Ok, so I just read the RS interview thanks very much to Jim Johanson for putting a link on the home page. Here is the *only* reference to other artists (aside from Joan Baez, Judy Collins and Dylan earlier on in the piece):
Throughout the years, the media have at times pitted you against some of the women you helped inspire. Have you ever regretted anything negative you said about any of your disciples? See, I've never liked copycats, not that these girls are necessarily copycats, or that it is even their fault. It's kind of like, "Get me a new Joni Mitchell." So they kept turning up -- they did it with Bob, too. Bob spawned his imitators closer to the beginning of his career. Mine, it took a while for them to kind of grow up or something. And every woman who ever came along has sold more records than I have -- you know, Carole King, my contemporaries, Carly Simon. Everybody, always. I don't know why, but I've never been a big record seller, like Billie Holiday. You know, Doris Day outsold Billie. If you were to run into a Britney Spears or a Christina Aguilera . . . They're sweet. Would you give them any advice? No. I mean, what can you say? I mean, that's what they've chosen. God, my granddaughter is three, and she's really rhythmic. And already she's grabbing her crotch and dancing. It's really tragic what MTV has done to the world. Because it's piped all over the world. me again: This also puts the 'grabbing your crotch' bit into context. If I read this correctly she was actually giving an explanation for the sexploitation employed by Britney & Christina, not condemning them for it, but trying to rationalize it. Personally I have no problem with her comments about MTV. What I would call a 'rant' doesn't start until the last two questions and the bit about the music business being a cesspool that she's ashamed to be part of and wanting to see it go down the crapper doesn't come until the very end and is a *very* small fraction of the whole. I'd say whoever did the Reuters blurb did a nice spin (hatchet?) job on our Joan. I thought it was interesting what she had to say about Annie Ross. I met Annie very briefly a few years ago and I got the impression that she wasn't the most warm and open person in the world. At least not to people outside of her circle or milieu, as it were. I still think she's amazing talent, though, and that impression would never stop me from listening to her or buying one of her cds. Mark E in Seattle
