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Click to buy SHINE, Joni’s newest album
Shine may ultimately register as a "fans only" milestone, but it proves that Joni Mitchell retains many of the storied calling cards of her best albums. The searing lyricism of 1971’s Blue and the penchant for self-redefinition hailed by 1974’s Court and Spark make cameos here, but sadly, lesser efforts’ drawbacks abound. True, "Big Yellow Taxi" reprises the environmental dystopia Mitchell first poeticized on 1970’s Ladies of the Canyon, but the occasion only prompts new pedantic effrontery ("This Place," "If I Had a Heart"). In this regard, Shine’s especially cloying title track marks the worst offender. Blissfully, though, "Hana" boasts a driving rhythm section and blurting squirts of electric guitar and saxophone in support of a compelling character sketch, and "If"--based on Rudyard Kipling’s poem of the same name--paints a lyrical message of affirmation in bold strokes. Mitchell’s songwriting shines brightest at such singularly poignant moments where specificity of images meets the vagaries of the instrumental arrangements, and, in the end, these and other highlights ("Bad Dreams," "Night of the Iguana") definitively carry the torch. --Jason Kirk for Amazon.com
All biographical information from JoniMitchell.com
A singer, composer and lyricist of exceptional talent and unmatched influence, Joni Mitchell has crafted an extraordinary body of work spanning more than 40 years and is widely regarded as one of the brightest musical lights of recent generations. Fans, fellow musicians and critics have delighted in an ever-evolving creative journey, with songs both universal and profoundly personal. Her music has become a standard to which others are compared and which many aspire to copy, but its inventiveness and ineffable spirit make it decidedly her own.
Joni Mitchell moved to New York City in 1967, and took up residence in the arty Chelsea district. She met Elliot Roberts in the fall and he began to manage her career, helping to open up the circuit for her in New York City.
While performing at a club in Florida, Joni met ex-Byrds member David Crosby, who was quite taken with her. David was a great help in convincing the record company to agree to let Joni record a solo acoustic album without all the folk-rock overdubs that were in vogue at the time.
His clout earned him a producer’s credit in March 1968, when Reprise records released her debut album. She continued her steady touring to promote the LP, and that stimulus, in addition to the performers who were covering her songs and exposing her to bigger and bigger audiences as a major "songwriter," was causing a major buzz. At Elliot’s suggestion, she moved to southern California late in 1967, and moved in with David, who became an enthusiastic promoter of Joni’s and had her play at the homes of his Hollywood friends, where she got noticed by press and radio people, who in turn wrote and spoke of her talent.
People hurry by so quickly
Can’t they hear the melodies
In the chiming and the clicking
And the laughing harmonies
Songs to aging children come
Aging children, I am one...
In early 1970 Joni Mitchell decided to retire from performing, and she took time off to travel and reflect on the celebrity that she’d sought and found, but hadn’t enjoyed since the first flickers of fame had approached her with a gasp in their voices. She performed at a few festivals in the summer of 1970, but did not take on a regular concert schedule for most of the year, yet was still voted Top Female Performer for 1970 by MELODY MAKER, the U.K.’s leading pop music magazine.
Joni told writer Larry LaBlanc "In January I did my last concert. I played in London and I came home. In February I finished up my record. I gave my last concert with the idea I’d take the year off, because I need new material. I need new things to say in order to perform, so there’s something in it for me. You just can’t sing the same songs.
"I was being isolated, starting to feel like a bird in a gilded cage. I wasn’t getting a chance to meet people. A certain amount of success cuts you off in a lot of ways."
Joni repaired her soul and continued to write new music. In her career, she has released 28 albums and collaborated with countless musicians. Most recently, Joni was honored with a 2008 Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song One Week Last Summer. Jazz/RB musician Herbie Hancock won Best Album of the Year for his Joni tribute titled River: The Joni Letters.
A new book written by Lloyd "Chip" Whitesell is available for pre-order through Amazon. The Music of Joni Mitchell is an indepth exploration into what makes Joni’s music so beautiful from the structure of each song to styles and sounds used. Click here to preorder.
