50th
March 16, 2018 11:46 AM Subscribe
I like this kind of artist retrospective far more than obituaries!
posted by Krawczak at 12:44 PM on March 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Krawczak at 12:44 PM on March 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
The Joni Mitchell/James Taylor BBC concert was one of my first purchased bootlegs (on cassette). Even with the uneven sound, it's still a great collection of songs from two great songwriters.
posted by blob at 2:24 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by blob at 2:24 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
With the original systems of harmony and tuning, her music is as much invented, as it is composed and authored.
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:50 PM on March 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:50 PM on March 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
There are no superlatives big enough.
posted by Twang at 4:10 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Twang at 4:10 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
Wonderful post - thx!
posted by leslies at 4:53 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by leslies at 4:53 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Ah, I just remembered that, according to my MeFi profile, I am a "Devout disciple and proselytizer of the Cult of Saint Roberta Joan Anderson, Our Lady of the Holey Stocking."
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:01 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by ZenMasterThis at 5:01 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
There are no superlatives big enough.
Agreed.
Brings to mind a discussion from a while back, two friends comparing notes as to who was the most effective vocalist of the "classic rock" era (the mid-60s on through the 1970s). Lots of the regular suspects got mentioned, running the gamut from Neil Young to Van Morrison to John Lennon to Freddie Mercury and everybody in between ... except they were all male. And then one of the friends said, what about Joni Mitchell? And the other just started gushing, mainly about her 1970s stuff. How she was not only a superb composer, lyricist, arranger, producer, but she also had the secret weapon of her voice, as multi-faceted as any instrument ever devised, except it could deliver actual words, spin tales, specify thoughts, dreams, images ... like something out of mythology.
Which led directly to me picking up Hissing of Summer Lawns a few days later at a flea market. And he was right. That's exactly what she sounds like.
posted by philip-random at 5:38 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
Agreed.
Brings to mind a discussion from a while back, two friends comparing notes as to who was the most effective vocalist of the "classic rock" era (the mid-60s on through the 1970s). Lots of the regular suspects got mentioned, running the gamut from Neil Young to Van Morrison to John Lennon to Freddie Mercury and everybody in between ... except they were all male. And then one of the friends said, what about Joni Mitchell? And the other just started gushing, mainly about her 1970s stuff. How she was not only a superb composer, lyricist, arranger, producer, but she also had the secret weapon of her voice, as multi-faceted as any instrument ever devised, except it could deliver actual words, spin tales, specify thoughts, dreams, images ... like something out of mythology.
Which led directly to me picking up Hissing of Summer Lawns a few days later at a flea market. And he was right. That's exactly what she sounds like.
posted by philip-random at 5:38 PM on March 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
"Such biographical insights invariably read like tawdry gossip..."
Which the writer nevertheless mines for the frisson.
"– and define a brilliant woman by the less-talented men that inspired her smacks of macho prejudice.
Wow, someone's in the tank for Joni, considering the "less-talented men" cited are James Taylor, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Leonard Cohen. I mean, just start a fan Tumblr and leave it at that.
posted by the sobsister at 6:21 PM on March 16, 2018
Which the writer nevertheless mines for the frisson.
"– and define a brilliant woman by the less-talented men that inspired her smacks of macho prejudice.
Wow, someone's in the tank for Joni, considering the "less-talented men" cited are James Taylor, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Leonard Cohen. I mean, just start a fan Tumblr and leave it at that.
posted by the sobsister at 6:21 PM on March 16, 2018
And then one of the friends said, what about Joni Mitchell? And the other just started gushing, mainly about her 1970s stuff. How she was not only a superb composer, lyricist, arranger, producer, but she also had the secret weapon of her voice, as multi-faceted as any instrument ever devised, except it could deliver actual words, spin tales, specify thoughts, dreams, images ... like something out of mythology.
My partner and I were talking about Joni Mitchell a couple of years ago in very glowing terms, and I mentioned that I thought Mitchell had very typical looks for a fair-haired Sami (as my partner herself does), but we weren't able to find out much about her ancestry beyond something like a grandfather or great grandfather with the last name of Sami (as I recall).
posted by jamjam at 8:55 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
My partner and I were talking about Joni Mitchell a couple of years ago in very glowing terms, and I mentioned that I thought Mitchell had very typical looks for a fair-haired Sami (as my partner herself does), but we weren't able to find out much about her ancestry beyond something like a grandfather or great grandfather with the last name of Sami (as I recall).
posted by jamjam at 8:55 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:06 PM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]