From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2009 #151 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, June 5 2009 Volume 2009 : Number 151 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Will You Take Me As I Am? [Dave Blackburn ] "Will You Take Me..." & Dave/Robin [Dave Blackburn ] Re: Will You Take Me As I Am? [Dave Blackburn ] Javier - A Case Of You [Bob Muller ] Re: Javier - A Case Of You [kjhsf@aol.com] A note to the JMDL [Michelle Mercer ] Re: Javier - A Case Of You [Catherine McKay ] Re: Javier - A Case Of You [Bob Muller ] FW: Message from website ["Les Irvin" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 06:18:36 -0700 From: Dave Blackburn Subject: Re: Will You Take Me As I Am? Michelle Mercer, who is a member of this list, read my comments regarding the omission of "Hissing" and wrote me: Dave On Jun 4, 2009, at 12:00 AM, onlyJMDL Digest wrote: > Date: Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:15:41 -0400 > From: Deb Messling > Subject: Re: Will You Take Me As I Am? > > It's been awhile since I read the book, but you reminded me of my > biggest gripe with it. Why skip Hissing, of all albums? I realize > that the focus of the book is Joni's "confessional" albums, but I've > always felt that Hissing isn't as third-person and sociological as > critics would have it. I always thought that a lot of the album > spoke to Joni's discomfort with her own affluence. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 07:17:50 -0700 From: Dave Blackburn Subject: "Will You Take Me..." & Dave/Robin Hi Lindsay, The Sunday show was very successful. Unfortunately the room was very "live" (lots of hard surfaces) so the sound was pretty diffuse but we knew that going in and there was nothing to be done about it. The turnout was a full house and Chuck, the boss of Dizzy's, was very happy with that and is also a big Joni fan. The show ran about three hours so we covered a lot of ground and stretched out on several tunes which have become "jam templates". We do about 30% original arrangements and 70% "like the record", trying to cop exact guitar tones and production touches, and we also gravitate towards the more obscure and hard-to-play tunes, some of which were never performed by Joni herself (or anyone else as far as we know.) So that makes this band, Mutts of the Planet, something different from a "greatest hits" cover outfit. I may not be the best person to review the show itself, as when you are in the thick of it you are focused on a million things like playing your parts right, fussing with the mix, introducing songs and the stories behind them etc. But I can tell you the band really rocked and are totally into playing Joni's music with integrity, which we really love about them. Robin was in fine voice with barely a missed lyric, and we have four other singers in the band so the harmonies were huge. Down to You is a big thrill as we have pretty much all the orchestra parts being played and to show just how far Joni came from being a folk singer, we played The Jungle Line, which came out like King Crimson-goes-to-Burundi! Young 11-year old Benjamin Rose, who is on this list but lurking so far, was in the front row with his mom, and he sang along to every word of every song. On the break he asked me about Joni bootlegs as he already has all the official releases plus the Big Yellow Taxi covers! So Benjamin, if you're reading this, why not give us a review of the show as you saw it and consult with the JMDL sages on bootlegs and covers.... Here is our set list for the night to give an idea of the ground we covered: Set 1 1. Coyote 2. Just Like This Train 3. Help Me 4. Rainy Night House (MOA version) 5. Edith and the Kingpin 6. Harrys House/Centerpiece 7. The Jungle Line 8. A Case of You 9. Blue 10. River 11. Down to You (with full orchestra parts) Set 2 1. Shadows and Light 2. Free Man in Paris 3. Passion Play 4. Amelia 5. Black Crow 6. Night Ride Home 7. Cherokee Louise 8. Dreamland 9. Woodstock 10. Dry Cleaner from Des Moines We'll be doing many of these and some new surprises for the JoniFest. cheers to all, Dave On Jun 4, 2009, at 12:00 AM, onlyJMDL Digest wrote: > Hope to get a report soon. And I hope you broadcast the jmdl info > so we can > get reports from audience members (who probably haven't recovered > yet!) > > Unrelated, I just thought that I'm so glad to hear in your > interview that > people have said to you that they gave up on Joni around "Mingus" > and that > hearing your shows led them to go out and get her later music. That's > great! Love a successful grassroots effort! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 08:02:09 -0700 From: "Lindsay Moon" Subject: RE: "Will You Take Me..." & Dave/Robin Dave, that sounds great! I know it was a huge success (well, despite the echo ...) Just think of it as a concert at the Sports Arena. ; ) "Four other singers"????? Now, wait a minute. You've got me sitting right here, knows every note, every word. In my next life want to come back as a back-up singer for Steely Dan. Sheesh! (I'm only kidding. I've never sung a professional note and I'm sure the stage fright would have killed me.) We'll see at the Fest. Get lots of good rest til then! Thanks so much for the report! And Benjamin, if you're there, you're welcome at my house anytime. You can "educate" my kids about Joni since I seem to have failed. Lindsay - -----Original Message----- From: Dave Blackburn [mailto:beatntrack@sbcglobal.net] Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 7:18 AM To: Joni List; Lindsay Moon Subject: "Will You Take Me..." & Dave/Robin Hi Lindsay, The Sunday show was very successful. Unfortunately the room was very "live" (lots of hard surfaces) so the sound was pretty diffuse but we knew that going in and there was nothing to be done about it. The turnout was a full house and Chuck, the boss of Dizzy's, was very happy with that and is also a big Joni fan. The show ran about three hours so we covered a lot of ground and stretched out on several tunes which have become "jam templates". We do about 30% original arrangements and 70% "like the record", trying to cop exact guitar tones and production touches, and we also gravitate towards the more obscure and hard-to-play tunes, some of which were never performed by Joni herself (or anyone else as far as we know.) So that makes this band, Mutts of the Planet, something different from a "greatest hits" cover outfit. I may not be the best person to review the show itself, as when you are in the thick of it you are focused on a million things like playing your parts right, fussing with the mix, introducing songs and the stories behind them etc. But I can tell you the band really rocked and are totally into playing Joni's music with integrity, which we really love about them. Robin was in fine voice with barely a missed lyric, and we have four other singers in the band so the harmonies were huge. Down to You is a big thrill as we have pretty much all the orchestra parts being played and to show just how far Joni came from being a folk singer, we played The Jungle Line, which came out like King Crimson-goes-to-Burundi! Young 11-year old Benjamin Rose, who is on this list but lurking so far, was in the front row with his mom, and he sang along to every word of every song. On the break he asked me about Joni bootlegs as he already has all the official releases plus the Big Yellow Taxi covers! So Benjamin, if you're reading this, why not give us a review of the show as you saw it and consult with the JMDL sages on bootlegs and covers.... Here is our set list for the night to give an idea of the ground we covered: Set 1 1. Coyote 2. Just Like This Train 3. Help Me 4. Rainy Night House (MOA version) 5. Edith and the Kingpin 6. Harry's House/Centerpiece 7. The Jungle Line 8. A Case of You 9. Blue 10. River 11. Down to You (with full orchestra parts) Set 2 1. Shadows and Light 2. Free Man in Paris 3. Passion Play 4. Amelia 5. Black Crow 6. Night Ride Home 7. Cherokee Louise 8. Dreamland 9. Woodstock 10. Dry Cleaner from Des Moines We'll be doing many of these and some new surprises for the JoniFest. cheers to all, Dave On Jun 4, 2009, at 12:00 AM, onlyJMDL Digest wrote: > Hope to get a report soon. And I hope you broadcast the jmdl info so > we can get reports from audience members (who probably haven't > recovered > yet!) > > Unrelated, I just thought that I'm so glad to hear in your interview > that people have said to you that they gave up on Joni around "Mingus" > and that > hearing your shows led them to go out and get her later music. That's > great! Love a successful grassroots effort! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 10:59:38 -0500 From: Michael Paz Subject: Re: Will You Take Me As I Am? Hey Dave While I think it's cool that you wrote a review of Michelle's book on the list, it is not cool to reprint private comments that she wrote to you on list. That is a violation of list rules set up by Les. If she would have intended her comments for everyone I am sure she would have done so. Michelle seems to have really thick skin and I don't think she was offended by your review, I am pretty sure that she would not like private messages quoted back to the list in this manner. Pardon me for doing this publicly but I think there might be some newbies that can benefit from this well intended advice. Best Paz On Jun 4, 2009, at 8:18 AM, Dave Blackburn wrote: Michelle Mercer, who is a member of this list, read my comments regarding the omission of "Hissing" and wrote me: Dave On Jun 4, 2009, at 12:00 AM, onlyJMDL Digest wrote: > Date: Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:15:41 -0400 > From: Deb Messling > Subject: Re: Will You Take Me As I Am? > > It's been awhile since I read the book, but you reminded me of my > biggest gripe with it. Why skip Hissing, of all albums? I realize > that the focus of the book is Joni's "confessional" albums, but I've > always felt that Hissing isn't as third-person and sociological as > critics would have it. I always thought that a lot of the album > spoke to Joni's discomfort with her own affluence. Michael Paz michael@thepazgroup.com Tour Manager Preservation Hall Jazz Band http://www.preservationhall.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 10:09:47 -0700 From: Dave Blackburn Subject: Re: Will You Take Me As I Am? Point taken Michael. However it was not well known that the publisher rushed Michelle's deadline and caused her to omit a chapter she might have written about the Hissing album. Her reply gives an excellent reason why the book appears to have that omission. For your information she asked me to write a book review on the online bookseller's websites if I liked or mostly liked the book; I have not done that yet but I have aired my impressions of the book amongst the JMDL members since we are the readers most likely to be interested in the finer points of Joni Mitchells' career. thanks, Dave On Jun 4, 2009, at 8:59 AM, Michael Paz wrote: > Hey Dave > While I think it's cool that you wrote a review of Michelle's book > on the list, it is not cool to reprint private comments that she > wrote to you on list. That is a violation of list rules set up by > Les. If she would have intended her comments for everyone I am sure > she would have done so. Michelle seems to have really thick skin > and I don't think she was offended by your review, I am pretty sure > that she would not like private messages quoted back to the list in > this manner. Pardon me for doing this publicly but I think there > might be some newbies that can benefit from this well intended advice. > > Best > > Paz > > On Jun 4, 2009, at 8:18 AM, Dave Blackburn wrote: > > Michelle Mercer, who is a member of this list, read my comments > regarding the omission of "Hissing" and wrote me: > > jazz work much more than the albums I covered in the book. Someone > needs to do serious musical analysis of that album and of Joni's > entire oeuvre, her career-long setlist, if you will (though I > believe Whitesell already did a pretty good job with a lot of it). > I understand that Joni's music rewrote certain rules, and any study > of it must rewrite certain rules, too--her music is very much like > Wayne Shorter's in that respect. > > But musical analysis wasn't my aim for this book, which was > designed to be a study of Joni's autobiographical period, and which > I addressed rather unconventionally, as a series of cultural/ > literary essays. But you're right, I could have written more > about Hissing lyrically, and would have, if Simon & Schuster hadn't > moved the book's pub date back a couple months. > > I respect your point of view, and am not at all offended. I > wrote a very different kind of book about Joni and her music, and > don't expect everyone to like it much. > > > Dave > > > > On Jun 4, 2009, at 12:00 AM, onlyJMDL Digest wrote: > >> Date: Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:15:41 -0400 >> From: Deb Messling >> Subject: Re: Will You Take Me As I Am? >> >> It's been awhile since I read the book, but you reminded me of my >> biggest gripe with it. Why skip Hissing, of all albums? I realize >> that the focus of the book is Joni's "confessional" albums, but I've >> always felt that Hissing isn't as third-person and sociological as >> critics would have it. I always thought that a lot of the album >> spoke to Joni's discomfort with her own affluence. > > > Michael Paz > michael@thepazgroup.com > > Tour Manager > Preservation Hall Jazz Band > http://www.preservationhall.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 15:43:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Javier - A Case Of You Channeling Sam Cooke & Terence Trent D'Arby, it's very nice - check it out: http://www.myspace.com/javiermyspace Bob NP: Bruce Springsteen "Kingdom Of Days" (who would have guessed that one of my favorite artists has put out of the year's weakest albums?) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:58:47 -0400 From: kjhsf@aol.com Subject: Re: Javier - A Case Of You WOW!? That is an impressive rendition of Case of You.? He has a total grasp and command of the song.? He just nails it!? There is a real ease and agility to voice. Ken - -----Original Message----- From: Bob Muller To: JMDL Sent: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 6:43 pm Subject: Javier - A Case Of You Channeling Sam Cooke & Terence Trent D'Arby, it's very nice - check it out: http://www.myspace.com/javiermyspace Bob NP: Bruce Springsteen "Kingdom Of Days" (who would have guessed that one of my favorite artists has put out of the year's weakest albums?) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:09:19 -0500 From: Michelle Mercer Subject: A note to the JMDL Hi, everyone, It seems like the time has come to speak up for myself, and then you all can move ahead with the fun and productive conversation that so distinguishes the JMDL. I'm sure grateful for this list, which I read periodically while researching WIll You Take Me As I Am, and have some fond memories of the 2007 Jonifest. All acknowledged in the back of my book. A few weeks ago Dave Blackburn was kind enough to contact me via Facebook and invite me to his upcoming Jonifest in California. He mentioned that he and several JMDL members were reading my book and would enjoy meeting me. Given this friendly gesture, I did indeed ask him to post to online retail sites, which is a common enough request for an author to make when a reader has sent along a message about one of her books. After a friend sent me notice of the review Dave posted to the JMDL, I wrote Dave to continue our private discussion. As that note mentioned, I'm certainly not offended by Dave's review, and in fact support, encourage, and take part in debate of all kinds about music and literature. My message to Dave was not intended for a public forum, however. Since he and I had been in touch previously, I offered him my aims for the book, but would never intervene in any healthy discussion of my work on the list. I look forward to reading more of your smart, spirited comments on Joni's amazing body of work and everything else, as time allows: just now I'm in working on my next book in lovely Gulf Shores, AL . . . it's not hard to see why Joni settled down here in the white sand for a while on her Hejira! All good things, Michelle ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 17:19:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Catherine McKay Subject: Re: Javier - A Case Of You Nice find! Niiiice voice! I enjoy hearing a guy sing that song. - --- On Thu, 6/4/09, Bob Muller wrote: From: Bob Muller Subject: Javier - A Case Of You To: "JMDL" Received: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 6:43 PM Channeling Sam Cooke & Terence Trent D'Arby, it's very nice - check it out: http://www.myspace.com/javiermyspace __________________________________________________________________ Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 19:05:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Bob Muller Subject: Re: Javier - A Case Of You Would I steer you wrong? Nope. Bob NP: Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, "Roosevelt Room" (out-Dylan's Dylan himself on this rocker) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2009 23:12:13 -0600 From: "Les Irvin" Subject: FW: Message from website Crazy or not? Copy K on any responses - -----Original Message----- Call me crazy, but I think I've heard another verse to "Help Me" I don't see in any lyrics printed... Help me, I think I'm falling In love again You've got me thinking about you as a lover And not just another friend One of those true romances That seems to...never end Was that an "ad-lib" in concert or an album I don't have...or? Name: K. Longtin email: kencal05@yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2009 #151 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe