From: owner-onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org (onlyJMDL Digest) To: onlyjoni-digest@smoe.org Subject: onlyJMDL Digest V2013 #466 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 Thursday, November 28 2013 Volume 2013 : Number 466 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Free Man in Paris - Geffen ["David J. Phillips" ] Re: Dancing Clown (was Re: Geffen, Lead Balloon) [Shari Eaton ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 14:15:41 -0500 From: "David J. Phillips" Subject: Re: Free Man in Paris - Geffen well, she throws the drink in the first line. djp Dave Blackburn wrote: Kudos to you for listening all the way through that one! On Nov 27, 2013, at 10:46 AM, David J. Phillips wrote: I always thought, for no good reason, that it was Geffen on whom she threw a drink in Lead Balloon. djp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 20:57:06 +0000 From: Anita Subject: Fwd: Dancing Clown (was Re: Geffen, Lead Balloon) > What's so terrible about Dancing Clown? The melody and the words. Anita ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 09:34:04 -0800 From: Laurie Antonioli Subject: "Songs of Shadow, Songs of Light" Hi Dear Joni Fans, I'm about 2 weeks out from finishing the fundraising for this project: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/songs-of-shadow-songs-of-light/x/1830694 And the next 7 donors, for $25 gets the CD plus a beautiful frameable postcard of Joni's artwork. Please see the attached. Hope it attaches! Feel free to "friend" me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurie.antonioli And here's my website: www.laurieantonioli.com For bigger donors there's other perks, like a poster portrait of Neil Young, drawn by Joni. You'll see all of this if you go to the Indiegogo site. I've also got Joni books, DVD's and more. Thanks for your consideration. We're going into Fantasy Studios on December 16th - 19th. One fun "insider" fact: we are recording "Eastern Rain" a song Joni never released but is available to hear on YouTube. A really beautiful piece. Thanks for taking a peek at the project. I can't wait to be out of marathon mode (my job as the Director of the Vocal Program at The Jazzschool in Berkeley has me also busy with end of year performances with students) and also, non-Joni related, our school just became an accredited institution - we are on the same level as Berklee School of Music, Manhattan School and so on now. Very exciting news as we've worked for 3 years to get this accomplished! Once I get finished with the recording, I'll have time to pour through all the Joni posts that I'm keeping in a file - looking forward to that as there's a treasure trove of information you all keep writing about. It's been great to be in this group and read your posts! Happy Holidays! All the very best, Laurie Antonioli [demime 0.97c-p1 removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of Composite.jpg] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 10:53:02 -0800 From: Dave Blackburn Subject: Re: Free Man in Paris - Geffen Kudos to you for listening all the way through that one! On Nov 27, 2013, at 10:46 AM, David J. Phillips wrote: > I always thought, for no good reason, that it was Geffen on whom she > threw a drink in Lead Balloon. > > djp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 12:49:08 -0800 From: Shari Eaton Subject: Re: Dancing Clown (was Re: Geffen, Lead Balloon) I am a dancing clown lover. It's just another side of Joni that, from what I've gathered, is the side normally expressed through her painting. - - Shari > On Nov 27, 2013, at 12:16 PM, "David J. Phillips" wrote: > > I've asked this before but got no answer and I really want to know: > > What's so terrible about Dancing Clown? I like it. It's cute; it's fun. > > Gasoline on the fire: I like it better than "Sex Kills," for sure. > > djp > > > > Bob.Muller@Fluor.com wrote: >> Lest you think I just have terrible taste, FMIP, >> Coyote, Black Crow, Raised on Robbery, and Night in the City also made the >> cut.> >> >> And what of the "Dancing Clown"...hmmm? >> >> Bob >> >> NP: Aretha Franklin, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" >> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> 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: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 14:43:44 -0500 From: Bob.Muller@Fluor.com Subject: Re: Geffen, Lead Balloon Lest you think I just have terrible taste, FMIP, Coyote, Black Crow, Raised on Robbery, and Night in the City also made the cut.> And what of the "Dancing Clown"...hmmm? Bob NP: Aretha Franklin, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - ------------------------------------------------------------ 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: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 13:46:23 -0500 From: "David J. Phillips" Subject: Re: Free Man in Paris - Geffen I always thought, for no good reason, that it was Geffen on whom she threw a drink in Lead Balloon. djp Dave Blackburn wrote: I'd also love to find myself a manager like David Geffen! Ange in Oz angetakats.com.au I think Geffen could be as ruthless a businessman as they come, but maybe thats not a bad thing if hes working FOR you, not AGAINST. I have to say, however, that what Joni was allowed to do artistically with him as the label boss at Asylum speaks really well of his respect for her. He was making huge money from The Eagles, Jackson Browne etc and this allowed him to have a pure art person on the label that didnt generate as many sales. Nowadays that would be freakishly un-bottom line thinking. To put it another way, I believe Jonis finest work was encouraged and allowed to be released without corporate interference because of Geffens respect for her. It soon fell apart, but while their relationship lasted I think it benefitted her greatly. Comments? Dave ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 18:06:13 -0800 From: "Mark" Subject: Re: Geffen, Lead Balloon I thought that Joni met David Geffen sometime around the time Elliot Roberts became her manager which was in 1967. Geffen and Roberts had met when they both worked in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency. In 1967 Buffy St. Marie talked Elliot into going to hear Joni at Cafe Au Go Go in New York. He was so taken with her that he agreed to go on a three week road tour with her to convince her to hire him as a manager. Geffen, I believe, met Joni sometime shortly after that. My impression is that all three of them were maybe a few rungs up the ladder of success in the work of 'stoking the star-maker machinery behind the popular song' when they got together. I think Geffen was acting as her agent and was the one who made the decision that Joni should not try to get in and out of the Woodstock festival in 1969. It seems to me that the relationship was a close friendship that happened to be a professional relationship as well. Joni went on tour to try out the songs she had begun to compose at her BC sanctuary for 'For the Roses' in 1972. When she got back to LA, the house in Laurel Canyon on Lookout Mountain Road was being sublet. So David Geffen offered Joni a temporary place to live. David started the Asylum label at about this time and Joni's contract with Reprise was coming to an end. So 'For the Roses' became her first release on the Asylum label. After the success of 'Court and Spark' and given the fact that Joni was given complete artistic freedom in her first record contract when she signed with Reprise, it doesn't seem surprising that she was given carte blanche by her friend David Geffen to make 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns', 'Hejira' and 'Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'. None of those records sold as well as 'Court and Spark' but they didn't do badly either. Popular music was still undergoing a lot of experimentation and the amount of production on records was ramping up. Eventually it became what many considered to be top-heavy and overblown, causing the reactionary movements of punk and new wave. But I think David Geffen and Joni Mitchell were close friends who happened to be in business together. It was a great combination for awhile. Then Geffen got to be one of the major players in the game and he let that aspect override the friendship. Joni was never much into the game to begin with and business decisions that seemed to step on her or rip her off went over like a, well, lead balloon. Even if it wasn't Geffen she threw the drink at. If anyone knows that any of this is dead wrong, I would very much appreciate knowing about it. Mark in Seattle - -----Original Message----- From: Betsy Blue Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 11:32 AM To: joni@smoe.org Subject: Geffen, Lead Balloon In the Geffen documentary, it seemed like Joni became a substitute for Laura Nyro. Then Cher came along. Geffen had a huge need to control and care for people, especially women. Joni was very independent, so I can imagine how they butted heads. Clive Davis seemed to think Geffen was crazy for letting a "homeless" artist live with him. They were friends, though, and she was not struggling, but searching for a third property. He knew he could kick her out at any time. I totally agree that they benefited greatly from their professional relationship early on. Then he outgrew her. And she may have been hurt by that, or just felt like she was beyond needing him, or maybe she just had enough money not to care as much. Lead Balloon: I don't care who it is about. For me, it is about all the people who discouraged me. It is on my running playlist along with other unappreciated songs like Number One, Shiny Toys, Lucky Girl, Underneath the Streetlights, and Hana. Lest you think I just have terrible taste, FMIP, Coyote, Black Crow, Raised on Robbery, and Night in the City also made the cut. Betsy ------------------------------ End of onlyJMDL Digest V2013 #466 ********************************* ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here:mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:onlyjoni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe