New Joni Interview and Great News!

[markolas]

Originally Posted by foxyluva

Im hoping that this Joni album is as good as all the hype. I don't think she has released a half-decent album since "Night Ride Home"

I loved Turbulent Indigo, and think that was her last masterpiece. Taming the Tiger was interesting, but her voice was starting to go on that one. Both Sides Now was great, as was Travelogue, for the most part. A lot of her songs screamed for orchestral arrangements.

[foxyluva]

Originally Posted by markolas

I loved Turbulent Indigo, and think that was her last masterpiece. Taming the Tiger was interesting, but her voice was starting to go on that one. Both Sides Now was great, as was Travelogue, for the most part. A lot of her songs screamed for orchestral arrangements.

I didn't like "Taming the Tiger" at all. In fact I hated it. I like "Turbulent Indigo" somewhat, but I can take or leave it. I don't like either "Travelogue" or "BSN" from what I can remember...

She needs to get away from the pop sheen and go back to making acoustic albums with orchestral arrangements - thats when she is at her best

[markolas]

Originally Posted by foxyluva

She needs to get away from the pop sheen and go back to making acoustic albums with orchestral arrangements - thats when she is at her best

I think she generally knows what she's doing. She's never really done what people have expected of her, and I've always admired her for that. There's not an album of hers that I can honestly say I dislike, although the first two or three don't totally do it for me. I prefer the more jazz-oriented stuff from the late '70s; I also think people aren't fair to her '80s work.

I don't think she can physically play acoustic guitar anymore, hence the VG8 heard on Taming the Tiger, so I'd be surprised if the new album (should it come to pass...I haven't heard anymore about it) had much of it on there.

[foxyluva]

Originally Posted by markolas

I think she generally knows what she's doing. She's never really done what people have expected of her, and I've always admired her for that. There's not an album of hers that I can honestly say I dislike, although the first two or three don't totally do it for me. I prefer the more jazz-oriented stuff from the late '70s; I also think people aren't fair to her '80s work.

I don't think she can physically play acoustic guitar anymore, hence the VG8 heard on Taming the Tiger, so I'd be surprised if the new album (should it come to pass...I haven't heard anymore about it) had much of it on there.

Yeah, I don't like her jazz stuff at all. "Mingus" was just to weird for me, and "Taming the Tiger" was, well, I wont go there.

Either way, I hope this album is good, otherwise It will be one I will skip for sure...

[gldstwmn]

My favorite song from Hejira is Coyote.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by foxyluva

I didn't like "Taming the Tiger" at all. In fact I hated it. I like "Turbulent Indigo" somewhat, but I can take or leave it. I don't like either "Travelogue" or "BSN" from what I can remember...

Tiger is difficult, but I do like 5 or 6 songs a lot.

TI is great - with about 3 songs I am not totally nuts about.

Dog Eat Dog is the one I struggle with the most.

I think both Travelogue and BSN on the other hand, are masterpieces.
I could listen to them till the cows come home.

[markolas]

Originally Posted by sparky

Tiger is difficult, but I do like 5 or 6 songs a lot.

TI is great - with about 3 songs I am not totally nuts about.

Dog Eat Dog is the one I struggle with the most.

I think both Travelogue and BSN on the other hand, are masterpieces.
I could listen to them till the cows come home.

I've been a Joni fan for over 10 years, but stayed away from her '80s albums until just a year or two ago, because of how much everyone said they sucked. In the future, I'll be making my own decisions when it comes to these things, because as it turns out, they don't suck at all. Some people just have it in their heads that her music should sound a certain way, and when it doesn't, they can't stand it.

A couple of songs on Wild Things (Ladies' Man especially) were revelations. Everyone tries to pigeon-hole her as a folk singer, but she's really delving into blue-eyed soul territory on that song. After that, nothing she did was difficult for me to listen to, although I still have my favorites.

[ragandbone]

Originally Posted by markolas

What I would really be interested in hearing are boots from the mid to late '70s, '80s, and '90s...particularly live performances (of which she didn't do many after 1983 or so). I'm not sure if any even exist, or are in circulation among fans.

I have some demos from Hissing of Summer Lawns, and Blue(PM if you want them) that I got from Dime a Dozen, back when I had an account. I looked around at that time, and there were a couple of other boots on there, though I don't recall if any were live.

[ragandbone]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

My favorite song from Hejira is Coyote.

And I love Coyote on The Last Waltz! Did we talk about this already?

[bikerchic]

http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2007/01/2907.cfm


Joni Mitchell Returns To Spotlight For Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction Monday January 29, 2007 @ 06:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff


Joni Mitchell (photo by Steve McLean)

An impressive assortment of artists contributed to the Joni Mitchell tribute album coming this spring from Nonesuch, but there was just as much star power on stage at Toronto's John Bassett Theatre on Sunday night to pay respect to the newest inductee into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

The 63-year-old native of Fort MacLeod, Alta. was honoured for her overall contributions to music, with the hits "Big Yellow Taxi," "Both Sides Now," "Help Me," "Woodstock" and "You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio" being singled out for induction. While the reclusive Mitchell tuned and strummed a few chords on a custom-made acoustic guitar presented to her by Robin and Claude Boucher backstage before the show, she didn't actually perform as part of the gala event.

That was left to the audience — comprised largely of songwriters, artists and music industry representatives — which was asked by show co-host Andrew Craig to sing along with him to "Big Yellow Taxi." Almost everyone in the theatre obliged, and seemed to know all the words, which brought a big smile to Mitchell's face as she sat beside manager Sam Feldman in the front row.

More polished tributes came from Herbie Hancock (piano) and Chaka Khan (big vocals and hair) on "Help Me," and James Taylor, who received a standing ovation for his rendition of "Woodstock." Rising Canadian opera star Measha Brueggergosman closed the show with a unique operatic arrangement of "Both Sides Now," and also earned a standing O.

After a video presentation and Hancock and author Margaret Atwood waxing poetic about Mitchell and her eclectic talents, the artist took the stage for a brief acceptance speech. She said that she wrote her first song when she was 21 and has completed "a lot of them" since then. "I need to explore and discover and so that has given me, really, to some what seems like courage, but really it's just in my stars, there's nothing I can do about it."

Mitchell said that she had friends dating back to fourth grade in attendance and that it was a huge honour to be recognized as a key element in Canada's rich songwriting history. She concluded by saying, "I guess I'll just take my award and run now," before leaving the stage to more rousing applause.

Quebecois singer/songwriter Jean-Pierre Ferland was also in attendance and inducted along with his songs "Je Reviens Chez Nous," "Le Petit Roi," "T'es Mon Amour, T'es Ma Maitresse," "Ton Visage" and "Un Peu Plus Haut, Un Peu Plus Loin." Marc-Andre Fortin, Laurence Jalbert, Mario Pelchat and Isabelle Boulay performed Ferland's songs, while Florence K, Veronic DiCaire and Marie-Eve Janvier sang other francophone songs that were honoured. I can now safely say that I've reached my lifetime quota of listening to French ballads.

The one exception was Karkwa's performance of Georges Langford's 1980 song, "Le Frigidaire." I've never heard the original, and just learned that Karkwa is currently one of Quebec's most popular bands, but I was impressed by the group's rock-infused rendition of the hooky pop song.

The late Wilf Carter, who was better known to American fans as Montana Slim, was honoured for his pioneering work in Canadian country music. Corb Lund performed his "There's A Love Knot In My Lariat" while George Canyon sang his "My Old Canadian Home."

Early 20th century Broadway lyricist Raymond Egan was the fourth inductee, and Emm Gryner charmed the crowd with her interpretation of one of his old nuggets, "Sleepy Time Gal."

David-Clayton Thomas opened the show by belting out "Spinning Wheel," the massive hit he wrote and sang with Blood Sweat And Tears in 1969. Crooner Michael Buble was an appropriate choice to sing "How About You?," a number written by Ralph Freed and popularized in the 1941 Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney film, Babes On Broadway.

But the most enjoyable song of the night, as far as I was concerned, was Jim Cuddy and Oh Susanna's spirited take on Sylvia Tyson's '60s gem, "You Were On My Mind," which helped unglaze my eyes after some of those aforementioned chansons d'amour.

CBC-TV will air an edited one-hour version of the show at 8 p.m. on March 5.

—Steve McLean

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by ragandbone

And I love Coyote on The Last Waltz! Did we talk about this already?

Yes we did. I didn't realize this was an older thread.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by markolas

What I would really be interested in hearing are boots from the mid to late '70s, '80s, and '90s...particularly live performances (of which she didn't do many after 1983 or so). I'm not sure if any even exist, or are in circulation among fans.

I was able to grab some of my favorite Joni recordings from DIME some time ago:

-Radio broadcast: Live at the Gene Autry Museum 1995 for NPR.
-Hissing of Summer Lawns demos
-Live at Red Rocks 1983 (soundboard)

I also grabbed the recording of Joni with James Taylor at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1972. This has absolutely got to be my favorite live recording by any artist, period; the recording quality is just perfect. Their version of "You Can Close Your Eyes" is just dreamy.

I'll post if anyone is interested.

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by sparky

Tiger is difficult, but I do like 5 or 6 songs a lot.

TI is great - with about 3 songs I am not totally nuts about.

Dog Eat Dog is the one I struggle with the most.

I think both Travelogue and BSN on the other hand, are masterpieces.
I could listen to them till the cows come home.

I actually quite fancy Taming the Tiger, although I am not terribly thrilled about that guitar synthesizer sound. I guess I have a soft spot for "Man from Mars." I had heard in a radio interview that she wrote that song when one of her cats went missing for days and she walked around the neighborhood calling for him. "I called and called... the silence is so full of sounds..." When my own cat went missing occasionally I used to hum this song in my head.

I think "Dog Eat Dog" is actually the strongest of her 80's albums (of course that's not saying a whole lot ). But it's also the most contemporary album she's ever released; it is definitely an artifact of its time- it's Joni's very own Rock a Little. And it's eerie how the lyrics from songs like "Fiction" are so relevant today.

[The Tower]

Originally Posted by markolas

I think she generally knows what she's doing. She's never really done what people have expected of her, and I've always admired her for that. There's not an album of hers that I can honestly say I dislike, although the first two or three don't totally do it for me. I prefer the more jazz-oriented stuff from the late '70s; I also think people aren't fair to her '80s work.

I don't think she can physically play acoustic guitar anymore, hence the VG8 heard on Taming the Tiger, so I'd be surprised if the new album (should it come to pass...I haven't heard anymore about it) had much of it on there.

Oddly enough, Joni's piano based songs always seem to be favorites of mine- so, if she backs off the guitar for awhile I'm good with it.

[ragandbone]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

I was able to grab some of my favorite Joni recordings from DIME some time ago:

-Radio broadcast: Live at the Gene Autry Museum 1995 for NPR.
-Hissing of Summer Lawns demos
-Live at Red Rocks 1983 (soundboard)

I also grabbed the recording of Joni with James Taylor at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1972. This has absolutely got to be my favorite live recording by any artist, period; the recording quality is just perfect. Their version of "You Can Close Your Eyes" is just dreamy.

I'll post if anyone is interested.

I would love to hear some of those. I can post the Hissing demos as a zip on YouSendit. Coming up...