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Joni "new" releases

Woodface said:
I really dislike Big Yellow Taxi
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There's no accounting for taste as they say... I really can't imagine anyone not liking it! A wonderful melody of decent complexity and harmless enough "green" lyrics. For even greater melodic complexity and beauty in her early work there's "Clouds".
 
Del monaco said:
Lovely track.Apparently it was about James Taylor.
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Snufkin said:
I always thought it was about Graham Nash but you learn something every day.
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It's all a bit of an enigma... There are songs on Blue reputed to be about those two lucky gents and also others about a guy she was going out with on a Greek island (who worked as a chef at The Mermaid Cafe that's mentioned in the lyrics) at the time whilst she was writing some of it. River can also be seen as a longing for going home and the contrast between the hot Greek island and Canada at xmas time... wanting to quit the "crazy scene" where they were partying in caves by the beach in an "otherworld"...
 
Arkless Electronics said:
There's no accounting for taste as they say... I really can't imagine anyone not liking it! A wonderful melody of decent complexity and harmless enough "green" lyrics. For even greater melodic complexity and beauty in her early work there's "Clouds".
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You obviously have a very poor imagination;)
 
Arkless Electronics said:
It's all a bit of an enigma... There are songs on Blue reputed to be about those two lucky gents and also others about a guy she was going out with on a Greek island (who worked as a chef at The Mermaid Cafe that's mentioned in the lyrics) at the time whilst she was writing some of it. River can also be seen as a longing for going home and the contrast between the hot Greek island and Canada at xmas time... wanting to quit the "crazy scene" where they were partying in caves by the beach in an "otherworld"...
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Matala.. The 'Hippy Beach' on Crete. In 'Carey',Joni sings 'Beneath the Matala moon'.

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As for what song is about which of her various lovers.. I'm not too bothered. I saw Graham Nash a year or so back in Southport. He made no secret of his undying love for Joni.. almost to the point of excess.

Sometimes.. for me.. people get so wrapped up in the lyrics. that they miss the music. One thing I love about early Joni is her piano playing. The intro to 'The Last Time I Saw Richard' always has the hairs up on the back of my neck. Seemingly simple.. even a bit ploddy.. but so staggeringly emotive and effective. This is not just 'accompaniment'.. not just a foundation. It is punctuation, expression, emphasis, argument and all the rest. Fabulous stuff.

 
Woodface said:
I just don’t like it, always found it a little trite. You may think I’m wrong but we can’t like all the same things.
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(Re: 'Big Yellow Taxi')

Obviously nobody is forced to like anything. I think the point about BYT is that it is a very early environmental song, but delivered comedically.... which broke into the minstream. Not the first by any means. but one of the first to become a pop hit.
 
I’ll be curious to see what folk think of the new archive releases when they turn up. I’m more interested in what is dug up from the Court & Spark through to Mingus era myself, but it’s all amazing stuff (at least until the ‘80s). That body of work right from the start to Mingus is remarkable IMO. Impossible to overrate her really.
 
Tony L said:
(at least until the ‘80s).
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That decade has a lot to answer for....;)

As for the archive stuff. I think most will be happy just to hear it and own it. If it has any musical 'strength' that will be a bonus.

I was staggered to hear her stunning live 'Urge For Going' on 'Let's Sing Out' when I first found it. The fact that she also looked impossibly beautiful was a bonus. I later found 'Born to Take The Highway' and found it slightly embarrassing. Just another 'Got to move on' type song.. but it was written 55 years ago
 
Mullardman said:
That decade has a lot to answer for....;)
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From my perspective as someone who rates every decade at least as high as the preceding one as there is *always* truly amazing stuff to find, Joni just didn’t make the cut. I just don’t rate the Geffen label stuff I’ve heard at all. It is very much the ‘uncool’ ‘80s sound, almost poodle-rock/hair-metal, which surprises me given what a remarkable innovator and songwriter she was. By saying that it caught people like Bowie out too, his weakest period was the ‘80s for sure. Joni should have shifted further out into jazz to my mind, the cheesy rock stuff just sounded so old and tired compared to what was really happening in that decade.
 
Tony L said:
Joni just didn’t make the cut.
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With 'da yoof' that's true. But I was at Uni in the early 80s and was pleasantly surprised how many of the young students were into early Joni.

Tony L said:
I just don’t rate the Geffen label stuff I’ve heard at all, it is very much the ‘uncool’ ‘80s sound, almost poodle-rock/hair-metal,
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It's not her best.. but whatever it is... it is definitely not 'poodle rock/hair metal'

Tony L said:
what was really happening in that decade.
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You have me at a disadvantage there Tony. What exactly was happening in that decade..? I was in my 30s at that time and really could not find much at all to grab me in the music, but then I was past my adolescence, and looking for something at least as inspiring as the fantastic variety and innovation of the 60s. A big ask..
 
Tony L said:
Joni should have shifted further out into jazz to my mind
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Nope. Jazz was a largely spent force in the popular consciousness before Joni was even a global phenomenon. That's not to say I dislike jazz, as you know... but it has largely been 'done'. (Much like classical..and Rawk..)

In some ways I'm surprised that Joni didn't find another independent way to express herself musically. But. in other ways it's a bit presumptious of us to expect that of her. She had, by the late 70s, already done far more than most and been a major musical influence for longer than most. She is/was, in the widest sense of the word, an 'artist'. and is entitled to concentrate on other directions/media.

Artie Shaw was.. to my mind, the best Clarinet player of the swing era. Then one day he just decided to stop. It was complicated... he was more than a little arrogant.. but if he wanted to quit while he was ahead..he had that right.
 
My Joni Mitchell Archives stuff arrived today. I ordered from Burning Shed. Packaging was very good and for reasons I haven't yet quite figured out, they refunded me a few quid.
I bought the 5CD set, plus the vinyl album 'Early Joni' and the vinyl triple album 'Live at Canterbury House'. Duplication... but nice things to have. All nicely presented. I haven't listened to any of it yet.. but will make a start tomorrow. One minor niggle. They don't seem to have included the iconic live 'Urge For Going' from the 'Let's Sing Out' TV prog, though there are I think a couple of other versions in the mix.
 
Heard Night in the City on John Peel's show in '68 and was immediately hooked, went down to Percy Prior's in High Wycombe and ordered the album (special order, Canadian import then). Love the albums up to and including Blue.
I've got Through Yellow Curtains, and will have a look at these new/old releases.
 
The 5 CD set is available to stream on Qobuz - and I assume other sites. I already have some of the recordings, but it will be good to hear their official release.
 
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