From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2013 #101 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Website:http://www.jonimitchell.com Unsubscribe:mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe onlyJMDL Digest Tuesday, March 12 2013 Volume 2013 : Number 101 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Fwd: Joni as undergraduate thesis, repost ["Jim L'Hommedieu" ] Re: Joni as undergraduate thesis [Alhsmar Sayago ] Re: Joni Covers, Volume 162 [FMYFL@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:07:01 -0400 From: "Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Fwd: Joni as undergraduate thesis, repost This post did not appear in the digests. His original post did not appear either. Jim L'Hommedieu - -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Joni as undergraduate thesis Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:08:16 -0400 From: Jim L'Hommedieu To: JMDL First off, you should know that your email did not appear in the digest, which is flaky sometimes. Because some people on the discussion list did not see your post, I suggest that you re-ask your question. You might want to ask it several times, (over a month) because sometimes people drop out for a week or two. For a very brief introduction, you could start with the Wikipedia page about Joni. Thanks to the webmaster, Les Irvin, (and several volunteers) there is a huge quantity of information available on www.jonimitchell.com. At the top of the main page, click the link called "Library". There, you can type in a keyword and search decades of articles at once. For example, I searched on "Carey" and found dozens of hits. The sources are all documented so you will have the bibliographic information you need. You could read a medium-sized biography of Joni by searching on "Wally biography". It is broken into several sections. A book called "Shadows and Light" (Karen O'Brien) is my favorite book on Joni. The last time I looked, that book was still in print (and available on Amazon). The author listened to many audience tapes when she was researching, and re-tells many of Joni's most interesting stories. You should probably buy a DVD called "Joni Mitchell: Woman of Heart and Mind" too. It was created by PBS (here in the United States) and it is excellent. I suggest that you add "Cactus Tree" and "Little Green" to the list of songs that you investigate. The stories behind them will uncover several aspects of her songwriting, performing, and her celebrity. They might be the most important songs of all. When you have questions, you can always post a question to the JMDL, and you might find that people all over the English-speaking world respond. You have a fascinating journey ahead of you. Joni might be the most complex songwriter of her generation. I think so. Joni wrote about her own experiences but she was so talented that many of her songs act as looking glasses, allowing the listener to see themselves in her stories. As one critic said, "For a lot of people, they felt like 'This woman (Joni), by the light of my record player, was looking into my soul.'" If that seems confusing now, it will become clearer over the next few months. Jim L'Hommedieu Alhsmar Sayago asked: "I would like to know how the songs of Joni Mitchell reflective to her life? The songs are: Carey, River, Both Sides Now, Hejira, Big Yellow Taxi, California, A Case of You, Song For Sharon, The Circle Game and Woodstock. I decided to choose her and her songs/compositions to be the subjects of my study for my undergraduate thesis. I would love to hear your insights for these. And if you have some references, I would love to have them." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:28:09 -0700 From: Alhsmar Sayago Subject: Re: onlyJMDL Digest V2013 #97 Thank you so much for the response guys...it really helped me clear things out.. :) On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 8:11 PM, Robert Sartorius wrote: > Alhsmar Sayago asked: > > "I would like to know how the songs of Joni Mitchell reflective to her > life? > The songs are: Carey, River, Both Sides Now, Hejira, Big Yellow Taxi, > California, A Case of You, Song For Sharon, The Circle Game and Woodstock. > > I decided to choose her and her songs/compositions to be the subjects of my > study for my undergraduate thesis. I would love to hear your insights for > these. And if you have some references, I would love to have them." > > Good Luck Alhsmar. I don't have much time to respond now (personal events > intervening over next few weeks), but you have asked the right group of > people. > > There are several biographies written, which have covered many of the great > list of songs named above and, in many cases, the settings for such songs > and the subject matters. > > Shadows and Light (Karen O'Brien) > Will You Take Me As I Am (Mechell mercer) > The Joni Mitchell Companion (4 decades of commentary) (Stacy Luftig) > Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now - The Biography (Brian Hinton) - not my > favorite > Girls Like Us (Sheila Weller) - this is a triple bio of Joni, Carole King, > Carly Simon - movie is in the works. > > There is also a trove of research information in the library at > jonimitchell.com. You could start and end there. > > Joni wrote most of her songs "in her own blood", and there is much > autobiographical content in them. Stories abound. Teasers: > > Carey - there is a real Carey (Radditz). She met him while "vacationing" in > the caves of Mattala, Crete. He had red hair. > > River - well, is it about JT or Graham Nash or both or neither ? Does it > matter ? > > hejira - most of the album was written while she was on a road trip in her > car back and forth across the US. Her own hejira. > Running away from a failed(ing) relationship. > > Big Yellow Taxi - there really is a pink hotel in Hawaii that formed part > of > the inspiration. But, of course, it's about a big yellow taxi, not a pink > hotel. > > California - written and inspired partly in Crete, partly in Paris, partly > in Spain. Same long trip as Carey. > > A Case of You - about/inspired by JT? Leonard Cohen? I met a woman, she had > a mouth like yours (a relative, it seems). Joni painted a hauntingly > beautiful double self portrait (you can no doubt find views of it at > jonimitchell.com) that was the cover to the album Both Sides Now (2000). > One > frontal, one from behind, of her sitting at a bar, in blue TV screen light, > with a map of Canada drawn on a cartoon coaster - but whose face was > sketched on it twice? > > Song For Sharon - reminiscence written to girlhood friend Sharon Bell. One > travelled the breadths of extremities, the other stuck to some straighter > path. And how did they each end up? An emotional roller coaster of a song, > to be sure. > > The Circle Game - she sent a tape of it to Tom Rush, apologetically. "It > isn't quite finished, and it isn't very good." He claims it was one of the > best songs he had ever heard. Written as a hopeful reply to friend Neil > Young's "Sugar Mountain", which bemoaned the loss of his youth upon turning > age 20. > > Woodstock - she was scheduled to appear at the festival, but stayed in NYC > with David Geffen to ensure that she would be able to make a scheduled > appearance the Monday after on the Dick Cavett show. By the time her > boyfriends CSN&Y arrived home, anxious to pen a song about their > experience, > she had already written the song. They were amazed at how she had captured > the moment without even being there. (If you haven't yet seen the footage > of > that show, you really must - someone on the list could get you a copy). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:33:09 -0700 From: Alhsmar Sayago Subject: Re: Joni as undergraduate thesis Thank you so much sir.. I have searched all over jonimitchell.com and they were really good reads.. and i was looking for books here in the philippines, but unfortunately, i cant see any of them because of some reasons, one, they're not available physically and two, its expensive to order from the U.S.. i also searched for her bios in booksales, but nothing.hmmp..anyways sir.thank you so much for this. On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 9:16 PM, Jim L'Hommedieu wrote: > I suggest that you decode the songs in this order: > 1. "Little Green." Karen O'Brien's book is key here. > > Tied for second: "Both Sides Now" and "The Circle Game". The back stories > reveal her early songwriting and her fearless life traveling between > coffeehouses. > > Third: "Cactus Tree" which explains her philosophy to an extent. > > And then the rest: Carey, River, Hejira, Big Yellow Taxi, > California, A Case of You, Song For Sharon, and Woodstock > > Jim L'Hommedieu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:37:32 -0400 (EDT) From: FMYFL@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni Covers, Volume 162 I hate springing forward Bob, but I sure enjoyed listening to volume 162! I always like to do some research on the artists, but found little on this one. If I found anything, it was usually on myspace or CD Baby, which doesn't give you any bio's on their background. Most of them were good covers, except the Sandpipers, who I thought I had heard of before. Their voices were way off key, and I cringed through the entire song. I have to say after a few listens, I really liked the unusual take on BSN by Andrew Sanders. Didn't know it was Indie Rock, and still don't know what Indie Rock is except that my nephew uses that genre to kill me when I play "song pop" with him. I just think of it as punk rock, but Andrew Sanders sure does and excellent job with BSN. It was definitely a favorite of mine. My other favorite would have to be the great classical guitar playing of Roberto Monti playing of "All I Want". Simply beautiful. As always, thanks for everything you do for putting together all these compilations. I look forward to every one of them. You're the best! Jimmy, who still doesn't want to spring forward I n a message dated 3/9/2013 12:45:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time, scjoniguy@yahoo.com writes: > Happy weekend everyone! And here in the US it's "spring forward" time, so > we > turn our clocks an hour ahead and lose an hour of weekend...oh, the pain. > But > here's a way to way to soften the blow - take in a full CD's worth of new > Joni > Covers, Volume 162 in the never-ending and always exciting series. ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2013 #101 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here:mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe