scmorris wrote:
> Well, I have a burning question for all you Joni fans. I recall reading
> somewhere that all the Joni sheet music books are transcriptions/arrangements
> put together by individuals ( I can't recall whom). As a classically trained
> musician, I take a special interest in pop musicians' education. I was
> wondering if anyone out there knows if Joni knows how to read music or guitar
> tablature or the extent of her musical training.
I think the answer to that question would be no. It's possible she
has a rudimentary knowledge of some aspects of notation from
childhood-she had (brief) piano lessons and sang in choirs.
>
>
> On an unrelated topic, does anyone out there know if its possible to get a
> poster of Joni 'in action' so to speak, playing the guitar or the piano? I've
> looked on e-bay and they have plenty of posters from the Both Sides Now album,
> but that's pretty much it.
>
You can get lots of jpgs from the jonimitchell.com site-you can
print them yourself- or maybe a local copy center can blow them
up into posters. Posters of Joni have been few, mainly promos for
her albums, and I can't recall any of her playing an instrument.
>
> And finally, Has Joni ever recorded songs that she has not written either
> words or lyrics to (covers) besides the Both Sides Now album? One of my
> friends mentioned that she did not write Woodstock...is this true?
Brian Gross wrote:
A few months ago, there was discussion here of a story that Essra Mohawk
claimed to have greatly influenced Joni's writing of "Woodstock."
Joni's LOTC version of Woodstock sounds more like Essra's works of the
late 60's and early 70's than Joni's other works from STAS thru MOA
(imho). Maybe it is just the sound of the electric piano ... who
knows? :-)
Esra herself still maintains this story. I got a personal email from
her saying as much. FWIW she sounds like a credible nice person.
Joni is credited as the sole writer.
Other songs that Joni has not wholly written include most of
the Mingus album, in which she wrote lyrics to Charles Mingus'
music, including his signature tune "Goodbye Pork-Pie Hat".
"Yvette In English" was co-written with David Crosby.
"The Silky Veils of Ardor" used revised lyrics from a couple of
old folk songs: "Wayfarin' Stranger" and "Come You Fair and
Tender Ladies" (or something like that). "Slouching Toward
Bethlehem" is based on a poem by W.B. Yeats."The Crazy Cries of
Love" contains lyrics by Don Freed, and some of the Klein-era
(Dog Eat Dog, CMIAR, NRH) songs were cowritten with her
then-husband, bassist Larry Klein.
She has performed other people's songs in concert, probably
too numerous to mention, including "Get Together", "I Heard It
Through the Grapevine", & "Trouble Man".
"Donna J. Binkley" wrote:
> Also for songs she covered, i would include Chinese Cafe from WTRF which
> uses a portion of an old song i don't know the name of - "Oh my love my
> darlin i've hungered for your touch..." Donna
It's "Unchained Melody"
>
>
> Thanks
> Stephanie
