My nomination for this round is....
Joni Mitchell - Hejira
Ok, to explain the clues first! The album is based on a road trip she did across America after a nasty break up which left her devastated. It's a very personal album which in parts is quite bleak as you would expect. She really doesn't hold anything back in her song-writing and all the songs are related to the break up and running away and going on a road-trip. Overall this album is majestic in terms of the lyrics, music, arrangement and production. It's an absolute masterpiece by one of the greatest song writers of all time, without question.
I used to listen to this album a lot as a kid as my Dad would play her albums endlessly. I never really liked, or understood, her music until I was a bit older. When I finally got around to discovering her music, I was absolutely enthralled. Quite simply, no one sounds like Joni Mitchell and no one writes like her. I must have listened to this album hundreds of times, easily.
Unfortunately due to the spat with Spotify, the album isn't on there but it is available on Youtube:
The album opens up with one of her finest songs, Coyote and it sums up everything that is Joni Mitchell. It's an absolute masterpiece and it staggers me how a human being can make something as astonishingly good as that. It just opens the album up brilliantly. It's a track about an affair with someone who lives a totally different lifestyle to her and she is off, despite his attentions.
Every part of the track is just perfect: the drums are laid back and provide that constant rhythm but on top of that is one of the finest bass guitarists who's ever lived, Jaco Pastorious. I can just listen to the bass on that track alone, it's so good. Finally there's Mitchell's singing, guitar playing and voice. The track Hejira is another that is a favourite. Again, the laid back drumming is perfect and that bass line is absolutely perfect. Finally, Mitchell's guitar, voice and of course lyrics.
It's really difficult to pick out highlights of this album because it's the story, the whole, that it tells. Every track is a story and whilst the songs vary, they are all brilliantly written. Not many can pen a verse like this from Furry Sings The Blues:
Pawn shops glitter like gold tooth caps
In the grey decay
They chew the last few dollars off
Old Beale Street's carcass
Carrion and mercy
Blue and silver sparkling drums
Cheap guitars, eye shades and guns
Aimed at the hot blood of being no one
Down and out in Memphis Tennessee
What I feel sets her apart from other singer-songwriters is the richness and complexity of the songs, her arrangement and understanding of structure and poetry. She truly is one of the finest musicians of the 20th Century, without question. I do find it slightly strange that she doesn't seem to be as well known as Dylan with most people only knowing "Big Yellow Taxi".
If you've not listened to her before and like this album, you're in for a treat. I hope you all enjoy it! :)
