I’d not heard anything about Joni Mitchell since her collapse a while back.
However this picture appeared on Rosanne Cash’s Instagram yesterday.
She looks frail, but she’s up an about and going to parties.
Joni Mitchell – health update
by 54 Comments
Excellent news.
wonder if she’s given up the fags. I remember in that taped interview she gave a couple of years ago she chain-smoked through the whole thing
Doubt it -if it has cost her her voice why would she bother now?
In her book she insisted her voice damage is due to a problem with her neck. Bollocks of course. She came across as quite chippy actually, seething with resentment at ancient bad reviews, and let’s face it she had almost universal praise for everything she did. Amazing artist though.
Shall I be the one to say that the smokes are part of the reason why her voice was so good in the first place…?
….oh dear.
Yes, she’s chippy alright Twang, but in truth she has reason to be, because she suffered from poor reviews for many of her best albums, including Hejira, at the time. The worst reviews, at least in terms of the quality of the album, were for The Hissing of Summer Lawns, as I mentioned in my review of that record a while back. Put it down to the limited ability of rock music reviewers at the time. But I think Joni feels also that if she were a man (and she likes to compare herself to Dylan) she would not have been treated that way.
The only one I can remember getting a bad review was Mingus though i bow to your greater knowledge. I guess my memory is playing tricks as I thought those albums were brilliant from the off.
NME, MM and the like were mostly fulsome in their praise, at least until Mingus. It was American reviewers who were most critical
Quite. Americans. The same dolts who idolise golfers and rappers. The same dolts who elected Trump. I bet Joni loves being Canadian.
Hmmm … perhaps a few Canadians idolise Mike Weir and Drake … but I take your point.
I was wandering which band Mike Weir was in …. Isn’t he in the Dead, I thought.
Duh! Dunce’s hat for me!
BTW, did you know, DuCo, that Bob Weir has a daughter with the improbable name of Monet? The children of rock musicians have quite a burden to bear.
Oh, I think the general public have well and truly caught up with, if not surpassed, rock musicians in that regard.
A friend of mine knows someone with a four-year-old boy called Xenophon.
Probably apocryphal, but a friend swears he was introduced to someone’s young daughter who’d been named Amber Lynn – “You know, after one of Henry The Eighth’s wives…”
Twang Jr is friends with a Talvin and a Sentient!
I’m looking forward to the occasion I’m introduced to a young lady called Chlamydia. I’m convinced it is only a matter of time.
A teacher friend of mine had a girl in one of his classes called L-a. It was pronounced Ledasha.
Children these days seem to be named by the kind of bands you get in Pitchfork just random nouns.
You know. I was expecting a different response to my post from you Moose!
Compare herself to Dylan – only in terms of success /recognition. Artistically she regards herself as head and shoulders above him. Her a true original and him a mere plagiarist – though that didn’t stop her latching onto part of one of the Rolling Thunder Tours.
Genius is the word she’s used, IIRC.
Joni’s opinions appear to have hardened as she’s got older. In the 70s, she was respectful of Dylan’s achievements as the spokesman for the 60s generation. And you’re right, as she got older, she resented the fact that he continued to be accorded respect she felt was due to her. I’m not going to take sides on that one, suffice it to say that Bob’s had at least three golden periods over a span of 50 years.
I read an interview with her, and it can’t have been long before stoke, where she was asked straight out who she considered to be her equals. ‘Bob Dylan for the words, Miles Davies for the music’, was her reply.
And I’d agree with her. There’s no doubt in my mind that if JM had been born male, she’d be universally feted as unapproachably the greatest artist in the pop firmament. She’s in a different league.
The fact that any 11-year-old probably has at least heard the name of Dylan but almost certainly not the name of Joni strikes me as a massive injustice – I’d be chippy too.
Yebbut, Bob never made Hejira, or anything close to it.
Agree. I listen to Joni far more often than I listen to Bob. Not dissing Bob, but Joni is just so gooood.
I agree with her own estimation. Dylan has been riding on his legend slash taking the piss for decades.
That would be before her stroke, yes? I saw her at a tribute concert in Toronto in 2013, she did a couple of songs at the end which was unexpected and wonderful. I think she was puffing on an electronic cigarette backstage to get around smoking ban in Massey Hall.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/massey-hall-performance-shows-joni-mitchell-is-like-no-other/article12661570/
That must’ve been a cool show to be at, dai…
It was
after watching that on YT I drifted into a fascinating documentary about Buffy Sainte-Marie
I´m not sure I would have recognised her. Nice to see her up and about, though.
She has also had that awful syndrome where you think bugs are under your skin. Horrible.
Morgellons. Scary. Fibres/wires rather than bugs I think.
that’s the one. Fuckin unpleasant either way.
A woman of her talent and ability Is far above the comment of most journalists of any discipline.
It’s just heartwarming that she still graces the musical landscape and terra firma.
I’m not bothered about whether she’s unduly chippy or not, her perceived ranking above or below any of her contemporaries or her opinions of how she’s been treated by music journalists.
I enjoy the majority of her music. I would rate just about everything she’s written as at least “good”, even if a few things pass me by, and a good proportion as “great”. Some songs of hers are utterly thrilling to hear.
I’m glad she ain’t dead.
She has been an enormous influence on the younger generation.
We had a thread a while back about cover versions of her songs. Foolishly, I didn’t make a Spotify playlist. When I have a spare moment, I will see what I can remember.
This site certainly takes the task of finding Joni cover versions seriously.
http://jonimitchell.com/music/covers.cfm
5463 covers of 167 of Joni’s songs done by 4109 different artists!
Short of actually invading Poland, that run of albums from Clouds to Hejira get her a free pass to be as horrible as she likes.
I’d say ” … that run of albums from Clouds to Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter … “!
I find DJ a bit of a dip. But of course worth it for the highlights. As always. Even that queer album she made in the 80s with Billy Idol on it is worth it.
I dusted DJ off after Nick’s excellent thread on HOSL but have to admit it didn’t captivate me. Great musicianship of course not enough coherence to these ears.
Night Ride Home is pretty good for her (excellent for most other musical mere mortals) and Chalk Mark in A Rainstorm is not bad either.
I got her Starbucks-released album Shine in a chazza recently, and it’s pretty decent.
Shine shines
We all have our faves I guess. I bought Shine when it came out, at a Starbucks on Times Square in NY. It wasn’t exactly chock full o’tunes. But I will defend Don Juan always. I’ve never stopped listening to it, so to me it hangs together very well and, like all good doubles, it offers the artist the chance to show us more of what they can do (I’m with Macca, leave it alone it’s The White Album).
I hear ya Nick, I wish I liked it more. But it’s ok if we dont all dig the same stuff, even by the same artist.
Chalk Mark is the one with the Rebel Yell Hitmaker on it. Great cover image – you could set your watch by them cheekbones!
Thanks for posting.
I’ve been doing that thing of occasionally thinking about her and wondering how she was doing, without going online and trying to find out, for a few months now.
I’m another one who probably wouldn’t have recognised her at all.
Must use this thread as a reminder to dig out my 10-album boxset.
I should probably mention that the use of the orchestrated version of “Both sides now” (from the album of the same name) at the end of “Love Actually” had this old cynic sniffing and wiping dust when it was on at Christmas. I mean, poor Em.
New Uncut Special coming:
http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/introducing-joni-mitchell-ultimate-music-guide-100229
Ooh, thanks Fatima!
Been quite a while since I bought one of these tribute music mags- this will break the drought.