Joni Mitchell - Blue (1971)

“Blue” by Joni Mitchell (1971)

Release Date: June 22, 1971
Produced by Joni Mitchell
Genre: Folk
Label: Reprise
Chart Positions: #15 (US), #9 (Canada), #3 (UK), #24 (Norway)
Certifications: Platinum (US), 2xPlatinum (UK)

Singles: “Carey” #27 (Canada), #93 (US), “California” (No chart data)
Best Tracks: ALL TRACKS. Again Joni gives us a solid collection of music.

“Blue” was Joni’s fourth studio album and her first to reach the Top Ten in her native homeland Canada.  “Blue” is regarded, by music critics, to be one of the greatest albums of all-time.

“Blue” by Joni Mitchell (Click Here)

The pivotal experience in Mitchell's life that drove the emergence of the album was her relationship with James Taylor. She had broken up with Graham Nash and begun an intense relationship with Taylor by the summer of 1971, visiting him on the set of the movie Two-Lane Blacktop, the aura of which is referred to in "This Flight Tonight". The songs "Blue" and "All I Want" have specific references to her relationship with Taylor, such as a sweater that she knitted for him at the time, and his heroin addiction. Despite his difficulties, Mitchell evidently felt that she had found the person with whom she could pair-bond in Taylor, and was devastated when he broke off the relationship. She retreated to the studio to record Blue.

In 1979 Mitchell reflected, "The Blue album, there's hardly a dishonest note in the vocals. At that period of my life, I had no personal defenses. I felt like a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes. I felt like I had absolutely no secrets from the world and I couldn't pretend in my life to be strong or to be happy. But the advantage of it in the music was that there were no defenses there either."

Mitchell continued to use alternate tunings on her guitar to allow easier access to augmented chords and notes in unexpected combinations. Due to the stark and bare revelations in the album, when it was first played for Kris Kristofferson he is reported to have commented, "Joni! Keep something of yourself!

Two singles were released from the album “Carey” was Joni’s follow-up single to her classic hit “Big Yellow.” In Canada the song fared well reaching #27 on their singles chart. Mitchell has stated that the "Carey" in question was a memorable character named Cary Raditz (or "Carrot" Raditz), a cane-carrying chef with bright red hair that she met in Matala during her European odyssey of 1970. At times it was rumored the song was about James Taylor. The second single “California” was recorded while Joni was living in France but longing for the creative climate she had experienced in California. In the song she expresses the depth of her longing for California by singing that if she was back in California she would even be willing to kiss a policeman, despite considering herself a member of the counterculture.

Little Green

“Little Green,” an album highlight was written by Joni about the daughter she had given up for adoption in 1965, when she was a poor folk singer in Toronto. The existence of her daughter, originally called Kelly Dale, was not publicly known until 1993, when a roommate from Mitchell's art-school days in the 1960s sold the story of the adoption to a tabloid magazine. Mitchell commented on the situation in an interview quoted in a 1998 article: "I was dirt poor. An unhappy mother does not raise a happy child. It was difficult parting with the child, but I had to let her go." Mitchell was reunited with her daughter, Kilauren Gibb, in 1997.

In his review for Rolling Stone Magazine, Timothy Crouse wrote regarding the song "All I Want," The accompaniment - James Taylor and Joni strumming a nervous, Latin-flavored guitar part over a bass heartbeat that throbs throughout the song - perfectly expresses Joni's excitement and anticipation."

The title track, "Blue," was supposedly penned for James Taylor. Blue is a nickname she gave Taylor during that time period.

James Taylor and Joni Mitchell (1971)

Link to “Blue” (Click Here)

JONI MITCHELL

Carly Simon - Boys In The Trees (1978)

“Boys In The Trees" by Carly Simon (1978)

“Boys In The Trees” was one of Carly Simon’s most successful studio albums in her entire career. The album reached #10 in the US and #4 in Canada as well as #27 in Australia. “Boys In The Trees” signified a change in musical style for Carly capitalizing on a stylishly serene approach.

"Boys In The Trees" by Carly Simon (Click Here)

After her huge success with the James Bond theme “Nobody Does It Better,” Carly went into the studio with producer Arif Mardin to record “Boys In The Tree.” During this time period Mardin’s productions were known to incorporate bits of R&B and disco into other genres such as pop and jazz. In 1978 Mardin also produced Chaka Khan’s album “Chaka” which includes the classic “I’m Every Woman”

 Three singles were released from “Boys In the Tree” including the international hit “You Belong To Me,” written by Doobie Brothers leader Michael McDonald and Carly Simon. The song was originally recorded by the Doobie Brothers in 1977 and featured on their album “Livin’ On The Faultline.” This was not the first Doobie Brothers song Carly recorded, she also recorded “It Keeps Me Runnin’” a song she featured on her 1976 album “Another Passenger.” Carly took “You Belong To Me” to #6 in the US and #5 in Canada. The second single was a cover of the Everly Brothers classic “Devoted To You,” this was a charming duet performed with James Taylor, this song was not as big a hit as the previous but managed to make it to US #36 and Canada #50. The third single “Tranquillo (Melt My Heart),” written by Carly Simon, James Taylor and Arif Mardin, was a disco tinged rocker that failed to chart but made a great album track.

"You Belong To Me"

Highlights on the album include “De Bat (Fly In Me Face)” a calypso influenced reggae tune shows off Carly’s sense of humor along with backing vocals by James Taylor. “In A Small Moment” is a great predecessor to her work on her 1981 album “Torch.”

The album won a Grammy award for Best Album Package, which went to Tony Lane, and Johnny Lee, who designed the album cover and packaging.  The song “You Belong To Me” received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance but lost to Anne Murray’s “You Needed Me.”

CARLY SIMON

Neil Young - Harvest (1972)

“Harvest” by Neil Young (1972)

By the time Neil Young released “Harvest” he had already experienced a good amount of success with previous musical entities. In 1967 “For What It’s Worth” was a top ten hit for his band Buffalo Springfield. He joined Crosby, Stills and Nash to record the 1970 album “Déjà Vu” which spawned the hits “Woodstock” and “Teach Your Children.” Finally “Harvest” is released, his fourth studio album and it becomes a worldwide hit reaching #1 in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Norway and The Netherlands as well as making it to #4 in Germany and Denmark, #6 Japan, #12 in both Finland and Italy, #48 in New Zealand and #100 in France.

"Harvest" by Neil Young (Click Here)

Many of the songs on the album were dark in theme he tackled lost love, drug addiction and loneliness.  The album has an overall mood and an overall lyrical content. The mood is melancholic and personal and the songs mostly describe the longing for and fulfillment of new love. In the song “The Needle and the Damage Done” of a friend of his who died of heroin addiction. “Old Man” talks about loneliness and fleeting moments. Young is perhaps most explicit in his search for love on the controversial "A Man Needs a Maid," which is often condemned as sexist by people judging it on the basis of its title. In fact, the song contrasts the fears of committing to a relationship with simply living alone and hiring help, and it contains some of Young's most autobiographical writing.

There were two singles released from the album “Old Man,” the second single, made it to #31 US and #4 Canada. The first single release is the classic “Heart of Gold,” which has become Young’s biggest hit of his career. Young sings this song with a chilling yearning that digs deep into the soul. The song was a huge hit around the world making it to #1 in the US and Canada, #4 Norway, #6 Denmark, #8 The Netherlands, #10 UK, #28 Japan and #30 Belgium. James Taylor and a relatively unknown Linda Ronstadt sang backing vocals on the song.

James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt don't come in until the end of the song. Like Young, Taylor and Ronstadt were in town to appear on The Johnny Cash Show (Elliot Mazer, producer of “Heart of Gold,” had produced Ronstadt's 1970 Silk Purse album). Young convinced them to lend their voices to this track, and they came in on Sunday, February 8, 1971 and the next day the rest of the song was completed.

"Heart Of Gold"

Amazon link to"Harvest": CLICK HERE 




NEIL YOUNG