On Sunday, May 6, I wrote:
"I am a stupid................Oops - no time now for the other confession -
by the way, when one posts a
confession on the list, does the Reverand Vince mete out the penance ? I need
to know, cause the next sin's pretty bad. :-) "
Well, the Rev Vince didn't say anything about absolution, but he promised
that there would be no penance.......so, here goes.
I quit on what was then Joni's 'newer' stuff in the late-70"s when I couldn't
"get into" Hejira (even after listening to it about 50 times). I really
wanted to like the album. I listened to it in the dark; I listened to it
while riding a stationary bike. Nothing worked. I had disliked THOSL, and now
this one seemed to leave me cold. So I quit - after Hejira, of all albums.
Ugh. ( I expect to hear the gasps in the distance, breaking the silence in my
office, when I 'send' these posted words). I stopped buying her albums (I did
end up buying WTRF, but that did nothing to dissuade me from my previous
analysis). So for 20 years I played only her first 6 albums (listening to the
other three named above once a year or so to convince myself I was "right").
All the while, mind you, I still considered her "the one", and how could the
world not see that? Then, a few years ago I picked up TI and liked it. That
got me to re-visit Hejira again. Lo and behold, I started to like it. Then
the tribute concert charged me up some more, and all of a sudden - I get it.
After almost 25 years, I finally came to the realization that it is one of
her (two ?) masterpieces (a defined term in my lexicon, to be sure).
There was a lesson in humility I learned there, that I hope to share with the
JMDL'er who asserted (as I recall - I deleted the digest, and have forgotten
his name - nothing personal) that he did not think that Blue was among Joni's
best albums, and that he has played it at most 5 times (perhaps that was an
exaggeration, but even so...) Based on my experience above, it is possible
that 5 times is not enough of a try. And if he considers that so many of her
real fans (note the album poll here) and her casual fans (note the VH1 all
time greatest album poll) rank it so highly, it is possible that exercising
the virtue of humility by listening to it a few more times will prove
rewarding for him. It certainly has been for me, as now I have been enjoying
THOSL, DJRD, S&L and all of her 90's stuff. Only 4 more to really explore
(Mingus and the 80's triad). Lucky me.
Of course, it is possible I suppose to not come to love (or even like) Blue.
I have a theory about that. In between Blue and Hejira, Joni sang herself to
be a "Woman of Heart and Mind". To that I think we would all agree to add
"Soul". Blue was primarily an album of Heart and Soul (every song on the
album is passionate and romantic, pure emotion), whereas Hejira was primarily
one of Mind and Soul (to paraphrase Joni in her "Painting With Words and
Music" video, in the intro to one of the songs from Hejira, 'we're still on
the road, but we're thinking, we're thinking"). Many (perhaps most) of us
have had one or two periods in our lives where romance and passion dominated
our thoughts and dreams. If one encountered Blue during such a period
(particularly at or around the time Blue was released), it would have been
virtually impossible IMHO to not come under its spell. And for those of us
who are no longer in that mode, listening to Blue helps us remember (if not
recapture) the precious feelings of such times. Some may have encountered
Blue after that period in their lives had come and gone, and/or after having
immersed themselves in Hejira (which is clearly the more sophisticated work
musically, Joni having had the benefit of five additional years of growth as
a musician as well as amazing support from her world class back-up
musicians). In such cases, I can understand Blue appearing to be of lesser
stature in some respects (although the melody lines in Blue are unparalleled,
and the spare musicianship so tasteful and consonant with the songs).
Finally, for those who prefer jazz sounds to more classical ones, the
preference must be to Hejira. Even so, the proponents of one can (and more
often than not do) acknowledge the greatness of the other.
For they are both "masterpieces" by my definition and standards. Both works
of a type that had never really been done before. Both works of incredible
excellence and consistency (not a bad cut on either album - although I was
ambivalent about Little Green until I found out what it was about - that sure
changed my view). Both albums of integrated themes and perspectives -
individual songs that belong together in a collection, masterfully sequenced.
Both albums featuring wonderful melodies, lyrics, singing, arrangements and
musicianship.
Then there are the other 15 JM albums that most other artists would have
considered their masterpieces had they produced them. :-)
PS: In the Welcome to the JMDL it is written "We are generally a mature,
thoughtful bunch who are mostly supportive of Joni and her work. However,
that does not mean we are a bunch of starry-eyed fanatics, either". In my
case, Les, I am afraid I must demur on all accounts. As for the group as a
whole, I will go along with the mature and thoughtful part, but whom do we
think we are kidding about not being "fans" (short, in the parlance, for
SEF's) ?
