One of the features that Les has added to my Joni Covers webpage is the ability to link to the artist's webpage. This was a request made by a couple of the artists and with Les' help (always with his help & thanks Les!!) I am able to do that.
Anyway, I'm now in the midst of going through the 1100+ listings and searching for homepages to link to. This week, while linking to Donal Leace's site, I saw a link to contact him. Donal Leace was a 60's folksinger who is still active today. Has a new CD out, matter of fact. His cover is of special interest to me because it's not only a Joni song that she never recorded, it's one that I've never heard ANY Joni versions of. Other songs that Joni never recorded have been covered, but in every case I also have at least a live Joni version. But in the case of Donal Leace's "Midnight Cowboy", the only version I've heard is his. Anyway, to make a long story even longer, when I saw the "contact Donal" link on his homepage, I couldn't resist the temptation to e-mail him and ask him about this cover. Much to my delight, he responded very quickly and gave me some VERY COOL details. Basically, I just asked him how he came to hear and learn the song - here is what he said: "Playing the same folk clubs, in the late '60s, I had heard about Joni for some time. I lived above the Cellar Door Night Club at the time I first met Joni. She played there in 1969. I was also a friend of James Leo Herlihy, who had written "Midnight Cowboy," the book and screen play. Joni was doing the song "Midnight Cowboy" in her set at the time. We talked about it, I told her how much I liked it. She had shown no special interest in recording it, for what ever reasons, so she passed it on to me. On night, in my apartment, she and her guitarist (name ?) played and sang the song into my tape recorder. I still have, and treasure the "live" cassette. Later I arranged it to better fit my voice and style. As you know I recorded it for Atlantic Records in 1971. I never discussed the song with Joni, but I did play it for Jamie Herlihy, the last time was, at his house in LA, about a year before he died, in the late nineties. That's it." Back to me now: Anyway, like I said, I thought this was a VERY cool story, and it clears up, for me anyway, some of the blur around this cover. And yes, I did my best grovel to get a copy of his "treasured tape", but he is (understandably) very protective of it. Sigh, maybe someday, someway... Going on a bit further, for those of you who may still be along for the ride, here is a list of the Joni songs that she wrote, never recorded, BUT were recorded by others: Winter Lady - by Gary Zack Carnival in Kenora - by Gary Zack Dr. Junk - by Ian Campbell Group Eastern Rain - by Fairport Convention Born To Take The Highway - The Foggy Dew-O Then there's the song that she co-wrote, "Just Couldn't Help Myself", that was recorded by O.C. Smith (of "Little Green Apples" fame). There's a story behind that one too, I'm sure...but I don't know it. Yet. Bob NP: Michael Hill's Blues Mob, "Evil In The Air"
