Caught the Joan on the old boob tube, too. The BBC concert. What struck me was how shy and nervous and delicate she seemed. And what was really strange (with all this talk about her voice) was that after two or three songs her voice started to go (she even said, I'd love to stay another hour but the pipes are going). She was having trouble venturing up into that stratospheric soprrano (the popular Joni yodel effect) -- seemed more comfortable in the lower range. Was that high voice a "false" falsetto all along? And was singing so high, straining so, the real culprit (of course the cigs didn't help).? I think it was.
By the time she did BSN, she was really cracking -- and seemed upset at the end, taking her bows. Who knows. Maybe she boarded a plane for B.C. soon after -- to begin the first of her many retirements. This would've been after BLUE was released (she did a heartbreaking A CASE OF YOU). P.S. As I write this, I'm haunted by the swirling strings of the new version of HEJIRA. Wow.
