http://www.pbs.org/wnet/a...ell_j.html

Great portrait of the singer/songwriter.
It's a tremendous feat to hold an audience's attention with just a song, a voice and a single musical instrument.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Exactly why I think Joni is so awesome as a performer.

Joni Mitchell is awesome, and a legend in her own right who has elegantly and graciously stayed in the background - often unrecognized for her contributions and art. I suspect she may prefer it that way....

For a bit of useless trivia: My college sweetheart's step-Mother is her interior designer.

Thanks for the heads-up, tA!

i've recently become reinfatuated with her music. thanks tA!!

Ndeed! Thanks, tA!!


I first started checking Joni out because so many of my musical favorites were either huge fans of hers, or had actually collaborated with her at some point. Back in the early 80's, I was into artists like Prince, Jaco and Weather Report, Narada Michael Walden, The Police, The Yellowjackets, Al Jarreau, Herbie Hancock, and Thomas Dolby, and they would all rave about Joni, as a performer and musician as well as a songwriter. Then one day, I happened to be in a video shop and they were playing what turned out to be Joni's "Shadows and Light" concert--of course I was blown away-- Joni and her guitar, rolling through great tunes like "Coyote", "In France They Kiss On Main Street", "Black Crow", "Amelia", "The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines"--slammin!, and with Pat Metheny, Jaco, Mike Brecker, Lyle Mays and Don Alias as the backing band!!!! So I knew had to back-track and do some catching up (oh, and I bought their only video copy of the concert that day, !)...I dove into the Joni Mitchell catalog, and I've been a huge fan ever since...


...I think my favorite Joni albums are Hejira, Hissing Of The Summmer Lawns, Court and Spark, Chalkmark In a Rainstorm and Blue...



...
[Edited 8/3/06 9:08am]

Thanks tA. She is among the most important of all the artists to me. You already know my connection with her
I was just listening to Hejira ~ gorgeous and compelling work!

Joni's voice does something to me, i could feel down and out and i'll throw on court and spark and feel wonderful, just something about her artistry and the emotion she pours into her words. i love Joni

paligap said:

all it took for me was: it was Joni singing "heeelp mee.." and immediately i had to find out who Joni was.



Those would be my picks, too.


^^^
[Edited 8/3/06 22:08pm]

if memory serves me, wasnt she dating David Crosby in the early 70's or was it Stephen Stills cant remember

Finess said:

Not sure. I know they were all friends.
David Crosby produced her 1st album and Stephen Stills did some playing on her 2nd.
She was married at one time to Graham Nash.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

I saw this last night...

I've been house sitting for a week now and I started to channel surf (I never watch television) when I got to channel 8 this program had just started. I was mesmerized. I've been a fan for years and I had never seen any performance footage...this was amazing...I got teary eyed when they showed the footage of "Same Situation," and "A Case of You."

Listening to "Hejira" right now...my favorite Joni album...

MoonSongs said:

The title track is stunning to me...and "Black Crow," gets me each time.

"In search of love and music my whole life has been, illumination and corruption and diving, diving down for every shiny thing..."

TheResistor said:

Same here.

KCET


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

MoonSongs said:

Yes you lucky thing.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

She's also one of the few straight talkers out there. She straight out says that modern music is shit and she's not afraid to name names. Unlike Prince she doesn't try to have her cake and eat it too. A lot of other legends like Stevie Wonder will suck up to new artists no matter how talentless they are. Joni's image image as a golden hippy(which she never actually was) often obscures just how hard nosed she is. It's the kind of anger that comes from caring. Not many people bother to do that anymore.

whoknows said:

was this made around 2000? when she was recording her "Both Sides Now" album? if so, they play her 2000 version of "Both Sides Now"... one of my favorite performances of any song by anyone.


oh, and it was a great show as well. note sure if this is the same thing, but i know it was on PBS

cubic61052 said:

nope. she threw a tantrum a few years ago and said she was retiring because she couldn't keep up with the Britney Spears' of the world.

btw, I recommend both American Masters and American Experience on PBS to anyone. They're always excellent shows, not matter who or what they're talking about.

Dayspring said:

Co-sign that.

This is my 3rd post on the American Masters series.
Aretha Franklin earlier here and Rod Serling in GD.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

CinisterCee said:

She was essential in the raising of the folk-singer bar.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

cubic61052 said:

So how many degrees of separation is that?




tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431
[Edited 8/3/06 14:56pm]

Dayspring said:

Thankfully.....

cubic61052 said:

what i wondered, at the time, is.... is that really who she thinks she's competing against?

Dayspring said:

I just simply cannot imagine Joni Mitchell 'competing', per se...she seems too much of an artist to stoop that low...

Clearly, though, I guess the music market is up for grabs, no matter who/what you are targeting.....

theAudience said:

Many degrees, dahlin'...more than you know at this point in my life! I'll explain one day....

theAudience said:

She was going out with David Crosby when she first got to LA. They did some kind of Joni Mitchell dating tree in Rolling Stone magazine in the 70s that she was particularly hurt by.

She's a bit grumpy and sounds a little bitter in what I've read lately.

Here is a small excerpt from the biographical section of www.jonimitchell.com that touches on her friendships with both David Crosby and Graham Nash.


I came to the city
And lived like old Crusoe
On an island of noise
In a cobblestone sea
And the beaches were concrete
And the stars paid a light bill
And the blossoms hung false
On their store window trees...


Joni Mitchell moved to New York City in 1967, and took up residence in the arty Chelsea district. She met Elliot Roberts in the fall and he began to manage her career, helping to open up the circuit for her in New York City.

While performing at a club in Florida, Joni met ex-Byrds member David Crosby, who was quite taken with her. David was a great help in convincing the record company to agree to let Joni record a solo acoustic album without all the folk-rock overdubs that were in vogue at the time.

His clout earned him a producer's credit in March 1968, when Reprise records released her debut album. She continued her steady touring to promote the LP, and that stimulus, in addition to the performers who were covering her songs and exposing her to bigger and bigger audiences as a major "songwriter," was causing a major buzz. At Elliot's suggestion, she moved to southern California late in 1967, and moved in with David, who became an enthusiastic promoter of Joni's and had her play at the homes of his Hollywood friends, where she got noticed by press and radio people, who in turn wrote and spoke of her talent.
Joni with David Crosby and Eric Clapton

She played the Troubadour in L.A., getting raves from the crowds and critics; she was also a big hit in London at the Royal Festival Hall in September, and at the Miami Pop Festival on the last weekend of 1968. Accompaning her at the fest was Hollies singer-songwriter Graham Nash, whom Joni had met through their mutual friend, David Crosby.

Also in December of '68, Judy Collins version of "Both Sides Now" peaked in the national music charts top ten, and brought Joni "lots of those little royalty pennies." This songwriting success helped create an eager anticipation for Joni's second LP, "Clouds", which was released in April '69. It contained Joni's own versions of songs already recorded and being performed by other artists; "Chelsea Morning,""Both Sides Now", and "Tin Angel."

Joni's concert at Carnegie Hall in February, and a later show in Berkeley, CA were recorded for a live album, but the project was shelved in favor of a third LP of original studio performances.
Promotional Headshot from Elliot Roberts' Ashley Famous Agency, Inc.

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all...


She moved to Laurel Canyon, L.A. with Graham, purchasing a small house where they lived with "two cats in the yard..."

She made an appearance that summer on The Johnny Cash Show. The series was a U.S. summer replacement series that rated very highly on ABC-TV. Joni appeared 2 more times on Johnny's show, once more later in the first season, and once in 1971.

Joni toured as the opening act for her friends Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and while at the Atlantic City Pop Festival in August, she left the stage angrily due to the inattentiveness of the large crowd. She said she'd enjoyed the intimacy of the clubs and was now finding it difficult to concentrate and perform in front of huge crowds.

Joni was scheduled to perform at Woodstock on Sunday of that weekend of love, but when the traffic jams were seen by all of America on TV that Friday, her manager advised her not to go. He was concerned that she might have trouble getting back to the city in time for a major TV appearance on the Dick Cavett Show that Monday. Still, she did create the definitive chronicle of the festival with her song "Woodstock," which was a hit for C, S, and N the next year.
Joni and Graham at the Miami Folk Festival, 12/29/68. (Photo by Henry Diltz)

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation...

She did an equinox festival at Big Sur in September, and this was filmed and released as "Celebration At Big Sur" (Joni's first film appearance). She was also set to do her "Songs To Aging Children Come" in the film version of Arlo Guthrie's song epic, "Alice's Restaurant", but when the movie producers demanded a half share of the song's publishing rights just for the privilege of appearing in their major Hollywood feature film, she refused. The song was sung in the film anyway by a look-a-like hippie girl with long blonde hair and a ringing soprano.

People hurry by so quickly
Can't they hear the melodies
In the chiming and the clicking
And the laughing harmonies
Songs to aging children come
Aging children, I am one...

Joni won the Grammy in March 1970 for Best Folk Performance of 1969 for her album,"Clouds."

Reprise released Joni's third album, "Ladies Of The Canyon" soon after. It was an instant smash on FM radio, and sold briskly thru the summer and fall, eventually becoming Joni's first gold album (500,000 copies).

Reviewers and listeners began to note the confessional qualities in Joni's songs, and conjecture "who's that about?."
Joni in Crete. Photo by Karl Ferris

Joni made a decision to stop touring for a year and just live and write and paint, but after a few months she was persuaded to perform at the last minute at the Isle of Wight Festival. Held in August, this festival became a financial and logistical disaster, and the audience there had strong anti-performer feelings. When a stoned-out guy that Joni knew from her months in Crete jumped on stage and took over her mic ranting about how "Desolation Row is this festival...", he had to be dragged off stage. The crowd saw him as one of their own and booed his eviction until Joni chastised them tearfully about acting like tourists and not giving the performers the respect they deserved.

Now me I play for fortune
And those velvet curtain calls
I've got a black limosine
And two gentlemen
Escorting me to the halls
And I play if you have the money
Or if you're a friend to me
But the one man band
By the quick lunch stand
He was playing real good, for free...

Joni struggled with a way to remain creative while dealing with the pressures of a career with a required touring schedule. The songs she wrote during the months she took off for travel and life experience would appear on her next album, "Blue."

Oh, how I wish Joni would at least drop a new song or two every so often -- maybe for internet release -- if she won't altogether come out of retirement.

I so miss her poetic insights.

Lammastide said:

As do I ~ the poetry, melody and passion of her music are difficult to find in music today. Lisa Gerrard comes to mind, but in a vastly different venue.