Some unexpected revelations from last night's show: Her interviews: She was so relaxed, grounded, warm-spirited, candid, real -- with no sense of the bitterness that's been inferred from her other recent interviews. Makes me wonder how words on the page divorced from the voice and expression of the speaker can communicate a meaning not truly present. Her performances: I have never seen her live. And don't have the videos often discussed on this list (except Shadows & Light). So the concert footage was new to me. It really was extraordinary how mature an artist she was in those early days -- I could totally understand Crosby's comments on seeing her for the first time and knew that his judgement was not hyperbolic nostalgia. In particular, the ACOY performance was stunning. Which of the videos talked about here is that on? Is that the 'pink dress' concert? Blue: I know it's a great work. Have always known that. But in the hippie dippie context of 1970 it's an amazingly advanced achievement. What really gets me is the restraint of the recording. The stripped-down discipline and focus. In recalling the sequence of her recordings, I often have to stop and force myself to remember that Blue is before FTR. Because in the evolution of Joni's work, it seems Blue should come after FTR. I don't know why I think this. Come In From the Cold: Never saw that video before. Wish they had played the whole thing. After the Mingus and WTRF sequence, that song was like a huge rush of fresh air. I think that it's one her last truly great melodies (until the melodies yet to come. I hope.)
Bruce
