From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2009 #336 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, December 12 2009 Volume 2009 : Number 336 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Cohen to get Lifetime Achievement Grammy - sjc ["Marion Leffler" ] Covers #119 - Still OPen For Business [Bob Muller ] re: Giving Chicago their due - and musing on music evolution [Lieve Recke] Re: A Day In The Garden & Archival Comments [Lieve Reckers Subject: Re: Cohen to get Lifetime Achievement Grammy - sjc Great! And about time, too! Marion - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Catherine McKay" To: Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 10:53 PM Subject: Cohen to get Lifetime Achievement Grammy - sjc > CP Story follows: > > LOS ANGELES - Leonard Cohen and Michael Jackson headline a > group who will receive lifetime achievement awards from the Grammys next > year. > Bobby Darin, David (Honeyboy) Edwards, Loretta Lynn, Andre Previn and > Clark > Terry will also receive the awards on Jan. 30, the night before the 52nd > Annual Grammy Awards. > > A formal acknowledgment will also be made during that > telecast. > > The award comes after an eventful year for Cohen, whose world tour > produced newsmaking moments when the 75-year-old singer collapsed onstage > in > Spain and when his Israel show was the subject of vigorous protest. > > The > Canadian songwriter was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last > year. > > Though his career has spanned four decades and 18 albums, Cohen has > only ever won one Grammy Award, for his participation on Herbie Hancock's > album, **"River: The Joni Letters,"** which won album of the year at the > 2008 > show. > Source: > http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091210/entertainment/music_grammys_cohen > __________________________________________________________________ > Be smarter > than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with > the > All-new Yahoo! Mail. Click on Options in Mail and switch to New Mail > today or > register for free at http://mail.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:46:56 +0100 From: "Marion Leffler" Subject: Joni's Woodstock Hi folks, I haven't written very often lately but today I'd like to boast a little:-) A former collegue of mine planned a lecture on Woodstock. I reminded him that the original song was written by Joni, not by CSNY. He did know that but had indeed intended to play CSNY's cover since they had been at Woodstock whereas Joni had not. We chatted about Joni anyway, and today I received an email from him telling me that he had changed his mind. He had played Joni's original at the lecture and told the story behind the song. And I am happy to have been able to promote Joni in this small way. Have a nice weekend, Marion ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:20:29 -0800 (PST) From: Bob Muller Subject: Covers #119 - Still OPen For Business Just a quick note for all who may have missed it - Joni Covers #119 is still available for downloading and you can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/yhssbbs The link expires 12/14. Happy Friday hippies! Bob NP: David Gray, "Please Forgive Me" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:34:02 +0000 (GMT) From: Lieve Reckers Subject: re: Giving Chicago their due - and musing on music evolution Oh Jim, what a treat you give us with that Chicago clip! I almost agree with Bob: that they slipped gradually into a more sappy and commercial style, but I must confess that I love "If You Leave Me Now" as a romantic ballad. I see it as just a beautifully made song, independent from from the real Chicago music which was indeed at its peak much earlier. While watching the clip you enclosed, I also found a clip of "Make Me Smile" - such joy! This made me think, once more, of the way I discovered music in my teens. I'd like to share this with you, to see if it makes sense to anybody else, if this was the way that the development of popular music was experienced by others too. As a child, I was aware of rock 'n roll (Elvis etc), blues and country music. They all sounded very distinct and separate. (There were also popsy and "novelty" things that did not really belong anywhere. And jazz and swing, but they were on another track.) There was also folk music, earnest and often political. Then the Beatles happened, and suddenly there were all these bands, sounding a bit like the Beatles. This then developed into a psychedelic sound while there was also a "rock revival", as it was called. There was Jimi Hendrix, all on his own, and a while later I discovered soul and the Motown sound, again very distinct and easy to recognise. Of course I am simplifying, and I have since read much more about the black and folk roots and influences of popular music, but I am trying to explain the "world of sound" as it was experienced by an adolescent girl in Europe with a keen ear for music. (Just bear with me, I have a theory that I will explain in a minute!) I will never forget how I slowly learnt to love jazz. First I found it just an irritating noise. ("Why did they have to ruin a fine melody?"!!!) Then I heard 2 bands: Blood Sweat & Tears, and Chicago. I absolutely loved their sound, and realised there was a jazz element to their music. There was also a Dutch singer who sang Bach arias in a kind-of jazzy scat way, and again I liked it a lot. So slowly I was won over by jazz. Steely Dan completed my conversion later. I remember it was also around that time that I discovered Joni's music, and again I thought: "This is different!" I did not hear it as jazz or folk or rock, it was a completely different musical language, with those weird octave jumps. I have only very basic musical education and don't know tunings, but I could hear this was different, and I liked it. Then a few years later I heard reggae for the first time, and I could not believe my ears. I remember explaining it enthusiastically to a friend who had not heard it, and I said it had this weird "opposite" rhythm, with lots of little side melodies playing alongside the main melody - and somehow this worked! There was also the whole country rock scene: the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, etc..., and I remember other styles such as swamp rock (Tony Joe White etc.) and also the golden era of singer-songwriters (James Taylor, Carole King, etc - strangely I never put Joni in there), but there was also heavy metal, folk revival, and later funk, disco, glam, punk, etc. OK, this is where I stop my history lesson and will explain my quandary. When I listened again today to Chicago, I thought: "Why did I think, in 1970, that this had anything to do with jazz???" I think it's good music, and I love hearing it again, but it is as if my ears have become more blunt. I would not even hear the jazz aspect in it any more. Same with so much music I hear. People may say so-and-so band has country influences, or is neo punk, or is folksy, and in truth, chances are that I haven't even noticed that aspect, it just washes over me. Is it me or is it the music? My theory is that at least to some extent it is not just me, but also the music. I think that music has evolved so much, everybody is now exposed to so many different influences, that we hardly notice. In the middle ages, clothes could only come in a few colours because that was all that was available. So a new shade would have stood out enormously. Now we have every possible shade available all the time, and we don't find it amazing any more. Styles of clothes have also become much more blurred. In the fifties there were those wide skirts, then pencil skirts, and in the sixties we had mini skirts and then maxi skirts and then hot pants, and heaven help if you were a step behind and wore the wrong thing! Now we hardly notice the length of a skirt because all lengths are fine, we just wear what we feel like. Coming back to music. A Belgian friend recently gave me a CD by a popular Belgian contemporary singer (to keep me in touch with the motherland!). Well this guy had professional session musicians playing with him, and his songs went from a perfect Latin style, to some serious reggae, as well as country and some Lou Reed sound-alike songs. I was not impressed. OK, they have the technology, but not the heart, not the spirit, let alone the creativity. In case anyone is confused by what I'm trying to say (or falling asleep), I will try to sum up my point. I love Chicago's music. I believe they did have jazz influences, and it was a fantastic experience to discover that. It was wonderful to hear new Joni, new reggae, new lots of things. But since (on the one hand) music has evolved so far and has gone through so many mixes and merges that nothing surprises any more, and (on the other hand) big business has taken over and has given every wannabe every backing style they may wish, my (our?) ears have lost a lot of their potential for wonder and enjoyment, like a palate that has tasted every meal in the world and all their combinations, and does not care any more if there is Thai chicken on the pizza. I know there are further trends such as R&B, or house, or rap, that are easy to recognise, and I guess so it will go on. But they don't give me a musical thrill. Some will say that is because of my age, but I honestly don't think that's the full explanation. I wonder if popular music has had its heyday, just like classical music had its golden age, and whether we should maybe expect new exciting musical developments from a completely different source. (Jazz, world music etc come to mind, but what is really new?) I know there are still a lot of great musicians making great music (and I do buy their CDs and enjoy them), but as I tried to explain, they never give me this same experience of feeling I am hearing something new in a major way, because one way or the other, I've already heard it all before... I don't know if any of this makes sense, but I would love to hear if anyone recognises what I am trying to describe. I am really NOT saying that there is no good music these days, but I am saying that there is no exciting new development any more, maybe because everything that could be invented in this field, already has been invented. Lieve in London PS I removed the NJC tag because Joni was relevant to me in this subject, but anybody replying may want to put it back. - --------- Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:25:50 -0500 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Giving Chicago their due, njc I had never seen video of Chicago in their prime and I enjoyed this. This is a real, live version of "I'm A Man". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOvGa-8-Lns&feature=related Some of the comments say that the group lost their edge when Terry Kath, the guitarist, died. I'm not so sure of that because Wikipedia says that he died in 1978. That's long after the pop sound started (in my opinion) during 1972 when Chicago V (five) was released. Does anyone have an idea about what caused the shift? Jim L'Hommedieu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:33:35 +0000 (GMT) From: Lieve Reckers Subject: Re: A Day In The Garden & Archival Comments Laura, thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction. What a lot of wonderful reviews! Great to know that people like Susan McNamara and Sue Cameron are still around on our list. I do wonder where some others - like someone called Chillihead - who seemed so enthusuastic and whom I'd never even heard of, have gone... They feel like lost family, somehow. So Laura, you are (at least a big part of) this wonderful JMDL staff. Congratulations, and many thanks for all your good work! Lieve ________________________________ From: "est86mlm@ameritech.net" To: lievereckers@yahoo.co.uk Cc: joni@smoe.org Sent: Fri, 11 December, 2009 18:54:30 Subject: A Day In The Garden & Archival Comments Lieve, It's great to see you and others discussing the videos prompted by the "new video has been added to the Library at JoniMitchell.com" emails! Have you checked out the Chronology section on A Day In The Garden? Lots of archival comments from the JMDLr's that attended. Scroll down the page http://jonimitchell.com/chronology/detail.cfm?id=1704 I keep thinking I watched this concert on the internet. Does anyone else remember viewing this online, maybe at the time it was actually happening? Wasn't it being streamed in? Laura View it here: http://jonimitchell.com/library/video.cfm?id=171 My question: I saw the "JMDL 'heart' Joni" banner on this clip. As this dates back to 1998, is there any more info on who was involved at the time? Any of the people who hung up this banner and are still around now, who would like to tell us more about it? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:06:23 -0800 (PST) From: Jeannie Subject: Re: Joni's Woodstock/Needing a favor I remember a couple of folks here mentioning they had attended Woodstock. I need help. A young scholar here in San Antonio is doing serious research on Woodstock and has asked a local journalist for leads. I said I would ask for help here at the JMDL. If anyone can help her out documenting this event, with their experience at Woodstock, through an interview, it would be of great help. Or if any of you know of any others who attended and would be willing to help, it would be greatly appreciated. Any leads whatsoever is what this young person needs. Please e-mail if any of you can be of any assistance. Thank you. Truly, Jeannie njc - --- On Fri, 12/11/09, Marion Leffler wrote: From: Marion Leffler Subject: Joni's Woodstock To: joni@smoe.org Date: Friday, December 11, 2009, 3:46 AM Hi folks, I haven't written very often lately but today I'd like to boast a little:-) A former collegue of mine planned a lecture on Woodstock. I reminded him that the original song was written by Joni, not by CSNY. He did know that but had indeed intended to play CSNY's cover since they had been at Woodstock whereas Joni had not. We chatted about Joni anyway, and today I received an email from him telling me that he had changed his mind. He had played Joni's original at the lecture and told the story behind the song. And I am happy to have been able to promote Joni in this small way. Have a nice weekend, Marion ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2009 #336 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe