Album: Ladies of the Canyon
Recorded: Late 1968
Released: May 1969
Recorded: Late 1968
Released: May 1969
Songs / length: 10 / 36:52
Ladies of the Canyon is a 9-song album with three hit songs tacked on to the end, no doubt a concession Joni made to her label. The canyon of the title track is of course Laurel Canyon, as depicted in part on the record cover, with artwork that looks incomplete in the same way that the songs reveal Joni in a transitionary frame of mind. Occasional bouts of domestic bliss (Willy) and joy at being in her new environment surrounded by talented people (Ladies of the Canyon) are tempered with a sense of nostalgia for simpler times (Morning Morgantown), when she felt less commercial pressure (For Free).
For Free is one of the LP's masterpieces. The lyrics create an opposition between the narrator, presumably Joni, who has "a black Limousine and two gentlemen / escorting me to the halls" where she'll "play if you have the money", and a man on a street corner with a clarinet "playing real good for free". There's an uneasiness about the commercial imperative of the entertainment industry, but also a sense of being hostage to fortune. The song also highlights Joni's artistic development at the time, no longer just a folk guitarist but also exploring piano-based compositions and jazz. Willy, a love song to Joni's partner at the time Graham William Nash (nickname Willy), was likewise written for the piano.
A Rolling Stone interview from 1969 profiles Joni Mitchell and her life with Nash in Laurel Canyon, with Joni saying her increasing fame means that she has "many irons in the fire now", but also that her "life has been constantly filled with interruptions. I don't have five hours in a row to myself. I think I'm less prolific now, but I'm also more demanding of myself. I have many melodies in my mind at all times, but the words are different now. It's mainly because I rely on my own experiences for lyrics." Nash talks in his memoir about how Mitchell had an ability to switch off from reality and channel her musical inspiration, while his song Our House reflects an actual moment of domestic bliss in their home on Lookout Mountain Avenue. By the time this album was released, however, Joni's relationship with Nash was over.
In many of the songs, there's the sense of a restless spirit. Conversation is about a man trapped in a relationship, who finds comfort in the conversation that Joni's narrator provides, while The Arrangement reveals a longing for artistic freedom, away from the trappings of consumerism. Rainy Night House sounds haunted by the spirit of Leonard Cohen, and finds Joni reflecting on a former relationship – like For Free with its jazz outro, the song introduces innovative elements, such as the sound of the "upstairs choir". The Priest is still a mystery to me, while Blue Boy appears to focus on unrequited love, or the sense of how a canyon can open up between lovers.
Ending the album are three of Joni's best-known songs, including The Circle Game – a response to Neil Young's Sugar Mountain, offering the solace that feelings of being young and old can fluctuate throughout our lives – and Woodstock, the definitive song of the event written by someone who never went. As Joni said, "the deprivation of not being able to go provided me with an intense angle on Woodstock". She was so moved by the positivity of the event, seeing it as a miracle, that she cried performing the song the first few times.
By the time of this album's release, Joni Mitchell was a genuine pop star, and thanks to the virtuoso performances and the addition of the last three hit songs, the record went platinum.
Highlights: For Free, The Arrangement, Woodstock
Album rating: A
Ladies of the Canyon is a 9-song album with three hit songs tacked on to the end, no doubt a concession Joni made to her label. The canyon of the title track is of course Laurel Canyon, as depicted in part on the record cover, with artwork that looks incomplete in the same way that the songs reveal Joni in a transitionary frame of mind. Occasional bouts of domestic bliss (Willy) and joy at being in her new environment surrounded by talented people (Ladies of the Canyon) are tempered with a sense of nostalgia for simpler times (Morning Morgantown), when she felt less commercial pressure (For Free).
For Free is one of the LP's masterpieces. The lyrics create an opposition between the narrator, presumably Joni, who has "a black Limousine and two gentlemen / escorting me to the halls" where she'll "play if you have the money", and a man on a street corner with a clarinet "playing real good for free". There's an uneasiness about the commercial imperative of the entertainment industry, but also a sense of being hostage to fortune. The song also highlights Joni's artistic development at the time, no longer just a folk guitarist but also exploring piano-based compositions and jazz. Willy, a love song to Joni's partner at the time Graham William Nash (nickname Willy), was likewise written for the piano.
A Rolling Stone interview from 1969 profiles Joni Mitchell and her life with Nash in Laurel Canyon, with Joni saying her increasing fame means that she has "many irons in the fire now", but also that her "life has been constantly filled with interruptions. I don't have five hours in a row to myself. I think I'm less prolific now, but I'm also more demanding of myself. I have many melodies in my mind at all times, but the words are different now. It's mainly because I rely on my own experiences for lyrics." Nash talks in his memoir about how Mitchell had an ability to switch off from reality and channel her musical inspiration, while his song Our House reflects an actual moment of domestic bliss in their home on Lookout Mountain Avenue. By the time this album was released, however, Joni's relationship with Nash was over.
In many of the songs, there's the sense of a restless spirit. Conversation is about a man trapped in a relationship, who finds comfort in the conversation that Joni's narrator provides, while The Arrangement reveals a longing for artistic freedom, away from the trappings of consumerism. Rainy Night House sounds haunted by the spirit of Leonard Cohen, and finds Joni reflecting on a former relationship – like For Free with its jazz outro, the song introduces innovative elements, such as the sound of the "upstairs choir". The Priest is still a mystery to me, while Blue Boy appears to focus on unrequited love, or the sense of how a canyon can open up between lovers.
The album also includes one of Joni's most iconic songs, Big Yellow Taxi, which encapsulates growing awareness in the 60s of the impact of humanity, tourism and consumerism on the environment (a movement ignited by Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring). Milt Holland of The Wrecking Crew adds to the musical flavour of the song, playing congas and triangle, and there's a real "disconnect", as the American says, between the upbeat rhythm of the song and its downbeat theme.
By the time of this album's release, Joni Mitchell was a genuine pop star, and thanks to the virtuoso performances and the addition of the last three hit songs, the record went platinum.
Highlights: For Free, The Arrangement, Woodstock
Album rating: A
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