The MG Album Club- #6- Court and Spark

[Nickyboy]

1974 was a fantastic year for music! So many excellent choices, and that's from just looking at the RYM charts. I used their chart, rather than go through all of my vinyl and CDs one at a time to find a gem from 1974. So.....did I go with Brian Eno? Kraftwerk? These might be obvious choices, coming from me.
Instead, I chose a childhood favorite, Joni Mitchell's album "Court and Spark". She has one of the most beautiful singing voices, and her craft at songwriting is top notch. This album comes after her big successes with "Blue" and "For the Roses". You might recognize "Free Man in Paris" and "Help Me", which received considerable radio air play at the time. Songs range from quiet and introspective to more outgoing. Other than the final track "Twisted", which is fun but ultimately a throw-away (with guest vocals by Cheech and Chong), I think every track here is a gem. Not a clunker in the bunch.
While others have chosen albums that were fairly obscure, I chose one that people here may be more familiar with, but haven't played in a while. Hope you enjoy it again. It's available on Spotify. I just have no idea how to link it here.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

^
Looking forward to this - Joni's voice has never really appealed to me, despite my admiration for her songwriting ability, artistic choices. So aside from Blue (which took me years to get into), I don't really break her own except, well, during album countdowns

 

[Ojai Sam]

This album:

The complete collection to date:

 

[Ojai Sam]

Nick, you must be reading my mail. I happen to be on a Joni Mitchell listening project right now. Today I finished For The Roses so I’ll be ready for Court And Spark in the next day or so.

 

[Nickyboy]

Today I finished For The Roses

That was my 4:30am music this morning.

 

[lpfreak1170]

I chose one that people here may be more familiar with, but haven't played in a while.

Describes me perfectly for this one...been a while. Looking forward to spinning it again!

 

[Unsomnambulist]

I had never heard this before, as it is not exactly in my wheelhouse (understatement!).

It's well-crafted and the mellow vibe is relaxing. The style of music and production calls to mind a time period I probably romanticize too much (especially compared to now), but the 70s were great for music.

I give it .

 

[Ojai Sam]

Great choice, Nick! This record is a real memory flogger.

Looking back across the decades at a prolific artist like Joni Mitchell lends a sense of perspective to her work. In her first half dozen albums, Joni took her audience on a journey from highly personal folk songs to mainstream pop-rock success. After pausing for a live album, she subsequently continued her odyssey deep into jazz poetry, leaving much of her fan base behind.

Court And Spark, her sixth release, represented the pinnacle of Mitchell's popularity, peaking at #2 on the Billboard album chart. At the time, I was not smitten by the contemporary jazz stylings of Tom Scott, Joe Sample and Larry Carlton featured on this record. I much preferred the organic sound of Blue from three years earlier and viewed C&S as a commercial sell out. Today I see it more as a career summary, with some elements of her older folk style blended with her increasingly wordy songs. She even tries with mixed success to rock out. The presence of guests as diverse as David Crosby, Jose Feliciano and Cheech and Chong contributes to the sense that she was trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

This one has sat on my shelf since I bought it at Tower Records in West Hollywood the week it came out. Hearing it again after all these years, I find that I have developed more of an ear for the El Lay jazz style. This in turn helped me to appreciate her well crafted lyrics. It is fitting that she closed with an ironically bouncy treatment of "Twisted", Lambert, Hendricks and Ross' stream-of-consciousness hip jazz confessional, foreshadowing her career to come.

on the Sam-O-Meter.

 

[axolotl]

This selection similarly tickled my olde memory banks. Back in the day, I tended to mush together in my mind the likes of Joni Mitchell with Judy Collins and even Joan Baez. Similarities in ages, names, scenes, and styles, I suppose. But once I pulled my head out of me arse, I could somewhat readily discern the differences.

I thought that I had heard several songs from Court and Spark before I even listened, but I was wrong. I knew all of them. I have heard the album in its entirety perhaps two or three times prior to this last week, in addition to its more well-known, AOR radio-friendly songs. [TIL that AOR also stands for Adult-Oriented Rock. Who knew?]

This listening made for a pleasant late afternoon respite. Even though I did not favor its smooth jazz underpinnings at the time it was released, all is forgiven. I immediately liked it upon rehearing.

I give it :3.75: [That won't register.] I can still chair-dance to it.

Spoiler

No haiku today.
Didn't you hear me? I said
No haiku today.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

I enjoy this more the more times I listen to it. Quite evident it's a classic.

 

[lpfreak1170]

A very solid . So wonderful to revisit this great album!

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Wonderful album. I've never really got into Joni as I stated above. Not a tremendous fan of the 70s singer-songwriter movement (with exceptions) - still it''s unfair to lump her in with artists like James Taylor, Harry Chapin, John Denver, etc because of her experimentation with other genres (especially her integration of jazz in her music) but also because of the complexity of her songwriting. Her lyrics are outstanding. Her voice has never connected to me (it's funny how one might like a, shall we say, distinctive, voice like Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Robert Plant but might not like others like Geddy Lee). Despite that, I've always enjoyed Court & Spark yet never break it out (certainly not as much as, say, Blue). Of course there's the opening two "hits", but the whole album is just rich. Especially love "Down to You". I'd give it:

 

[Old Uncle Toe]

What a wonderful album!

A family member had this album way back when, so I'm familiar with it. But I was into different music in those days and didn't give Joni Mitchell much attention. Over the years I latched onto Blue and love it, but I've only listened to Court and Spark on occasion and not recently at all.

I listened to it at work, so couldn't focus on Joni's lyrics. I plan to listen again so I can do so. I enjoyed the El Lay jazz style. It really kept my attention. And to my surprise and delight, the production doesn't sound dated at all. As to Joni's singing, as Sam mentioned, later in her career she got into jazzy poetic stuff that's over my head. I like this part of her career where I can still follow what she was doing and enjoy it. I would like to hear her in duet with Brandi Carlisle. They both seem to like vocal acrobatics and are both very good at them.

All in all a great listen. It got a well-earned resurrection at a time in life when I'm much more open to the style and can appreciate Joni's style and skill. Good pick Nickyboy!

 

[Nickyboy]

I would like to hear her in duet with Brandi Carlisle.

I would knock people out of the way to get tickets for that show.

 

[axolotl]

"Twisted" The Original: 1953

"Twisted" Annie Ross: 1959

I don't know why I posted this one. It's not the same tune. Just a childhood reminiscence, I guess;

"Three Little Bops"