# The Strange Magic of: Joni Mitchell



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The world of those who appreciate rock/pop should be especially conscious of the enormous contribution made to our music by the U.S.'s wonderful neighbor to the north, Canada. Given their population, Canadians have given us a group of artists of great stature, who can be counted among the top rank. Joni Mitchell certainly leads the way, in my view, with a body of wonderful, inventive, adventurous (both in music and lyrics) songs. Here is a classic, _Woodstock_, perfectly capturing the Zeitgeist of that time and place and event--and yet composed by someone who was not even there. Such is the intuition and awareness of Mitchell that she was able to capture the thing in a song that became the single most emblematic remembrance of that gathering at Yasgur's Farm. I wasn't there either, but Joni took me there.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I'm a huge admirer of Joni's. Very few musicians are blessed with the enormous talent she possesses. I listened to Court And Spark the other night, and it always strikes me as a masterpiece of an album. Great songs, brilliant arrangements, and that amazing voice of hers. And her vocal phrasing, and chord voicings are unique. One of a kind. And all that phenomenal musicianship aside, there is an intangiable quailty/artisty that moves me very deeply when I listen to her music. Quite simply, she is a musical goddess for the ages!


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Joni has a great touch on the guitar. She's her own superb accompanist. She doesn't even need a band. But it doesn't hurt to have Pat Metheny adding some touches.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Starthrower, very tasty! Here's another gem--_Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire_. Nobody else could possibly come up with material this good. From For the Roses.


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## Iean (Nov 17, 2015)

I'm also a big fan of this very talented lady and my favorite Joni Mitchell album is "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" - avant pop at its best :angel:


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Her LP 'Clouds' (1969) was part of my university experience & early married life. I love all the songs on it, and listening to them helps me relive my heyday.


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

So nice to read this. Joni is one of my favorites for a long time now. I don't like her earliest work that much but almost everything I know of that followed is exceptional. Blue, Court and Spark, Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, the Mingus album. All really wonderful albums. I like her jazzy period most I think. The Mingus album also has a very fine and unique atmosphere. Also her live album Shadows and Light with the hauntingly beautiful guitar solo by Pat Metheny on Amelia. Amelia probably is the song that touches me most. I still play it very regularly and return to it all the time. It somehow reflects my saddest feelings about this world and my own inability to really connect and communicate, better than anything else. Amelia and I are really out there on icy altitudes both not able to get in, to be where we crave to be.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Strange Magic said:


> Starthrower, very tasty! Here's another gem--_Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire_. Nobody else could possibly come up with material this good. From For the Roses.


Yeah, that's one of her great songs of the early 70s. For The Roses is where she started to develop a more sophisticated rhythmic approach and contemporary style.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Unfortunately, Joni Mitchell is not in the best of health, having suffered from a brain aneurism. She also has Morgellons Syndrome, a bizarre condition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgellons


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

She is in a bad way, sad to say. But the PBS American Masters bio on Joni, made about a dozen years ago, did a wonderful job of laying out her full story up until then, and fully displaying her amazing talent and equally amazing rock and roll life.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Iean said:


> I'm also a big fan of this very talented lady and my favorite Joni Mitchell album is "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" - avant pop at its best :angel:


If you can, hunt out a "bootleg" demo album that Joni did called "The Seeding of Summer Lawns". It is a selection of demos that she did where she only played acoustic or piano with minimal orchestration of most of the songs that went on to the official release.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

One of a kind.


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## Iean (Nov 17, 2015)

Barbebleu said:


> If you can, hunt out a "bootleg" demo album that Joni did called "The Seeding of Summer Lawns". It is a selection of demos that she did where she only played acoustic or piano with minimal orchestration of most of the songs that went on to the official release.


Thanks! Will look for it pronto:angel:


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Iean said:


> Thanks! Will look for it pronto:angel:


http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/jonimitchell_hissingofsummerlawns_demos.html

The above link will take you to the text page for this. If you just go back a page you'll see links to WMA and MP3 versions. Just one long track I'm afraid but excellent.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

Casebearer said:


> Also her live album Shadows and Light with the hauntingly beautiful guitar solo by Pat Metheny on Amelia.


No need to thank me, but I'm on that one.:tiphat:


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Long a favorite of mine:


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

She's been very strong in my life, luckily having an older sister that was into her. I had about five of her albums at home growing up, including Hierja, Hissing of Summer Lawns, and Don Juan. It will be also a serious thing when she passes.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

One of her most beautiful songs from the 1980s.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Here's a great tune from the 90s. I remember watching this back in the day. 20 years has taken its toll on her health, but she was still very beautiful here and sounding great.


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## Alydon (May 16, 2012)

It is strange that I've met a couple of fellow other classical music fanatics and we all agree Joni Mitchell's Clouds is our favourite non-classical album - I've loved it for years and it's never far away, every song on it is perfect! For a very, very favourite Mitchell song it would have to be For the Roses.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Barbebleu said:


> If you can, hunt out a "bootleg" demo album that Joni did called "The Seeding of Summer Lawns". It is a selection of demos that she did where she only played acoustic or piano with minimal orchestration of most of the songs that went on to the official release.


Interesting. I hadn't heard of these demos, but I see they're on YT as a playlist:


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

SimonNZ said:


> Interesting. I hadn't heard of these demos, but I see they're on YT as a playlist:


Check out post #14 for another link for this.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

One of the problems I've always had with HOSL that stops me loving it as much as many others do is all the stylistic jumping it does from song to song, each fine individually, but making the album feel like an assortment of disparate material. The demos even that out, and also would probably appeal more to those who prefer Joni's solo-acoustic style.

Thanks for alerting me to this.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

starthrower said:


> Here's a great tune from the 90s. I remember watching this back in the day. 20 years has taken its toll on her health, but she was still very beautiful here and sounding great.


Great find, starthrower. Thanks.

You can hear on this song, and on the rest of the album it's on, how her vocal range had dropped a bit. Something similar happened with Sarah Vaughan in her later years. To me her voice has taken on a warmth and profundity that it didn't have when she was young. It's also evident in the first song on that album (_Sunny Sunday_).

Also have to agree with the above comments about _Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire_. A great allegory about heroin addiction. To this day, I think _For the Roses_ is one of her best works. She has always been in a class all her own. I mean, how many other rock singers were writing songs dedicated to Beethoven?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Alydon said:


> It is strange that I've met a couple of fellow other classical music fanatics and we all agree Joni Mitchell's Clouds is our favourite non-classical album - I've loved it for years and it's never far away, every song on it is perfect! For a very, very favourite Mitchell song it would have to be For the Roses.


I like it a lot too.


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## Jay (Jul 21, 2014)

SONNET CLV said:


> Long a favorite of mine:
> View attachment 82718


A desert island LP for me. Her best, imo.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Nobody better than Joni.


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