How to get into Joni Mitchell's Music?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Favre508, Feb 19, 2016.

  1. bug2362

    bug2362 Forum Resident

    Location:
    West Seattle, WA
    Try Court and Spark- perfect pop/jazz fusion candy
    With a couple of AM friendly hits-
    "Help Me" and "free man in Paris"
     
    Comet01 and Alan2 like this.
  2. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    There really is no bad Joni album. All of her albums are interesting and have something to offer. She had quite a run through 1980 though. All 4 star albums or higher including her 2 live albums.
     
    Aurora, sunspot42, Alan2 and 2 others like this.
  3. Hatchet Jack

    Hatchet Jack Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I've been through the same thing. There's this band from Liverpool that people keep talking about, i mean, as if they were the greatest thing ever, but it just never got me, and to this day i don't see what the fuss is about...
     
    ssstand, Canadacrowe and clayton like this.
  4. somnar

    somnar Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC & Amsterdam
    This is a great post.

    I'm now a huge Joni fan, but it was a strange path. Was initially really put off by her voice, but a roommate of mine had a copy of Wild Things Run Fast (which was current at the time) and I liked it, mainly because it seemed like a vaguely catchy rock-ish record, one that Joni Mitchell happened to be singing on (of course I now think there's much more to it than that). Then For The Roses, again because there happened to be a copy hanging around, which I quickly got very attached to.

    But it was Hissing of Summer Lawns that made me a true convert. Songs/performances/production, all of it. That was fifteen years ago and it's never far from the CD player.
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  5. gohill

    gohill Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow, UK
    Those first 4 Echo & The Bunnymen albums are really good, you should give them a 2nd chance.
     
  6. Anne Elk (Miss)

    Anne Elk (Miss) Well-Known Member

    Location:
    U.K.
    The Hissing Of Summer Lawns was my first Joni album. That's all I can say really. It's gorgeous in itself but I didn't go all in at that point. I was about 14. I think I added her albums slowly after that - For The Roses and Court And Spark next, then Blue. They were all good but it was only when I got onto Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and Mingus that I really came to love her work and, for me, that run of albums, from 1974 to 1979, define Joni.
     
  7. Khaki F

    Khaki F Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kenosha, WI. USA
    [​IMG]

    Perfection.
     
  8. the sands

    the sands Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo, Norway
    I'm waiting for "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" from amazon. I read something about that it was one of Prince's favorite albums. It made me curious, it's an album I haven't heard so much.
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  9. recoverydog

    recoverydog Forum Resident

    My favorites are Court And Spark and Dog Eat Dog. Yep, Dog Eat Dog.
     
    DonnyMe likes this.
  10. chrisblower

    chrisblower Norfolk n'good

    I would try her later albums first ... Night Ride Home or Turbulent Indigo as musically they still sound interesting .. but I don't get why just because you like Dylan and Young you're gonna find something to like in Joni. Sure their paths crossed a long while ago but she quickly morphed in the mid seventies into her own unique jazz scene where she created her best stuff then leading up to the summit of Don Juan/Mingus/Shadows and Light .. whist those other two were moving to grungy guitar (Rust) or Christian tinged albums (Bob) ...
     
    sunspot42 and Runicen like this.
  11. BlueGangsta

    BlueGangsta Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    You don't get into Joni Mitchell's music. It gets into you.
     
    Aurora, Mickey2, bartels76 and 3 others like this.
  12. Anne Elk (Miss)

    Anne Elk (Miss) Well-Known Member

    Location:
    U.K.
    That might well be true. I don't know if you were being flippant (I'm new so, sorry, I'm not sure who posts in particular ways yet) but it could be that there's no 'best' album to start with. Maybe you get into her music by hearing an album at the specific moment that you're most receptive to hearing that album.
     
    Aurora, dalem5467, Mickey2 and 3 others like this.
  13. frimleygreener

    frimleygreener "It 'a'int why...it just is"

    Location:
    united kingdom
    Mitchell
    Dylan
    Simon.
    You guys across the pond have certainly been blessed with song writers of consummate quality and gravitas.
     
  14. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    The alternatives regarding Mitchell are her earlier folky - voice accompanied only by guitar - and her later jazz-influenced work. But I suspect if 'Blue' doesn't do it for you, you probably should move on and call it quits with Mitchell.
     
  15. BlueGangsta

    BlueGangsta Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Correct, good sir. I strongly believe that Joni is an artist that requires a certain level of lived experience to truly emote to.
     
  16. spencer1

    spencer1 Great Western Forum Resident

    I always find these "how do I like" threads extremely weird.
    It's music ... you like an artist or you don't.

    Personally Joni Mitchell speaks to me lyrically and musically. For me "Blue" is one of my absolute favorite albums.
    By the way I don't like the way avocados taste, can somebody help me get into them?
     
  17. Anne Elk (Miss)

    Anne Elk (Miss) Well-Known Member

    Location:
    U.K.
    I dunno. They seem to get people posting.

    Try one from 1973 and work your way up from there.
     
  18. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    The Beatles
    The Stones
    The Who

    Right back atcha.
     
    Mickey2 and Runicen like this.
  19. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Hmmm. Probably Night Ride Home. It has issues, mostly around its somewhat generic early '90s production, but the songwriting is more consistent than on most other post-'80 Joni records and there are a couple of killer cuts ("Two Grey Rooms", "Slouching Towards Bethlehem"). Turbulent Indigo is also pretty good.
     
    Aurora, Lilainjil and JohnnyQuest like this.
  20. gohill

    gohill Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow, UK
    Yes those 2 are easily the best post 1980 albums of original material. Night Ride Home is really great. I prefer it to Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and most of Mingus actually; which for me makes it her best album since Hejira. Turbulent Indigo is strong too.

    However Both Side Now is my real favourite of her post 1980 releases. A perfect album with wonderful orchestral arrangements of standards and 2 of her finest songs. Her voice is smoky and entrancing and her phrasing immaculate. 'Travelogue' sounded an excellent idea (on paper) after that; but it didn't really work for me at all for some reason. Quite strange; as the 2 best songs on 'Both Sides Now' were reworks of her own 'A Case Of You' and the title track.
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  21. Freedom Rider

    Freedom Rider Senior Member

    Location:
    Russia
    From my experience, it usually doesn't work when you try hard to get into something - it'd be better to just put it aside and let it sit there for a while. You may come around to it later.
     
    Aurora, ssstand and JohnnyQuest like this.
  22. formbypc

    formbypc Forum Resident

    If you don't get her, just move on to something that you DO like, surely?

    I went through the same; highly-regarded singer/songwriter, praised to the heavens from all quarters .... yes, I felt obliged to have a listen. But, again, just wasn't enjoying listening to her.

    Same in the 1980s when everyone was raving about The Blue Nile. Didn't get them either

    Jeff Buckley. Bob Dylan. Others.
     
  23. Hexwood

    Hexwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Give Blue another listen. You might not have been in the right frame of mind for it, I know that affects whether I enjoy an album or not. If you still can't get into it after that, I wouldn't sweat it. Maybe you could try Court & Spark or Miles of Aisles. They were released when Joni was at her commercial zenith.
     
  24. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I liked Travelogue - got it used, cheap, after critics had pretty much savaged it. But I was thankful for the record, because it proved her compositions from Wild Things, stripped of that awful faux-New Wave early '80s production - were actually dynamite. Probably the biggest problem with Travelogue is that it's too long. If you don't try to digest it all at once, it's a lot easier to take.
     
    Alan2 and Comet01 like this.
  25. ZackyDog

    ZackyDog Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    As you may know, Joni inspired this song:

     
    bluerondo likes this.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine