Another Friday...another Laurel Canyon classic, this time from one of the Queens of the Canyon, Joni Mitchell. SOTD No 162 is a live version of one of Jonis big hits Big Yellow Taxi from 1970. youtu.be/Tr__rRGWVgI?list=FLvfeLgDEvtTVxS0YFysy-ew Joni said this about writing the song to journalist Alan McDougall in the early 1970s: I wrote Big Yellow Taxi on my first trip to Hawaii. I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart... this blight on paradise. Thats when I sat down and wrote the song. The song is known for its environmental concern – They paved paradise to put up a parking lot and Hey farmer, farmer, put away that DDT now – and sentimental sound. The line They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum / And charged the people a dollar and a half just to see em. refers to Foster Botanical Garden in downtown Honolulu, which is a living museum of tropical plants, some rare and endangered. In the songs final verse, the political gives way to the personal. Mitchell recounts the departure of her old man in the titular big yellow taxi, which may refer to the old Metro Toronto Police patrol cars that until 1986 were painted yellow. In many covers the departed one may be interpreted as variously a boyfriend, a husband or a father. The literal interpretation is that he is walking out on the singer by taking a taxi; otherwise it is assumed he is being taken away by the authorities. Mitchells original recording was first put out as a single and then was put on the album Ladies of the Canyon in 1970. A later live version was released in 1975 and reached No. 24 on the U.S. charts. Mitchells playful closing vocals have made the song one of the most identifiable in her repertoire, still receiving significant airplay in Canada. In 2005, it was voted No. 9 on CBCs list of the top 50 essential Canadian tracks. Joni Mitchell, (born Roberta Joan Anderson; November 7, 1943), is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Joni began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto. In 1965, she moved to the United States and began touring. Some of her original songs (Urge for Going, Chelsea Morning, Both Sides, Now, The Circle Game) were covered by notable folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her own debut album in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Joni, with popular songs like Big Yellow Taxi and Woodstock, helped define an era and a generation. Her 1971 recording Blue was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974s Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring the radio hits Help Me and Free Man in Paris. Her wide-ranging vocals and distinctive open-tuned guitar and piano compositions grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she explored jazz, melding it with influences of rock and roll, R&B, classical music, and non-western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working closely with noted jazz musicians, among them Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Charles Mingus; the latter asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She turned again toward pop, embraced electronic music, and engaged in political protest. She is the sole record producer credited on most of her albums, including all her work in the 1970s. With roots in visual art, she has designed her own album artwork throughout her career. A blunt critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th, and reportedly last, album of original songs in 2007. She describes herself as a painter derailed by circumstance. Joni has deeply influenced fellow musicians in a diverse range of genres, and her work is highly respected by critics. AllMusic said, When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century, and Rolling Stone called her one of the greatest songwriters ever. Her lyrics are noted for their developed poetics, addressing social and environmental ideals alongside personal feelings of romantic longing, confusion, disillusion, and joy. Next week The Mamas and the Papas
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 10:31:35 +0000
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