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Mitchell, Joni


Date:          Tue, 29 Aug 95 12:16:07 0400
From:          Daniel Olson (olson@yorku.ca)

Wrote "Big Yellow Taxi", (which is on the "Dylan" album 
released by Columbia when Bob changed labels briefly in 1973), and 
toured with the Rolling Thunder Review. (I think she is in "Renaldo and 
Clara", but can't remember exactly.

I also remember some speculation about whether or not "Tangled Up In Blue" might be about Joni (she is well known for her album title "Blue".) She also appeared on stage with him sometime in the last year or so. (I believe there was some discussion of this in rec.music.dylan, but I may be wrong.)


Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 22:45:19 -0600 From: markg@leland.stanford.edu (Mark Gonnerman) To: karlerik Subject: Bob Dylan-Joni Mitchell/ 1.14.96 NYTimes >From Stephen Holden, "Too Feminine For Rock? Or Is Rock Too Macho?" >New York Times 14 January 1996, sec. 2, p. 27. "When the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame has its 11th annual induction ceremony on Wednesday at the Waldorf-Astoria, one figure who will be conspicuously missing is Joni Mitchell. The Canadian-born singer and songwriter widely regarded as the most talented and influential white female rock performer ever has twice been nominated and both times passed over by the 800-member voting body of journalists and record-company insiders. This year, her name wasn't even on the list of 15 nominees. "A case could be made that Ms. Mitchell is more influential than any of this year's inductees--David Bowie, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Jefferson Airplane, Little Willie John, Pink Floyd, the Shirelles and the Velvet Underground. In her lyrics, particularly those for the 1970's albums 'Blue,' 'For the Roses,' 'Court and Spark,' and 'Hejira,' Ms. Mitchell refined an autobiographical poetic styles that pointed rock songwriting toward a probing psychological investigation. "Musically, Ms. Mitchell was a pioneer in the exploration of jazz and African drumming within a folk-rock context, and, in her more recent recordings, she has explored the notion of a song as aural environment. All told, her cumulative body of work stands up beside that of Bob Dylan in its breadth of vision and expressive power. . . ." ___________________________ Quite a claim in support of Ms. Mitchell! This prompted me to take a quick look into Dylan-Mitchell connections. Here's what I found on my shelves and via the 'net: Mitchell Covered by Dylan "Big Yellow Taxi" on Dylan (1973) Dylan Covered by Mitchell [see ftp://ftp.neda.com/pub/dylan/olof/covers/by-artst.html] Dreamland R Partial [What's this?] Mr. Tambourine Man UL with Pete Seeger, TV 1970 From Michael Gray, Song and Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (1981), p. 122: "Bowie has always owed his idea of the enigmatic superstar to Dylan, just as Joni Mitchell owes a similar debt as regards her notion of the singer-songwriter." From Tim Riley, Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary (1992), p. 231: "Turning the intimate trials into public metaphors [BOTT] is what separates Dylan and Joni Mitchell--who symbolize something greater than figures unburdening their problems on the world--from the relatively two-dimensional mode of the singer-songwriter clique that recognizes everything self-serving about the 'me' decade (acts like Carol King and James Taylor)." On Mitchell and Rolling Thunder, Robert Shelton, No Direction Home (1986), p. 454: "Spontaneity dominated the tour, including itinerary changes, improvization, and guest appearances. . . . Joni Mitchell did two New Haven shows [Nov. 13, 1976] and reappeared." Bob Spitz, Dylan: A Biography (1989), chapter 27: Spitz mentions Mitchell's appearances with the Rolling Thunder Review and reports on Mitchell's inneffectual performance at the 12.7.75 Correctional Institution for Women, Clinton, New Jersey (pp. 495-96). From Olof's Chronicle [ http://reality.sgi.com/employees/howells/olof.html] January 26, 1976 [Bob's] guest appearance at a Joni Mitchell concert in Austin. Bob and Joni were on stage together at "The Last Waltz" on 11.25.76. Bob sang "I Shall Be Released" along with Richard Manuel, Neil Young, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Neil Diamond, Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and Joni Mitchell. Have Dylan and Mitchell shared the stage since 1976 (other than the grand finale of the May 20-22, 1994 UNESCO Project in Nara, Japan)? -- For a 12.75 (Toronto) photograph of Joni on stage with RTR (McGuinn, Mitchell, Neuwirth [?], Baez and Bob), see http://www.jonimitchell.com/RollingThunder75.html This is part of an excellent Website for Mitchell at http://www.jonimitchell.com/ This site contains several articles mentioning Dylan and Mitchell: The June '74 McCleans ("Canada's National Magazine") notes that "Joni Mitchell today is a recognized superstar, perhaps the only songwriter to have songs recorded by both Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra." (Ah, the ol' Dylan-Sinatra connection!) The April '95 Vogue quotes Mitchell saying, "Dylan and Leonard Cohen are my real peers. We're the poets of that generation." --Mark
From: rollason@dialup.francenet.fr (CHRISTOPHER ROLLASON) To: karlerik Subject: Joni Mitchell on Dylan, 7-4-97 Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 20:12:17 GMT On 7 April 1997 the London daily 'The Guardian' had a long feature (Part 2, pp. 10-11) on Joni Mitchell ('From both sides now', Alex Duval Smith). Joni on poetry (the 'Guardian' quotes Joni talking to the 'New York Times'): 'The only poets who influenced me were Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. What always bugged me about the poetry in school was the artifice of it.

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