Joni Mitchell - The Studio Albums 1968 - 1979

Oh dear!  It is becoming increasingly apparent that I have reached the sort of age where the attractions of the Box Set are almost too much to ignore.  Despite the slightly grim aura of marketing hanging over such offerings I have now succumbed to both the Argent and Pink Floyd sets as described in this blog earlier.  In my defence I would contend that at the right price, this is a good way to pick up complete collections after the event (especially if they are all remastered).  The latest addition is from Joni Mitchell and comprises her first 10 studio albums from the 60s and 70s starting at the beginning with ‘Song To a Seagull’ and ending with ‘Mingus’ (leaving out the live double set, ‘Miles of Aisles’).

Whilst I have vinyl versions taken from the middle of this run (‘For the Roses’, ‘Court and Spark’ and ‘Hissing of Summer Lawns’) I have only dabbled with her early work and have nothing after ‘Lawns’ save a couple of below par 80s efforts, so this purchase was a good opportunity to review what I believe to be her best period.  Perhaps predictably, there were no real surprises.  The early folk albums are very fine but when compared to her subsequent work, not the ones I’d rescue from a burning building.  ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ is an unexpectedly welcome return to my collection (since I sold the original vinyl in the great late 70s clearout) but I still find ‘Blue’ curiously inconsistent despite what everyone else says.

The best stuff is undoubtedly contained within the albums I already own and the remainder is interesting but not essential.  I still can’t really warm wholeheartedly to ‘Hejira’ or ‘Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter’ and I don’t like Jazz enough to appreciate ‘Mingus’.  Nevertheless, the Big Three (‘Roses’, ‘Court’ and ‘Lawns’) are giants in the pop Parthenon and no mistake.  Genius is an overworked word but I’m tempted to use it here.  These are albums that everyone should hear – especially ‘For the Roses’ which to me is a work of unparalleled depth.  Coming between the confessional folk of ‘Blue’ and the blossoming pop of ‘Court and Spark’ its hybrid folk/pop arrangements cradle a set of lyrics that sit in your soul forever.

So where does this leave me?  What this series of albums does do is show the remarkable musical progression from folk through pop/rock to jazz.  These albums form the links in a ten album unbreakable chain where each individual work contains elements of both its predecessor and its successor in a way that reveals a relentless drive from one genre to the next.  It makes me struggle to think of another artist who has managed this feat with such dexterity and mastery of each form and over such a long period.  Perhaps Bowie?

One other thing – lyrics.  Has there ever been anyone else who has such mastery of song lyrics?  If nothing else, Joni Mitchell showed how it was done to the extent that a lyric sheet was an essential part of her albums.  They are still albums where I actually listen to the lyrics with rapt attention.  In the history of popular music, these albums are probably essential.

By The Time We Got To Woodstock

At the risk of sounding like an aging baby-boomer hippy, I would just like to point out that it will be forty years this August that the Woodstock Festival took place in New York State, USA. Just for the record, I didn’t go – my mum probably wouldn’t’ve taken kindly to me rushing off with a huge ‘Keep on Truckin’ rucksack saying that I was just off to the States for a few weeks as a) I was only 13 and b) I would’ve had to be back in time for tea anyway. Also, my head was still in the singles chart at the time and would not become aware of ‘real’ music until after a year or two further had passed.

Nevertheless it was a major event, which in a rush of ultimate irony bearing in mind that everybody claimed to have been there, was immortalised in song by probably the one person apart from me who wasn’t there – Joni Mitchell. ‘Woodstock’ by Ms Mitchell, whose manager persuaded her that rather than play Woodstock, a TV appearance on the Dick Cavett show would be preferable to her career, was written on the basis of hearsay information imparted by her then boyfriend, Graham Nash who along with the remainder of the planet, did attend (allegedly).

‘Woodstock’ is a strange song. Joni’s original version appeared on her ‘Ladies of the Canyon’ album and whilst having a spot-on lyric, has a rather challenging melody which contains all manner of vocal-straining interval jumps but doesn’t really seem to benefit much from them. It is very symptomatic of Joni’s style of that time and meanders along to a dulcimer backing for rather too long. I am a big Joni fan but lyrics aside, this doesn’t really do much for me. Not the most auspicious of debuts for an iconic song.

But then along came Crosby, Stills Nash & Young to grab it by the scruff of the neck on their 1970 effort ‘Déjà Vu’ and put some muscle into its rhythm and cleverly hide many of the odd interval jumps in a mass of four part harmony. This version was a hit and not surprisingly – it is a rockier, more confident and ultimately superior version to Joni’s own.

The third version is one I own myself and it is by Matthews Southern Comfort. Where CSN&Y rock, MSC sort of swirl in a myriad of steel guitar and primitive synths. Iain Matthews, the leader of the band, clearly didn’t fancy Joni’s roller-coaster melody either and so totally ignored most of the jumps and just smoothed over them giving it a much more singable ambience. Whether or not this was done for convenience or artistic licence, it was certainly a hit with the British public who voted it up to number 1 in the Sept 1970 singles chart. This is the version I heard first so discovering the original years later was a bit of a shock as the melody is just not the same.

Which rather begs the question; do I really like ‘Woodstock’ or do I just like the subsequent appropriations? One thing is certain; I love the lyric which nails the atmosphere beautifully. Perhaps I’m an aging hippy after all?

Kate and Joni

If there is one aspect of pop music that really, really gets me climbing up on my high horse, it is the perception that because anything is created under the banner of popular culture, it is automatically labelled as throwaway and worthless.

Whilst I would be the first to admit that there is a fair amount of produce around that fits this category, there is also some that transcends the run of the mill and enters the realm of the timeless. It is the sort of stuff that becomes art history. The difficulty with identifying such art is that by its very nature it becomes very personal and therefore subjective. It is generally the sort of album that speaks directly to the listener and they just know that there is something special about it without necessarily knowing why. And accordingly it is difficult to reach agreement with others as to its objective merits.

As I tend to reserve the highest status for the very best, I only have two such albums that give me that special feeling and they are both by extraordinary women. The first is ‘For the Roses’ by Joni Mitchell and the second is ‘The Dreaming’ by Kate Bush. These are albums that to me drive a coach and horses through the perception that all pop music is lightweight rubbish. These are albums created by massively talented artists at the peak of their powers and just ooze quality. You can almost feel the genius.

In the case of Joni Mitchell, it is the emotional depth of the lyrics that really gets me. The fact that they are allied to more than acceptable tunes is just the icing on the cake. Every song conveys a vivid picture of life that invades your soul and could only come from a true poet. Kate Bush, by contrast brings an almost unrestrained passion, a form of ‘madness’ if you like, to the whole process of music making. The melodies, the use of technology, the voice as an instrument are all right on the edge. It is not an album for the faint hearted and was far too much for the buying public in 1982 who backed away in alarm.

Interestingly, both these albums are the predecessors of what is generally considered the ‘best’ (read; commercial) work of each artist. In Kate’s case it foreshadowed ‘The Hounds of Love’ and in Joni’s, ‘Court and Spark’. This is not an unknown phenomenon as ‘Revolver’ is now considered on a par with ‘Sgt Pepper’ and ‘Off the Wall’ has been cited as at least as good as the following ‘Thriller’. But whatever their place, they are truly great albums.

Just don’t let anyone tell me they are throwaway pop.