Joni Mitchell

[neutrino]

I went to see the Movie "The Kids Are All Right" over the weekend (the new movie release--not the older movie about The Who). It is a really superb motion picture IMO (as is the older movie about The Who!). Anyway, in the movie the subject of Joni Mitchell comes up along with the question of which was her best album. The conclusion of the characters was that it was "Blue". This got me remembering just how much I loved Joni Mitchell, although I haven't listened much now for years. After the movie, we got into a discussion of what were our favorite JM albums. I personally picked Hejira, although Blue is certainly up there in my estimations. I have been watching some youtube clips during the week of her playing some stuff. A clip of her doing Amelia brought tears to my eyes. I clearly need to replace my vinyl collection of her records ASAP!!

Anyway, the main reason I'm posting this here is that I was wondering whether she ever did anything with the GD? Her music is not exactly Deadlike, but one could certainly say the same thing about Joan Baez who played with the GD on many occasions. Anyone know if Joni ever shared the stage with the GD, or perhaps Jerry?

[kdubfan]

All I know is she has been bashing Dylan as of late. So she can kiss my ass.

She is sounding very envious if you ask me.

[sonomajon]

I went to see the Movie "The Kids Are All Right" over the weekend (the new movie release--not the older movie about The Who). It is a really superb motion picture IMO (as is the older movie about The Who!). Anyway, in the movie the subject of Joni Mitchell comes up along with the question of which was her best album. The conclusion of the characters was that it was "Blue". This got me remembering just how much I loved Joni Mitchell, although I haven't listened much now for years. After the movie, we got into a discussion of what were our favorite JM albums. I personally picked Hejira, although Blue is certainly up there in my estimations. I have been watching some youtube clips during the week of her playing some stuff. A clip of her doing Amelia brought tears to my eyes. I clearly need to replace my vinyl collection of her records ASAP!!

Anyway, the main reason I'm posting this here is that I was wondering whether she ever did anything with the GD? Her music is not exactly Deadlike, but one could certainly say the same thing about Joan Baez who played with the GD on many occasions. Anyone know if Joni ever shared the stage with the GD, or perhaps Jerry?

AFAIK,

Joni never had any cross currents with the Dead...I only saw Joni two times...both at Red Rocks in 79' with the ridiculous following band:

Musicians:

Joni Mitchell - Electric Guitar, Piano

Don Alias - Drums, Percussion

Michael Brecker - Sax

Lyle Mays - Keyboards

Pat Metheny - Lead Guitar

Jaco Pastorius - Bass

The Persuasions - Vocals

ps...great interviews here: including joni and jerry

http://www.denniselsas.com/archives.htm

[neutrino]

All I know is she has been bashing Dylan as of late. So she can kiss my ass.

She is sounding very envious if you ask me.

I am aware of only one interview in April of this year in which Mitchell accused Dylan of being a plagiarist. I haven't seen any additional "bashing" beyond this. She said the following:

Bob is not authentic at all: He

[chuckvegas]

Ouch. So much for monolithic '60s solidarity.

[Dstone5553]

After the movie, we got into a discussion of what were our favorite JM albums.

A good example of a perfect album.

[neutrino]

A good example of a perfect album.

Yes indeed, a great album. This was recorded in 1970, which I'd kind of describe as the last album of her "hippy goddess" era. The next year "Blue" was released, which signaled a different direction with a more jazzy sound and more somber lyrics. For me, Blue, Hissing of Summer Lawns, and Hejira are absolute masterpieces and the pinacle of her writing and singing. This was also when she did some very innovative work with her own peculiar open guitar tunings that really took off during this period. She had something like 50 different tunings! This became a big problem in concert, which was solved by the following (from wikipedia):

"While some of Mitchell's most popular songs were written on piano, almost every song she composed on the guitar uses an open, or non-standard, tuning; she has written songs in some 50 different tunings, which she has referred to as "Joni's weird chords." The use of alternative tunings allows more varied and complex harmonies to be produced on the guitar, without the need for difficult chord shapes. Indeed, many of Joni's guitar songs use very simple chord shapes, but her use of alternative tunings and a highly rhythmic picking/strumming style creates a rich and unique guitar sound. Her right-hand picking/strumming technique has evolved over the years from an initially intricate picking style, typified by the guitar songs on her first album, to a looser and more rhythmic style, sometimes incorporating percussive "slaps", that have been featured on later albums.

In 1995, Mitchell's friend Fred Walecki, proprietor of Westwood Music in Los Angeles, developed a solution to alleviate her continuing frustration with using multiple alternate tunings in live settings. Walecki designed a Stratocaster-style guitar to function with the Roland VG-8 (Virtual Guitar), a system capable of configuring her numerous tunings electronically. While the guitar itself remained in standard tuning, the VG-8 encoded the pickup signals into digital signals which were then translated into the altered tunings. This allowed Mitchell to use one guitar on stage, while an off-stage tech entered the preprogrammed tuning for each song in her set."

------------

These clips sends chills down my spine with that gorgeous voice, beautiful lyrics, and open guitar tunings:

[michelle]

A good example of a perfect album.

yesss and for newcomers... Miles of Aisles ...or Shadows and Light are both good introductory albums. Ladies of the Canyon, Court and Spark, the Hissing of Summer Lawns (yes!!) and Blue are all fine works... "The way I see it, he says, you just can't win it. Everybody's in it for their own gain. You can't please them all. There's always somebody callin' you down. I do my best and I do good business. There's alot of people asking for my time. They're tryin to get ahead. They're trying to be a good friend of mine."

"Secrets and sharing sodas, that's how our time began. Love is a story told to a friend. It's second hand. I'll listen to his questions. I'll give my answers when they're found. He's says she keeps him guessing... but I know she keeps him down. He comes for Conversation. I comfort him sometimes. Comfort and consultation, he knows that's what he'll find."

Her lyrics are timeless and passionate. No matter her mindset presently... she remains one of the very best songwriters of the century.

No regrets Coyote...

Robert Plant wrote the song Going to California about Joni Mitchell. She's affected so many people with her gift.

You criticize and you flatter

You imitate the best

And the rest you memorize

You know the times you impress me most

Are the times when you don't try

When you don't even try

[chuckvegas]

We can't return we can only look

Behind from where we came

And go round and round and round

In the circle game

[franknkeene]

I only saw Joni two times...both at Red Rocks in 79' with the ridiculous following band:

Musicians:

Joni Mitchell - Electric Guitar, Piano

Don Alias - Drums, Percussion

Michael Brecker - Sax

Lyle Mays - Keyboards

Pat Metheny - Lead Guitar

Jaco Pastorius - Bass

The Persuasions - Vocals

{{{{{{ WOW!!! Fucking WOW }}}} Jaco Lives !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who is that mysterious woman harmonizing behind that curtain? Pay attention (much attention) to that woman behind that curtain starting at 2:33....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BREYCGWOouw&feature=search

[Dancer'sChoice]

I always thought the National Lampoon parody of Joni Mitchell was pretty funny. As a bonus, you get to see a very young Belushi being his misogynistic best. Be aware this is NSFW.

http://www.bakedziti.net/?p=1556