By the winter of 1996, I had fallen in love with the Indigo Girls cover of "River" on 1200 Curfews and heard Roseanne Cash's version of the song as well as Sarah McLachlan's cover of "Blue" on 1995's excellent Spirit of '73 compilation, which featured several amazing women performing covers of 70s tunes as a benefit for Rock For Choice. This, combined with the advice of a fellow Balehead, Brianne, inspired me to give Joni Mitchell a listen. I chose the album that had both of the songs I'd heard: Blue.
For anyone unfamiliar with Joni's music, I should say that 1971's Blue is not just her greatest album, but also an essential album. It is full of poetry, acoustic guitar that rings with joy or sadness and of course, Joni Mitchell's beautiful voice. Especially in her early work, she sang so clearly and was full of light and humor as well as that beautiful melancholy that I am always drawn to in music. As long as I'm on the subject of beautiful and sad, "River" is still my very favorite song of Joni Mitchell's, the most gorgeous song on the album. "Blue" is so perfect that it makes it very difficult for me to hear anyone else perform it. I fell madly in love for "A case of you" which is my second all-time favorite Joni song. But there are also songs like "California" and "Carey" and "All I want" that are more upbeat and just as good. I also have a special fondness for "The last time I saw Richard" obviously, which includes the lyric "I'm gonna blow this damn candle out / I don't want nobody coming over to my table / I got nothing to talk to anybody about". It's like the song was written for me. I fell hard for Blue and then Brianne suggested that I try Court and Spark. It was fantastic, a little more pop-sounding than Blue, but I adored "Help me" and recognized "Free man in Paris" from having heard it at my job. Speaking of which, I recorded both albums onto a cassette, one on each side, and would bring it to work with me. At that point, I had moved on to the video game booth at Toys R Us and was able to play the radio while I worked. I probably wore out that cassette over the Christmas season.
Over the years I have continued to listen to Joni Mitchell. It's strange, though. As much as I love her and as much as her lyrics are an integral part of her music, I feel about her music outside of a few albums, the way I do about jazz. I will find myself in a certain state of mind and think, "I need to listen to Hejira or Don Juan's Reckless Daughter" because of the mood they have, rather than for specific songs. (Much like the way I'll think "I have to listen to Kind of Blue or Charles Mingus" for the same reasons. I'll eventually talk about how I was introduced to jazz and the strange relationship I have with jazz music, but it's hard to explain.) It may also be due to the fact that Joni's work ended up being influenced by jazz (she even collaborated with Mingus), but while there are some Mitchell albums I can play and sing along with, there are some that play and just sort of seep into me the way a film score will, that I appreciate for the feeling that comes over me when I hear them.
In 2000, she recorded an album of standards called Both Sides Now that also included new recordings of "River" and the title track. By then her soprano had deepened and gained a rasp, years of smoking cigarettes. But it makes listening to her new recording of "Both sides now" even more powerful. Two years later, she would record new versions of several of her songs with an orchestra for the two-disc set, Travelogue. It's a gorgeous collection by a woman who is still an extraordinary artist.
next time: 14th street the garbage swirls like a cyclone / 3:00 in the afternoon & i'm going home / F train is full of high school students / so much shouting, so much laughter
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