Joni Mitchell ambivalence

[Recidiva]

Okay, so I have a Joni Mitchell favorite song. "Twisted."

I always thought I liked Joni Mitchell.

I listened to a podcast host say the type of torture he wouldn't be able to stand would to be forced to listen to a whole Joni Mitchell album and he'd rather be nibbled to death or buried slowly under guano in a bat cave or something vile to escape her music. I thought it was funny. I thought he was wrong. But she keeps coming up on my Pandora list and I can't listen to her music for more than 90 seconds without cringing.

Am I that easily swayed, or did she always suck?

I wasn't high when I first heard her, so it can't be that.

 

[ChinaBandit]

I don't think she sucks at all.

I greatly prefer Carol King from that era though.

Now, as for Joan Baez? I think she sucks.

 

[Recidiva]

I don't think she sucks at all.

I greatly prefer Carol King from that era though.

Now, as for Joan Baez? I think she sucks.

I like Diamonds and Rust from Joan.

I like Carole King. I probably still know all of Really Rosie's songs.

 

[Fata Morgana]

She's like Dylan. Good song writer, awful voice.

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

I like Diamonds and Rust from Joan.

I like Carole King. I probably still know all of Really Rosie's songs.

KRC has a crush on Barry Manilow, so like ya know, there's no accounting for taste.

Seriously, I like Joni's old stuff. I haven't heard anything new in years.

 

[Recidiva]

She's like Dylan. Good song writer, awful voice.

Yes, I would agree. I can't really stand to hear Dylan sing. I consider him a poet.

 

[Recidiva]

KRC has a crush on Barry Manilow, so like ya know, there's no accounting for taste.

Seriously, I like Joni's old stuff. I haven't heard anything new in years.

I guess I thought Joni had one album with one or two good songs.

Also, I put ONE damned techno song on my Pandora list and suddenly it's all techno. Stop! Ear bleed! Dammit, you still haven't even found Din Da Da for me!

 

[Fata Morgana]

Yes, I would agree. I can't really stand to hear Dylan sing. I consider him a poet.

Agreed. My mate is a massive Dylan fan and he always yells at me if he can write such fabulous lyrics it's his goddamn fucking right to sing them. Ha!

I guess I agree. But yes, nails on a blackboard.

 

[ChinaBandit]

Why does Dylan sound so different on "Lay Lady Lay"?

Why doesn't he sound like that on any other recording?

Strange...

 

[Recidiva]

Agreed. My mate is a massive Dylan fan and he always yells at me if he can write such fabulous lyrics it's his goddamn fucking right to sing them. Ha!

I guess I agree. But yes, nails on a blackboard.

It's hard to pick on folk music heroes.

I have some of my terribly unpopular favorites. There was an interview with Eric Clapton saying he got so much of his influence from blues, but his contemporaries were listening to The Kingston Trio.

I love the Kingston Trio. Fuck you Eric.

 

[Joeybagadonuts]

I guess I thought Joni had one album with one or two good songs.

Also, I put ONE damned techno song on my Pandora list and suddenly it's all techno. Stop! Ear bleed! Dammit, you still haven't even found Din Da Da for me!

I can still get in a mood to listen to California, Woodstock, For Free....the Ladies of the Canyon era stuff.

 

[khbostic]

I used to have "For the Roses" by joni mitchell on 8 track,great album that should be remastered to cd...I am also a proud owner of miles of aisles album,another that need s to be remastered to cd,offered on the playlists.I also don t have any of her newer stuff,just vintage...

I don t know pandora music service...

Mitchell is in Canada s hall of fame ...

Miles of Aisles Album ,Joni Mitchell & the L A Expres has : You turn me on,Im a radio .big yellow taxi .rainy nite house .woodstock .cactus tree .cold blue steel & sweet fire . woman of heart & mind .a case of you .blue

Side 2.the circle game... peoples parties .all I want . real good for free .Both sides now which was also done by judy collins ...carey. the last time I saw richard ..jerichco .love or money

On the asylum label...1974 asylum records...She had the TB ,& the treatment has a side effect of always being up,no depression...for men,it makes them have ED...but shes a she...maybe you can pick that up in her music persona,maybe it makes you jealous?

 

[Recidiva]

I used to have "For the Roses" by joni mitchell on 8 track,great album that should be remastered to cd...I am also a proud owner of miles of aisles album,another that need s to be rematered tocd.

I don t know pandora music service...

Mitchell is in Canada s hall of fame ...

Miles of Aisles has : You turn me on,Im a radio .big yellow taxi .rainy nite house .woodstock .cactus tree .cold blue steel & sweet fire . woman of heart & mind .a case of you .blue

Side 2.the circle game... peoples parties .all I want . real good for free .Both sides now which was also done by judy collins ...carey. the last time I saw richard ..jerichco .love or money

On the asylum label...1974 asylum records...She had the TB ,& the treatment has a side effect of always being up,no depression...for men,it makes them have ED...but shes a she...maybe you can pick that up in her music persona,maybe it makes you jealous?

Pandora is a free or subscriber app that is an attempt at customized radio. Pandora works off a program that tries to find songs that are like the songs you say you like. It's a pain at first, because there's a lot of fetching of stuff I don't like. I used to use it as a free service, because I could listen for about 45 minutes a day before I couldn't skip a track that bugged me, due to their licensing. If I say "no" to maybe two songs an hour, they're okay with that. More than that, and they just have to apologize and play whatever they brought me.

After a few years of free use it became worth it for me to pay $4 a month for the paid service, I can listen all day and hear new stuff that is going to lead me in good directions, and say no to the stuff that doesn't suit my taste.

It takes a little interaction and time but now I have a very eclectic listening list that includes many different genres, stuff I could never get on a regular radio station, and with it paid, no commercials.

I thought I liked Joni, because I'm sure I'm getting a lot of her stuff because I probably told them I liked "Twisted" at some point. I'm not terribly alarmed that I don't like a lot of her stuff, but I do think it's an issue that your tastes change over time. I still like Twisted, it's part of stuff I like. I just have trouble listening to her other stuff. So my nostalgia remains, but I'm resistant to new input.

 

[Adre]

A genius for her guitar tunings alone. If she had only written Both Sides Now she'd be remembered forever. Course, she ain't no Billy Joel.

 

[Recidiva]

A genius for her guitar tunings alone. If she had only written Both Sides Now she'd be remembered forever. Course, she ain't no Billy Joel.

Could you clarify?

"Guitar tunings" to me means...literally tuning a guitar.

Do you just mean guitar tunes or do you really mean "She's a genius whenever she touches a guitar."

I like Billy Joel. If you're saying Billy Joel isn't good at piano somehow I'd be lost again.

I can't play guitar or piano, so that stuff done well looks like magic.

I like acrobatic voices, so it's not that. Billy Joel can sing all right, but he's a much better composer than he is a singer. Joni Mitchell is probably a better singer than he is, but it's the shrill aspect of it that I don't notice on Twisted, but I do notice in her other compositions.

 

[Fata Morgana]

A genius for her guitar tunings alone. If she had only written Both Sides Now she'd be remembered forever. Course, she ain't no Billy Joel.

How I love thee!

 

[Adre]

Could you clarify?

"Guitar tunings" to me means...literally tuning a guitar.

Do you just mean guitar tunes or do you really mean "She's a genius whenever she touches a guitar."

I like Billy Joel. If you're saying Billy Joel isn't good at piano somehow I'd be lost again.

I can't play guitar or piano, so that stuff done well looks like magic.

I like acrobatic voices, so it's not that. Billy Joel can sing all right, but he's a much better composer than he is a singer. Joni Mitchell is probably a better singer than he is, but it's the shrill aspect of it that I don't notice on Twisted, but I do notice in her other compositions.

She tuned her guitars many different ways to achieve different sounds and chords. If you Google it experts can tell you more. And yes, I think she was a genius whenever she touched a guitar. I was being sarcastic about Billy, because some here probably think he is more talented than she. Different tastes, fine. I'd say Billy is a decent, not exceptional, pianist. Way better than I for sure.

 

[cookiejar]

A genius for her guitar tunings alone. If she had only written Both Sides Now she'd be remembered forever. Course, she ain't no Billy Joel.

Billy Joel! I had a wicked crush on him as a teen!

 

[Fata Morgana]

She tuned her guitars many different ways to achieve different sounds and chords. If you Google it experts can tell you more. And yes, I think she was a genius whenever she touched a guitar. I was being sarcastic about Billy, because some here probably think he is more talented than she. Different tastes, fine. I'd say Billy is a decent, not exceptional, pianist. Way better than I for sure.

Cunt.

 

[Recidiva]

She tuned her guitars many different ways to achieve different sounds and chords. If you Google it experts can tell you more. And yes, I think she was a genius whenever she touched a guitar. I was being sarcastic about Billy, because some here probably think he is more talented than she. Different tastes, fine. I'd say Billy is a decent, not exceptional, pianist. Way better than I for sure.

Oh! That's very cool. I didn't know that.

Oh, no. Really, I'm willing to grant her genius in the same way that I could grant Dylan genius. Like it or not, it was new and it was worth doing and it could only have been done by them.

I don't think Billy Joel is a genius, but I do think he's talented.

 

[Adre]

Cunt.

That was a quick change of mind. BTW, good friends used to see him drunk as a sailor every day in their little Long Island village.

 

[Recidiva]

If I were to consider geniuses...Danny Elfman and Stephen Sondheim would be my musical heroes. Danny can sing and compose beautiful and diverse things. Sondheim does the truly hard stuff, composer, but a challenge to singers everywhere. I love to tackle his stuff and do it well. Hard to execute and beautiful in unexpected ways.

Philip Glass is probably a genius but I want to wash his music out of my brain with lye and call it an improvement.

Joshua Kadison I love, he can sing and play and compose, but he's not a genius. Same with people like Anna Nalick and Alanis Morissette. Composers who can perform their own stuff is always great, but doesn't raise the bar of good performance necessarily.

 

[Fata Morgana]

Okay I will be serious for once.

I know this thread is about Joni but Reci won't mind. Most of the time I do big up Billy Joel to piss Indie off, I do think he's very talented, a fantastic pianist but not a genius. Kate Bush is a genius. If I had to pick 5 artists work to take to a desert island he wouldn't be among them.

That said out of all the concerts I've been too, and there have been many, his was the best show I've ever seen. He can work the crowd, he's funny, he's interesting, his showmanship is second to none and his live vocals were brilliant.

 

[Fata Morgana]

That was a quick change of mind. BTW, good friends used to see him drunk as a sailor every day in their little Long Island village.

I'm fickle.

 

[Recidiva]

Okay I will be serious for once.

I know this thread is about Joni but Reci won't mind. Most of the time I do big up Billy Joel to piss Indie off, I do think he's very talented, a fantastic pianist but not a genius. Kate Bush is a genius. If I had to pick 5 artists work to take to a desert island he wouldn't be among them.

That said out of all the concerts I've been too, and there have been many, his was the best show I've ever seen. He can work the crowd, he's funny, he's interesting, his showmanship is second to none and his live vocals were brilliant.

Of course I won't mind! I love Fata, I love music.

Purely vocal genius, one of the performers that leave me in the dust is Kristen Chenoweth. What I adore about her is that not only can she SING...but she can ACT while she's singing. It's amazing. She's doing vocal acrobatics, making faces and gestures with her body and with the words and music, and nailing it all. It will take me 20 times through before I catch all of her "effortless" nuance that is thought out and carefully placed like a vocal Zen garden. I know I've missed more of what makes her great than I've caught, and I love her for that.