From: owner-wanderer-digest@smoe.org (wanderer-digest) To: wanderer-digest@smoe.org Subject: wanderer-digest V2 #32 Reply-To: wanderer@smoe.org Sender: owner-wanderer-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-wanderer-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk wanderer-digest Monday, April 8 2002 Volume 02 : Number 032 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RE: How to Play Folk-Style Guitar [Patti Witten ] Re: How to Play Folk-Style Guitar [sem8@cornell.edu] Joni scholarship [Jim McCarthy ] Re: Joni scholarship [Shnootre@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2002 08:42:43 -0400 From: Patti Witten Subject: RE: How to Play Folk-Style Guitar Jim McCarthy wrote: > P.S. I can imagine others on the list being curious what > the young Joni might have learned about Other Tunings > from Pete Seeger on this record. Well, the booklet > says: "While the customary tuning of guitars is the > one you've been using up till now, it's by no means > the only ones [sic] you can use. In Argentina, for fascinating story, thx Patti - -- Patti Witten http://pattiwitten.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2002 11:40:33 -0400 (EDT) From: sem8@cornell.edu Subject: Re: How to Play Folk-Style Guitar Dan and Jim: Ok so this list may be quiet but when we chat it's huge! I think this is a great piece of Joni history and I immediately went to the Cornell library website and found the Pete Seeger recording there. I will try and get some of this information on the Wanderer Website maybe in a new page called RESEARCH. Dan...if you are willing, maybe after your paper is finished we can include it there? I understand if you are worried about copyright but I think other Joni fans obsessed with her guitar style would love to read it. JIM-Thanks for your speedy reply with this very important info!!! A couple of years ago someone asked me if I was doing my ph.d. dissertation at Cornell on Joni Mitchell and after I stopped laughing (i never finished my ba although I am still working on it) I thought, hey that's a really good idea! Now I'm sure that doing a project like this is not out of the realm of possibility for some bright musician/composer. If other Cornell students can spend years on trying to find out why sheep blink why not Joni? :-) i get all excited about stuff after 5 cups of coffee on a Sunday morning! take care, sue ps Still playing Man to Man... On Sat, 6 Apr 2002 Shnootre@aol.com wrote: > Wow! > > That is a fantastic bunch of information for me. Absolutely wonderful. > Thanks! > > Dan S. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 07 Apr 2002 10:56:13 -0700 From: Jim McCarthy Subject: Joni scholarship > A couple of years ago someone asked me if I was doing > my ph.d. dissertation at Cornell on Joni Mitchell and > after I stopped laughing (i never finished my ba > although I am still working on it) I thought, hey > that's a really good idea! Now I'm sure that doing > a project like this is not out of the realm of possi- > bility for some bright musician/composer. If other > Cornell students can spend years on trying to find > out why sheep blink why not Joni? :-) _ _ _ _ _ _ Cleary Sue is being far too modest ... one of the very few posts to the original discussion list that _I_just_ _had_ to save to my hard-disk was an extremely insightful and scholarly "Master's Thesis on the Hejira Experience," penned by none other than our lead Wanderer. With list traffic at a low ebb -- and for the benefit of everyone who wasn't a subscriber in 3/97 -- I ask your indulgence as I repost it below. Sue's perspective/insights may be different/greater now (note this was written 5yrs ago), but this doesn't diminish the value of her contribution to Joni scholarship. And as we all know, "Initiation and Development of the JMDL Guitar Project" is an effort of the highest quality, well worthy of a doctoral dissertation! "Summa cum Laude" to the research team of Sue, Howard, Marian, Mark, and many others.... -- Jim _ _ _ _ _ _ > From: Susan McNamara > Date: Tue, 18 Mar 1997 15:36:10 -0400 > Subject: Re: need help [hejira-long] > >> I was just wondering if any of you could help me. >> I am in college and doing a english paper/presentation >> on Joni's cd Hejira. > > Hi Colleen: > > These are my opinions based on my knowledge of Joni's career. > > Some background on Hejira first: Hejira was written when > Joni took a car trip across country with a couple of her > friends (summer '75?). They left from California and drove > to Massachusetts. At that point her friends left and Joni > drove back to California by herself. This experience gave > her some incredible solitude to ponder some of the conflicts > she was dealing with in her life. Joni's lyrics usually deal > in polarities (yin/yang): life/death, youth/age, dark/light, > solitude/attachment, etc. Joni was at a time in her life > where she was struggling with the choices of career/success > and family/marriage. She was 32 years old and had just > ended another relationship. She also had been touring > extensively not only on her own tour but also was a member > of the Rolling Thunder Review with Bob Dylan. > > Coyote > No regrets, Coyote. A portrait of a road encounter. Everything > is upfront in this relationship (we both come from such > different sets of circumstance ...) but the loneliness kind of > reminds me of "Down to You" (you brush against a stranger and > you both apologize ...) like in the lines: > > There's no comprehending > Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes > And the lips you can get > And still feel so alone > And still feel related > Like stations in some relay > > I always thought this song was about Dylan, but others have > suggested Robbie Robertson (the hawk was playing with him) > or Peter Coyote? (that seems too obvious). Joni, I'm sure, > would never tell. > > Amelia > Currently #3 on the Joni List Hit Parade (it was #1 at one > time, right?). This masterwork describes the lonely ride home > for Joni that parallels the last flight of Amelia Earhart > (dreams, Amelia, dreams and false alarms). Amelia Earhart > was an aviatrix from the 30s who disappeared while trying to > fly around the world. Joni surveys the landscape of her life > (it was the hexagram of the heavens, it was the strings of my > guitar) and lands full circle at the Cactus Tree Motel > (referring to the classic song from her first album in which > she describes a woman whose "heart is full and hollow like > a cactus tree while she's so busy being free ..." ) It's like > Joni is asking herself, where has all my freedom gotten me? > > Furry Sings the Blues > This song is about Joni's visit to Furry Lewis, famous blues > singer and slide guitar player, at his home in Memphis. Joni, > very honestly, conveys the contrast between the rich rock&rollers > and the old, almost blind blues singer and his dilapidated > surroundings in Memphis. (W.C. Handy, I'm rich and I'm fey ...) > Furry Lewis was furious with Joni for writing this song, > especially since he felt he should have gotten some money out > of the deal! See the article on Les' site, > > Harmonica solo by Neil Young. > > A Strange Boy > An encounter that showed Joni at her most vulnerable (I gave > him power over me ...), the opposites attracting, the strange > boy who refuses to grow up can "see the cars as sets of waves" > and can see the damage in her face. > > Hejira > #1 song, with the Joni list and always for me. Joni transcends > musically and lyrically ... it's a masterpiece, embellished by > Jaco Pastorius. The yin/yang of life is seen in each verse, > "in our possessive coupling, so much could not be expressed ...", > "each so deep and superficial, between the forceps and the stone > ...", "I looked at the granite markers those tributes to finality > - to eternity and then I looked at myself here chicken scratching > for my immortality." > Amazing. > > Song For Sharon > Sharon Bell, a childhood friend, who Joni sends this letter to, > in hopes of getting in touch with why she still plays this tug > of war with the dreams of childhood (marriage, family) and the > freedom of the artistic life she's chosen. > "you still have your music > and I still have my eye on the land and the sky > you sing for your friends and family > I'll walk green pastures by and by." > > Black Crow > The crow is a favorite symbol for Joni, she named her publishing > company Crazy Crow. "in search of love and music my whole life > has been, illumination, corruption and diving, diving, diving, > diving ... diving down to pick up on every shining thing, just > like the black crow flying in a blue sky." > > Blue Motel Room > Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is one of the few classic blues > rhythms Joni uses in her songs. I don't even think there is a > song on Blue that sounds as bluesy as this song. Very torchy. > > Refuge of the Roads > Another classic. This song sums up the album, including the > characters at the beginning of her journey (Coyote-who drank and > womanized and having dinner with them and Boston Jim), her stay > in the city (they just didn't want to know, what I was seeing ...), > her epiphany with the landscape (I went running like a white-ass > deer) and her lonely trek back through the desert to LA, where she > loses herself to the humility of being a tiny speck on that marble > bowling ball ... and let loose the creativity to produce this > masterpiece of an album. > > Sorry this was really long, but I hope it helps with your project. > Sue > > ___________________ > /___________________\ > ||-------------------|| > || Sue McNamara || > || sem8@cornell.edu || > ||___________________|| > || O etch-a-sketch O || > \___________________/ > > "It's all a dream she has awake" - Joni Mitchell ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2002 14:36:15 EDT From: Shnootre@aol.com Subject: Re: Joni scholarship I agree with Jim's comments, and I'm grateful to have Sue's thoughts on Hejira. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post my whole dissertation, but I'll definitely be able to contribute something when all this is done (I'm shooting to finish by Fall). And I'll do it gladly; the JMDL, and particularly the guitar tab. database and the article library have been indescribably helpful to me. Here's a little heads up RE Joni Scholarship. Lloyd Whitesell, whose "A Joni Mitchell Aviary" appears in the Joni Mitchell Companion, has written a thirty-page article on Joni's harmonic language, focusing on her first five albums. It's going to be published in the scholarly journal Popular Music this summer, and is quite interesting/informative (although he doesn't really approach it from the guitar angle), and also not too full of academic jargon. Hopefully I'll be able to generate some interesting discussions by picking some of the great guitar brains that seem to be associated with this list and the guitar page. Judging by yesterday's success this seems like a nice probability. best, Dan S. ------------------------------ End of wanderer-digest V2 #32 *****************************