greetings listers! long time no type. i trust this finds all of you well...
i have a little project that i would welcome your input in order to
successfully complete.
i have a friend, named jay. he is one of the smartest people i know. a
professor emeritus at MIT (of linguistics) - a brilliant lecturer,
journalist, author, extraordinary conversationalist, art collector, poet, and
dixieland jazz musician. (clarinet). i saw jay not too long ago at a party
and he mentioned to me that he had heard joni had recorded with charles
mingus, a fact that both intrigued and impressed him. we talked about it a
bit, and he said he would have to check her out someday. well, of course,
express interest in joni mitchell to a JMDL member at your peril! so i made
him a tape. because i knew jay loved jazz, i stuck mostly to her jazzier
numbers, and arranged them all in order of release, so he could get an
appreciation of how she developed as an artist. but i did include one cut
from her early days, just so he could have an idea of how utter her
transformation had been. i chose "the last time i saw richard" because of
its rather complex melodic line, and because, with its compacted lyrics and
its piano (and that voice!) i thought it was a good representative cut of her
roots. jay loved the tape, was knocked out by joni's musical sophistication,
and, oddly, was MOST impressed by the one cut from blue! he couldn't quite
believe that the woman who wrote moon at the window, and impossible dreamer,
and ray's dad's cadillac was the same woman singing TLTISR. so, having
hooked a big fish, now i need to reel him in.
i am going to make jay a new tape, most likely two of them, consisting of 40
or so cuts. i want it to include two cuts from each of her cd's, from STAS
all the way to BSN. three would be even better, i know, i know, but a gift
of 3 tapes, on top of the one i already gave him, would probably scare him
off.
so that is where you all come in. i need you guys to give me your
suggestions for the two cuts from each cd that you think would best represent
that particular phase of her career. i have been trying and trying, and it
is just impossible! like for the roses, for example...look at the selection!
the soulful, tender woman of heart and mind? the title cut? what about
cold blue steel and sweet fire? how could you possibly not include that? or
the majestic judgement of the moon and stars? and, since FTR is one of the
peaks in her confessional stage, how could we omit the brilliant flow of
lesson in survival into let the wind carry me?
or consider court and spark...what about that pop masterpiece, free man in
paris? or the (i think) musical mastery demonstrated in the transition from
people's parties into the same situation? its very hard!!! and i don't know
about you, but down to you and car on a hill and just like this train...well,
you see what i mean.
i know these lists come and go. but it IS kind of an interesting challenge,
paticularly for those of us who have chosen to so immerse ourselves in her
work for so long. if you feel inclined, i would welcome your input. the
challenge, i think, is to avoid a knee-jerk selection our personal favorites,
but to really think about it what each album is about, and chose the two cuts
that best call to mind its particular themes, lyrically and musically. so,
if you want to help, please limit it to just two per album. (cheating by
exceeding the 2PER limit, tho perfectly understandable, will NOT be helpful!)
of course, i'd be interested in hearing your thoughts behind your choices,
but that is entirely optional...
thanks! be well...
peace! ric
