Various artists:
• "A Tribute to Joni Mitchell"
(contributors: Prince, James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Sarah McLachlan, k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris, Bjork, Annie Lennox, etc.)
Nonesuch, April 24, 2007


1. FREE MAN IN PARIS - Sufjan Stevens
2. THE BOHO DANCE - Bjork
3. DREAMLAND - Caetano Veloso
4. DON'T INTERRUPT THE SORROW - Brad Mehldau
5. FOR THE ROSES - Cassandra Wilson
6. A CASE OF YOU - Prince
7. BLUE - Sarah McLachlan
8. LADIES OF THE CANYON - Annie Lennox
9. MAGDALENA LAUNDRIES - Emmylou Harris
10. EDITH AND THE KINGPIN - Elvis Costello
11. HELP ME - k.d. lang
12. RIVER - James Taylor

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NJXCG2/?tag=imwan-20

Where is Sheryl Crow?

where are CSNY, i think she spent time with each of them. "our house" is about her friggin house!!!

and jackson browne?

seriously, what does sara mclachlan, prince, cassandra wilson, bjork,sufjan stevens, and annie lennox have to do with joni mitchell?

and who are caetano veloso and brad meldeau?

in fact, other than james taylor and emmylou harris i doubt any of those people even met joni mitchell.

she deserves much, much better.

i will buy this used and only used, shame on nonesuch for this moneymaking travesty.

just my opinion,

renny

Actually, I think she may have worked with Prince. He has quoted her music in some of his songs, and it is my understanding they have some type of working relationship.

It's a tribute, and those are a dime a dozen, but this one actually has more A listers on it than do most of them. I'll buy this, and hopefully it'll come out with a low promotional price first week...

Annie Lennox covered "Ladies of the Canyon" as a b-side for one of her singles. Not hard to imagine that Joni has influenced a couple of generations of singers and songwriters, both female and male.

Brad Mehldau is a very respected jazz pianist but I confess to some surprise to see him in this context.

CSNY and Jackson Browne would have looked pretty good.

Bonnie Raitt has done some nice Joni, also.

I was hoping that it would include Lindsey Buckingham's version of "Big Yellow Taxi", which was recorded several years ago for a Joni Mitchell tribute that was shelved for some reason.

Counting Crows did a nice cover of that one as well.

Jim,

True, but their version was actually released and ended up being a pretty big radio single for them. Lindsey's version has not appeared anywhere (only a brief snippet was available on the web for a short time).

I was joking about Sheryl Crow because although I am a fan of hers, she appears EVERYWHERE. Who's to say Joni Mitchell deserves better? It's a tribute cd, I'm sure she's glad people still care enough about her to do something like this. BTW-Prince has been covering A CASE OF YOU on and off for years in concert.

then it will probably be a live version.

renny

I think I remember Joni saying that she used to see Prince at her concerts before he became famous. She apparently recognized him after he became famous as a guy she used to see in the audience at her concerts. I must have read that in an interview. I don't think I could have dreamed that up.

I also remember Prince thanking Joni when he won an award, maybe a Grammy. He also thanked Carlos Santana and a few other influences.

Edit: Neither Joni nor Carlos presented Prince with the Grammy or other award. He was just acknowledging some of his influences.

I'll probably get this for the Prince. I already have Sarah McLachlan's version of Blue; it's quite nice but not up to Joni's. The Costello could be interesting also.

Hey everybody! I'm back. I just had a very long move and it's been a while since I had internet at my house to do fun things like come to this forum. But I'm all set now and it's good to be here again.

Just wanted to comment on Brad Mehldau. He's probably my favorite contemporary jazz musician...the word "brilliant" comes to mind--and he's known for his beautiful and strange covers of people like the beatles, nick drake, and radiohead. So he's not out place on this cd. Considering Joni's love of jazz, in fact, I'm sure she'd be very, very proud to have him on here.

Witchgirl

I didn't even click on this thread for days because I figured this album would have the usual predictable artists doing note-for-note (or worse, "stripped down" ) versions of Joni's music. I'm actually quite pleased that there is at least some variety here. If anything, I wish the lineup was even more diverse. Too many of these tribute albums are a total bore IMHO due to too many note-for-note versions. Why cover a song unless you can bring something truly new to it?

As for Caetano Veloso, he is a well-respected Brazilian singer/songwriter. He has been recording since the 60's, and has worked with David Byrne, Gilberto Gil, and many others. He was part of the original Tropicalia movement, which was later namechecked in a Beck song.

OK, according to the liner notes, the following were all previously released:

"A Case of You"--Prince (from One Night Alone...)
"Blue"--Sarah McLachlan (from Rarities, B-Sides, & Other Stuff)
"Ladies of the Canyon"--Annie Lennox (from "No More I Love You's" CD5)
"River"--James Taylor (from James Taylor at Christmas)

That's most of the big draws already accounted for...

It didn't dawn on me as I was waiting on this release that the JT track had already appeared. Still, hearing K.D. Lang sing "Help Me" might be worth the price of admission all by itself...

Jimbo - 2 questions on One Night Alone: I assume you mean the live box set? Amazon doesn't show A Case of You as being on there. Also, have you heard the set? I've been wondering if it's worth picking up. In my opinion, Prince's releases have been hit & miss for the last 15 years or so & the box isn't cheap.

I recall reading a "review" of one of Prince's late night jams at his 3121 L.A. house a year ago. It mentioned Joni was there, dancing to the music as she watched him play...