Joni Mitchell worship thread

Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Joni-Mitchell-2.jpg


Here's my (entirely subjective) best of Joni Mitchell playlist. I'm throwing it together by listening to all of Joni Mitchell's album in chronological order, out of the corner of my ear, at work. Needless to say, this is all being very haphazardly executed.

This is a bad idea, insofar as I can imagine a lot of her ouevre grows on you. Also it's a bad idea cos I'm getting absolutely sick of Joni Mitchell songs going round and round in my head. Nevertheless, the hero must tilt at windmills.

As can be easily seen, I rate Blue' high high high above any earlier album. I've known it for years, but it still seems to me to be absolutely stacked.

I'm onto Court and Spark and I feel I'm missing the point. Don't like the saxophone much.

I will add plentifully from Hejira when I get to it.

At the moment it's an aerial view I'm amassing but will get into the nitty gritty soon.

Set me right, or just join in with the worship.
 
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rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
i cant totally get into the really folksy 60s stuff.
i prefer the 70s period.
but ive quite a big a soft spot for the 80s stuff.
impossible dreamer is a personal favourite.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I only now find out that she's a Canuck.

GREAT CANADIAN SINGERS

1. Joni Mitchell
2. Justin Bieber
3. Alanis Morisette
4. Bryan Adams
200. Drake

Even her Wikipedia is tear-jerking:

In Maidstone they lived beside the railroad track, where Mitchell waved at the only train that passed through each day.
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Further enlightenment:

Eventually she taught herself guitar from a Pete Seeger songbook, but the polio had affected her fingers, and she had to devise dozens of alternative tunings of her own. Later this improvised approach was "a tool to break free of standard approaches to harmony and structure" in her own songwriting.
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I don't get why polio-racked fingers would necessitate alternative tunings?
 
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sadmanbarty

Well-known member
Corpsey said:
GREAT CANADIAN SINGERS

1. Joni Mitchell
2. Justin Bieber
3. Alanis Morisette
4. Bryan Adams
200. Drake
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Agreed. Where does Weeknd fit into the list?

Corpsey said:
don't get why polio-racked fingers would necessitate alternative tunings?
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If she can't push down as hard, she will need to resort to tunings with an easier action. Tony Iommi had to down tune his guitar because his artificial fingers couldn't press down very hard.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
sadmanbarty said:
If she can't push down as hard, she will need to resort to tunings with an easier action. Tony Iommi had to down tune his guitar because his artificial fingers couldn't press down very hard.
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Ah I see. And here's another example of adversity working in her favour:

Mitchell also began to realize each city's folk scene tended to accord veteran performers the exclusive right to play their signature songs—despite not having written the songs—which Mitchell found insular, contrary to the egalitarian ideal of folk music. She found her best traditional material was already other singers' property and would no longer pass muster. She said, "You'd come into a town and you'd be told, you can't sing that, you can't sing that." She resolved to write her own songs.
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Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Wiki tells me that 'Little Green' (one of my favourites) was written about a child Joni had while struggling in Toronto. She gave the child up for adoption.

And

Critical reaction[edit]
Writing for Rolling Stone in 1971, Timothy Crouse, said:
Several of the lesser cuts on Blue give every indication of having sat in Joni's trunk for some time. The folkie melody of "Little Green" recalls "I Don't Know Where I Stand" from her second album. The pretty, "poetic" lyric is dressed up in such cryptic references that it passeth all understanding.[6]
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HOW DARETH HE :mad:
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
So I don't like 'Hissing of Summer Lawns' much AT ALL. I know a lot of people rate it (and 'Court and Spark') above 'Blue'. Maybe I just want different things from Joni Mitchell than them? Generally the more jazzy she gets, the less I like her. But OTOH I really like a lot of 'Hejira'. So I'm hoping I'm wrong and HOSL will click.

Here's the list so far, post HOSLawns, pre-Hejira.

Marcie
Roses Blue
The Gallery
Morning Morgantown
For Free
Big Yellow Taxi
The Circle Game
All I Want
My Old Man
Little Green
Carey
California
River
A Case Of You
Banquet
Free Man In Paris
Help Me
Car on a Hill
Both Sides Now
Woodstock (Live)
Circle Game (Live)
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Wiki:

Initially, due to the jazz influence and highly experimental nature of the album, the record received harsh criticism, with Rolling Stone listing it as one of the worst albums of the year.[8] However, the record's reputation has grown in stature and has been called Mitchell's masterpiece, "an LP to stand alongside Blood on the Tracks".[9] Prince, a lifelong fan of Mitchell, had loved the album, praising it in interviews.
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Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
I feel like the first time I heard Blue (due to my parents, undoubtedly), I instantly knew I was in the presence of greatness. Didn't need to be thought about, or mulled over. Instant rewind status.

That doesn't mean it's better, perhaps, but certainly easier to love.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
Joni is a funny one for me i got blue early on, when i was at that stage of life where i thought i needed to hear all the canonical albums. id already decided the stones and the beatles and the beach boys and love were terrible so not them, but i got blue and i loved it and i still love it. i think its perfect. but i dont care about any other album of hers. couldnt give a shit. they mean nothing to me. same with astral weeks. i love that album. im even moved by it. but if i hear any other of his albums i feel like someones forcing unseasoned mashed potato down my throat, no butter, no salt, nothing.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
From what I've heard, Blue is the best, but I love Hejira too and there's bare bangers on her other albums, just more sporadically dotted around.
 
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