I'd like to give a response to Arlene T. I'm 22 and am French and, here in France, Joni Mitchell remains mostly unknown, above all amongst the young generation. However, everyone here knows that song by Janet Jackson using a sample from Big Yellow Taxi (the chorus of the song, actually), but no-one could say who sings it. Well, it is easy to find her albums in record stores, but there's no diffusion at all. I first got my attention to her when I watched the Isle of Wight concert, broadcast on TV a few years go, and where Joni, dressed in yellow, cried before singing. Then, I borrowed in a library the Blue album, then the Court & Spark album. And that was it : I loved both. Then, I borrowed Both Sides Now (2000) and did not liked it very much (like you, Arlene, that voice!). Then I bought Hejira, Mingus, The Hissing of the Summer Lawns, Clouds, etc. She had such an influence !! I bought "Travelogue" and the least that I can say is that it is one of the best albums I have ever listened to. The rearrangements of the three Hejira songs (Amelia, Hejira, Refuge of the Roads) are so beautiful ! And The Sire of Sorrow, Chinese Cafe, Woodstock, etc. !!! No upbeat tempo here, but 22 great songs I can tell ! At nearly sixty, she cannot swing like she used to do before. She turns to philarmonic jazz, and that's all natural considering her career.
Yours faithfully, Laurent. ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
