I often wonder which artists of my generation will be remembered for their creative contribution centuries from now. Who will be the Picasso, Mozart, Van Gogh, or Beethoven of the past fifty years? One who certainly deserves that sort of remembrance is Joni Mitchell. As a musician, she followed no one, and set the creative course for countless artists that have followed. As a songwriter and lyricist, she was without peer. Never driven by commercial success, she followed her creative muse wherever it took her, and that was quite often further than the record companies were willing to follow. She also is an incredible painter. I expect a Joni Mitchell painting a hundred years from now will reach the highest price levels.
Why am I remembering Joni? Well, for a few reasons. I just watched two incredible DVDs about her. The first was called "Joni Mitchell, Painting With Words and Music". It features Joni's "final" concert, which was actually an orchestrated event put together simply for the DVD. It marks Joni's final performance before a live audience. And she is simply incredible. The set list covers the breadth of her career. Her mature voice is near perfect and her jazz-oriented backing band follows her every turn with great skill. I never got to see Joni in concert, but this video helps make up for that in at least a small way.
The second DVD I watched was called "Joni Mitchell: Woman Of Heart And Mind". Through interviews and recordings, it is a biography of Joni's artistic career. I learned a lot. Joni began in the early sixties, hoping to follow in the folk-footsteps of Joan Baez and Judy Collins. It was not long before she had eclipsed all other female performers and was defining the role of singer-songwriter by the early seventies. Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Graham Nash, David Crosby and Jimi Hendrix were all under her spell. Her original use of non-traditional guitar tunings set her apart as a guitarist. She had the voice of a goddess and her lyric writing was quite simply at another level... only Dylan might be in her league. Her discovery of jazz in the mid-seventies took her to a whole deeper level of musicianship. It didn't always work well, but she was always on the cutting-edge of musical inventiveness. And when it did work, like on her 1976 album "Hejira", it was literally a masterpiece.
Finally, I'm remembering Joni because she has decided that she is no longer a musician. That's right, she's all done. Mostly due to her frustration with the music industry of today, she has decided to quit once and for all. In a way, its sort of refreshing to see her go out when she still "has it". But it leaves me feeling very sad to know that's all we're going to get. So now she is Joni Mitchell, painter. If you have not seen her paintings, I encourage you to go find them somewhere on the internet. I wish she would put together a retrospective of her paintings and send them on tour, but that has yet to happen. And if you have not seen these two DVDs, I encourage you to see both of them. You'll be reminded just how important an artist Joni Mitchell was. There are few artists of her ability in today's music business. I expect her legend will outlive them all.
I often wonder which artists of my generation will be remembered for their creative contribution centuries from now. Who will be the Picasso, Mozart, Van Gogh, or Beethoven of the past fifty years? One who certainly deserves that sort of remembrance is Joni Mitchell. As a musician, she followed no one, and set the creative course for countless artists that have followed. As a songwriter and lyricist, she was without peer. Never driven by commercial success, she followed her creative muse wherever it took her, and that was quite often further than the record companies were willing to follow. She also is an incredible painter. I expect a Joni Mitchell painting a hundred years from now will reach the highest price levels.
Why am I remembering Joni? Well, for a few reasons. I just watched two incredible DVDs about her. The first was called "Joni Mitchell, Painting With Words and Music". It features Joni's "final" concert, which was actually an orchestrated event put together simply for the DVD. It marks Joni's final performance before a live audience. And she is simply incredible. The set list covers the breadth of her career. Her mature voice is near perfect and her jazz-oriented backing band follows her every turn with great skill. I never got to see Joni in concert, but this video helps make up for that in at least a small way. 
The second DVD I watched was called "Joni Mitchell: Woman Of Heart And Mind". Through interviews and recordings, it is a biography of Joni's artistic career. I learned a lot. Joni began in the early sixties, hoping to follow in the folk-footsteps of Joan Baez and Judy Collins. It was not long before she had eclipsed all other female performers and was defining the role of singer-songwriter by the early seventies. Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Graham Nash, David Crosby and Jimi Hendrix were all under her spell. Her original use of non-traditional guitar tunings set her apart as a guitarist. She had the voice of a goddess and her lyric writing was quite simply at another level... only Dylan might be in her league. Her discovery of jazz in the mid-seventies took her to a whole deeper level of musicianship. It didn't always work well, but she was always on the cutting-edge of musical inventiveness. And when it did work, like on her 1976 album "Hejira", it was literally a masterpiece.
Finally, I'm remembering Joni because she has decided that she is no longer a musician. That's right, she's all done. Mostly due to her frustration with the music industry of today, she has decided to quit once and for all. In a way, its sort of refreshing to see her go out when she still "has it". But it leaves me feeling very sad to know that's all we're going to get. So now she is Joni Mitchell, painter. If you have not seen her paintings, I encourage you to go find them somewhere on the internet. I wish she would put together a retrospective of her paintings and send them on tour, but that has yet to happen. And if you have not seen these two DVDs, I encourage you to see both of them. You'll be reminded just how important an artist Joni Mitchell was. There are few artists of her ability in today's music business. I expect her legend will outlive them all.
2 comments:
Woody,
I had no idea you were such a fan. I dug into and had to re-listen to my very few Joni tunes buried in my iTunes collection.
My favorite song of hers, dating back to Whit-days has to be the live version of "Real Good, For Free". Loved the feeling of that tune, and though I don't really know much more than her banner tunes, that one was stands out as the Joni Mitchell I want to remember.
Love your page,
Bloggingly Yours,
Todd
"Remembering Joni Mitchell"
"But I'm not dead yet!" - Joni Mitchell
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