jazz-blues sensation Jones, while exhibiting the evocative vocal phrasing that has made her one of the year's brightest arrivals, appeared especially ill at ease without her piano in front of her. That may have been as much a function of experience as sheer comfort level. As the show progressed to the veterans, the poise and confidence level rose. McEntire gave a reminder of what a marvelous straight country singer she was before she became a mistress of all media, with her treatment of the Ray Price hit "I Won't Mention It Again." [demime 0.97c-p1 removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of stormyweather2002c.jpg] Even Nicks stepped convincingly out of character, delving deeply into the blues of Etta James' "Sunday Kind of Love." Mitchell capped the evening as spiritual godmother to the women who had preceded her onstage with a stunning update of "Woodstock" that recast its original wide-eyed optimism into a haunting fable that mourned the loss of youthful idealism. If she truly intends to retire from music, as she's been quoted as saying recently, she made it clear that when she does, she's not about to go gentle into that good night. Mark in Sydney ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:19:38 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: 5 Albums That Changed Your Life "Keith Emerson & The Nice" I think this is the one where Emerson quotes Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo ala Turk". Until I heard that, I thought all of these styles were boxes, unaware of each other. (Jump cut to 2007. This week, our local singer-songwriter station played Allison Krauss singing "Big Log", the Robert Plant song. The gift goes on.) "Court and Spark". I knew this woman wrote "Both Sides Now" and CSN's hit, "Woodstock". I knew she sang on "Tapestry" and that JT approved of her. :) And C&S had a positive review in RS. Then I found "Twisted". It was very interesting that Joni would pick a song completely outside of the folk box AND outside of the lite-jazz box on the rest of "Court and Spark". She was writing songs in other people's voices and it seemed like only the greats could do that. This album is a lot to think about. "Abbey Road" for many reasons already well documented. "Getz/Gilberto". This is so far outside of the pop music my friends listened to, it seems like another world. Getting outside of 4/4 rock time, and finding a beautiful female vocal from another culture, with small imperfections, opened lots of doors. I don't think I'd get "O Superman" or "Hide and Seek" unless Astrud Gilberto taught me to listen to foreign ideas. "The 1963 World Champion New York Mets". Just kidding. We miss you, MG. Jim L. np: bombast in the form of the opening score to "Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope" ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2007 #180 ********************************* ------- 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)