I've been reading (devouring) "Shakey" , the recent biography
of Neil Young by Jimmy McDonough. Lots of Joni references.
Has anyone else read it? Has it been discussed on the list yet?
Here is one interesting passage from the sessions in LA
for "Tonight's The Night" in 1973:
On August 26, Young and the band blasted throught five
performances that would form the core of the finished record-
"Tonight's the Night", "Tired Eyes," "Mellow My Mind," "Speakin'
Out" and "World on a String." They also cut a track with an
unlikely guest star. "Somebody said, 'Listen, open up another
mike, wi've got another guitar player,'" recalls assistant engineer
Andy Block. "We started rolling tape, and the most awful-sounding
electric guitar came down the wires-a person slamming the strings
as if it were a big twelve-string acoustic. It wasn't more than five
minutes later that we took a break. I wandered into the room, and
there's Neil trying to teach Joni Mitchell the difference between
electric and acoustic."
Mitchell had entered with Joel Bernstein and Young immediately
handed her a Gretsch. Soon the band was plowing through a train-
wreck rendition of Joni's "Raised on Robbery," complete with boozy
off-key harmonies from Young. When Briggs later played Mitchell
a tape, she winced, shaking her head over the racket. [Producer
David] Briggs said he threw her out of his house.
How dare he treat the Queen this way! I wonder if these tapes
still exist. The author talks about listening to session tapes for this
album, but doesn't actually say he heard the Joni part.
RR
