Joni cleansing

[vaneramos]

...and still somehow,
It's life's illusions I recall...

I'm finally getting to know Joni Mitchell, thanks to LJ friends. As a teenager I hardly listened to popular music, but liked Judy Collins and owned Judith along with Classical records. "Both sides now" has always been a favourite. I didn't realize Mitchell had written it until her new recording released in 2000.

ghostsandrobots introduced me to kd lang's Hymns of the 49^th Parallel, with covers of two Mitchell songs. My curiosity was piqued. Then vaysha sent me a mix of new folk. Good stuff. This would have become my genre 20 years ago if other factors hadn't interfered.

Like religion. This week I had Keith Green and Bob Ayala running through my head. It mad me angry. Christian folk and rock fosters self-loathing. But I had the antidote for this ear parasite.

When I visited bruno_bt before Christmas he was playing a familiar voice and guitar. Sure enough, it was Joni Mitchell, her first album released in 1968. When I saw Bruce two weeks ago, he gave me digitally remastered releases of that album and Clouds.

I've been listening while I wash dishes and cook squash soup; letting Joni wash away discord, the blind world of black and white.

Comments

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

I love Joni Mitchell as well. First became familiar with her stuff when I ended up with a warped copy of her 1969 album, Ladies of the Canyon some 25 or so years ago. Then begining around 1999-2000 I went on a vinyl buying spree and amongst the many purchases over the year or so were several new Joni additions. Court and Spark, Blue, Hijera, Mingus, Hissing of Summer Lawns and Dog eat Dog from I think 1985.

I so need to spin her again.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

And all waiting for my discovery! :-)

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Yup! :-)

[missprune.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I didn't pay much attention to Joni Mitchell "at the time" either. But recently I was captivated by hearing (radio) that song about "I wish I had a river..." and wondered why I had missed noticing her much in earlier times.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

It's interesting how life comes spiralling back. I think I'm happy I missed this stuff earlier. It gives me something new, now.

[myownghost.livejournal.com]

i liked both joni and judy but much preferred judy's voice. (My Father is one of the most beautiful songs from the early '70s, i think.) k.d. lang is wonderful. i really should get that album.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That's interesting, because I was surprised how Joni's voice reminded me of Judy. Unfortunately the clip of "My father" on Amazon does give much sense of the song. I need to rediscover Judy, too. In Hymns of the 49^th parallel k.d. lang covers songs all by Canadian songwriters (Neal Young, Jane Siberry, Leonard Cohen, etc.). It's neat that Ziggy brought the album to my attention.

[mattycub.livejournal.com]

I haven't delved nearly as far into Joni's catalog as I would like, but "Blue" is one of my favorite albums of all time.

[mattycub.livejournal.com]

It's definitely one of the best songs on the album - along with "A Case of You" and "River", which I think are brilliant both musically and lyrically.

I remember that time that you told me, you said
Love is touching souls
Surely you touched mine
Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I'm talking specifically about Christian rock. The most successful artist in the genre circa 1990 was Amy Grant, although the Christian music industry ditched her when she started appealing to secular audiences and (reportedly) had an affair.

The prevalent message it gives youth is "I'm useless and going to Hell without Jesus." That's no different from standard church doctrine of course, but music can be particularly manipulative, appealing to the emotions and distracting people from the irrationality of blind faith. I used to have guilt fests, listening to music to make me feel weepy, needy and sanctified. Christianity teaches that the path to peace lies through repentance, a doctrine I know abhor.

That might explain why, now, I don't spend much time listening to music, even though I love it. Music has always been an intense experience for me, not necessarily conducive to serenity. But I've been unloading some baggage, so maybe it can become more relaxing now.

Incidentally, the church I attended taught that non-Christian rock music was Satanic.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

a doctrine I know abhor.

a doctrine I now abhor.

[champdaddy.livejournal.com]

highly recommend Court and Spark... don't let the fact so many of the songs on this album have been covered by other artists, find out how they were originally intended.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I like to go to the source, anyway! Thanks for the recommendation.

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.

Hejira.

Court & Spark.

The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

Ladies of the Canyon.

*snuggle*

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Wow, a lot of people like Joni Mitchell, and these recommendations are going to keep me busy for a while! xoxox

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

We can have a Joni Mitchell Sunday afternoon, I think.

[grandiva1968.livejournal.com]

I've got a blue motel room
With a blue bedspread
I've got the blues inside and outside my head
Will you still love me
When I call you up when I'm down

[e-musings.livejournal.com]

Blue is one of my favorite albums. Period. A case of you is a great song.
I also like ladies of the canyon.

I listen to joni a lot sometimes.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I can tell I will, too!

[token-otter.livejournal.com]

Bill and Danny got me into Joni Mitchell a few years ago, so I bought Hits and Misses. I enjoy both albums very much, though I tend to drift to the older more accoustic songs she did earlier.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

So far I'm unfamiliar with her later stuff, although I adore the newer version of "Both sides now." I'm starting from the beginning, so it's going to be interesting to hear where she went from there.

Joni

[currawong.livejournal.com]

I fell in love with Joni in 1966, (via strange but haunting covers by Buffy St Marie).

My essential Joni list contains: "The Hissing of Summer Lawns", ( all the classic standards); the incredibly witty and insightful "Court & Spark" and her beautiful, moody masterpiece, "Hegira". "Amelia", from that album, is intensely poetic, sad and moving.

Nice to talk to you again Van, after quite an absence.

Re: Joni

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yes, good to hear from you, Bill!

I'm getting a fairly clear idea from comments left here as to which Joni albums I should look up. I'm also intrigued about the Buffy St. Marie covers. You may remember I'm a fan of hers, as much the person as the music.

Re: Buffy St. Marie.

[currawong.livejournal.com]

I think the album may have been called "Little Wheel, Spin and Spin", (we're talking forty years ago ... my, how time flies). The covers were "Clouds" and a couple of others, lost in the fog of time. The rest of the album contained several incredibly bitter protest songs sung in that inimitable, whiney but powerful voice.

I liked Buffy best in traditional ballads like "The Lyke Wake Dirge", "Lord Randall, My Son" and "Sir Patrick Spens". She did an amazing musical version of the "God is Alive, Magic Is Afoot" sequence from Leonard Cohen's much banned novel, "Beautiful Losers", which any Canadian interested in the Canada of the 69's should read.

All this was WAY before her stint on "Sesame Street".

Re: Buffy St. Marie.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

"God is alive, magic is afoot" was also released on Up Where We Belong, which I own. It's sort of a Buffy St. Marie greatest hits album. I didn't realize the words came from Leonard Cohen. He's another one of my recent discoveries.

Leonard Cohen's Novel-"Beautiful Losers".

[currawong.livejournal.com]

"Beautiful Losers" was a sensation in it's time, at the height of the post- De Gaulle visit hysteria in Quebec. It was banned for obscenity in Australia, leading to a trial, which found in the publisher's favour and was, effectively, the last literary obscenity prosecution in Aussie history. It's an interesting book ..a bit dated in that late 60's/early 70's way...but funny, poetic and containing some interesting history for an outsider like me. I'd never heard of St' Catherine Tekakwitha until I'd read the book.

Re: Leonard Cohen's Novel-"Beautiful Losers".

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I was impressed with his poetry in "Book of Mercy", which I read years ago before I knew his music. It is all based on Psalms, which tied in nicely with some irreverant (but sometimes meditative) pseudo-scriptural poetry I have written.

Re: Joni

[currawong.livejournal.com]

Quel Freudian slip! That should have been "60's", not "69's" ...LOL.
You see, the zero's next to the nine and ....oh, bugger it ... I guess I'm just an incorrigable old cocksucker.

More on Buffy

[currawong.livejournal.com]

Her best album, in my opinion was "Fire and Fleet and Candlelight", which has largely traditional material. The title track is an arrangement by Benjamin Britten of the "Lyke-Wake Dirge", which is a mediaeval poem of the soul's journey after death ... it'll raise hairs on the back of your neck.

Re: More on Buffy

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I must look it up!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Useful comments, all. I did enjoy the rich electronic sound of the new version of "Both sides now", although I haven't heard any other recent songs. It was refreshing, though, to hear the simplicity of these early recordings. It's interesting to see the transition. Thanks for your advice here.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

P.S. Hearing from you on LJ seems like a good thing. Are the new pills helping?