Joni Mitchell: Court and Spark

Why it took this long to get to listening to Joni Mitchell is an interesting question because she's certainly been someone who's been on the radar for a long time—the same could be said for Neil Young or Brian Eno, the Rolling Stones and others who've finally been on the playlist lately.  For many people, the obvious place to start is Blue, Mitchell's phenomenal 1971 album that has bene heard as part of this discovery and will certainly get its due.

Court and Spark, however, from a few years later is where we'll start, not because it's considered better, but it's where this belated appreciation began.  With appearances from stellar musicians as Tom Scott, Joe Sample, Larry Carlton, José Feliciano, Robbie Robertson, David Crosby and Graham Nash, among others, as well as comedic cameo from Cheech and Chong, Mitchell's complex and incisive songwriting and gorgeous singing are given ample support.

Moreover, this is a notable level of diversity in the tunes in terms of tempo, instrumentation, harmonics and other factors that make the album truly stand out.  As great as "Help Me," which remains her biggest hit is, there really are so many great songs on Court and Speak that it is hard to pick out some more than others.  The title track, "Free Man in Paris," "Down To You," "People's Parties," and "The Same Situation" stand out in this listener's mind, but it's actually what Mitchell does throughout the album that makes the biggest impact.

This means the multi-tracking of her vocals which, as a fan of Cocteau Twins since 1986, this blogger immediately recognized as major influences on that group's Elizabeth Fraser and her vocalizations.  The intricate and innovative melodies and the style of Mitchell's singing are also obvious focal points, as are her amazing lyrical abilities, which find some humorous expression in "Raised on Robbery," while her cover of "Twisted," with its trenchant lyrics by Annie Ross and set to a solo by the great tenor sax player, Wardell Gray, is an entertaining way to complete a stunning album.

Having started with Court and Spark, it was easy to move to Blue and then to follow that with other Mitchell albums, though, again, why it took so long to finally get here is more than puzzling.