Thank you for reading it! I know what you mean about Purple Rain. There are some SUS chords in there. Didn't mean to Joni-splain when you know it already!
See my Substatcks about the album renaissance of 1972. That year alone you get Paul Simon, Transformer, Can't Buy a Thrill, and For the Roses, Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Ziggy Stardust. 1973, you get Dark Side of the Moon, Innervisions, Countdown to Ecstasy, Berlin. Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus were still putting out great work.
I discovered the demos for The Hissing of Summer Lawns about 14 years ago somewhere on the Internet. As I played them for the first time and wiped tears away, the first thought that came to my mind was “I wonder if Wendy and Lisa (of The Revolution) have heard these.” I say that like we are on a first name basis, we definitely are not. But Prince and Joni are the two most important artists of my lifetime, and everyone is on a first name basis on the Internet, so I reached out to them on Twitter. I told Lisa they absolutely must hear these recordings and sent them the link. She wrote me back right away, confirmed that she had never heard the demos before, thanked me, and said they made her cry.
Elon Musk really destroyed something beautiful, but I’ll always have that memory of sharing something transcendent with an amazing musician and Joni fan on the other side of the continent. Because the Internet.
I can't wait, either! That is so cool! Elon Musk didn't ruin everything, You still got to do that. Wendy and Lisa sang on the Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm version of "Tea Leaf Prophecy." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVF2DMcu8ao
I'm sure you know that Prince said Hissing was the last album he enjoyed the whole way through. Thank you for that story. I'm glad you reached out to Lisa, and to me.
Yes, yes, I know all of this! You’ve probably heard this story too, but when Joni first met Wendy, she asked her which open tuning she used on Purple Rain. (Purple Rain is in standard tuning, but the chords are not typical pop song guitar chords and it certainly sounds like an open tuning Joni would have used).
I devoured your book on Joni, thank you for writing it.
"Besides, 1974 was a year for wild asymmetry, even at number one. Look at what made number one that year: Stevie Wonder, “You Haven’t Done Nothing,” Billy Preston, Nothing From Nothing,” this was a year of a lot of nothing. But that meant it was also a year for anything."
That's because 1971 sucked up all the creativity years into the future (via a wormhole of course):
This demo will blow your mind!
So great to have these! So great to have your musings!
Great post. Her exchange with John Lennon, really a "confrontation" or just an encounter? Enchanting photo of Joni to lead off.
He was confrontational because he was drunk on his "Lost Weekend" with Harry Nilsson.
Thank you for reading it! I know what you mean about Purple Rain. There are some SUS chords in there. Didn't mean to Joni-splain when you know it already!
See my Substatcks about the album renaissance of 1972. That year alone you get Paul Simon, Transformer, Can't Buy a Thrill, and For the Roses, Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Ziggy Stardust. 1973, you get Dark Side of the Moon, Innervisions, Countdown to Ecstasy, Berlin. Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus were still putting out great work.
I love the Canadian inflection of "Boo-gie Woo-gie."
Thank YOU, Richard!
I discovered the demos for The Hissing of Summer Lawns about 14 years ago somewhere on the Internet. As I played them for the first time and wiped tears away, the first thought that came to my mind was “I wonder if Wendy and Lisa (of The Revolution) have heard these.” I say that like we are on a first name basis, we definitely are not. But Prince and Joni are the two most important artists of my lifetime, and everyone is on a first name basis on the Internet, so I reached out to them on Twitter. I told Lisa they absolutely must hear these recordings and sent them the link. She wrote me back right away, confirmed that she had never heard the demos before, thanked me, and said they made her cry.
Elon Musk really destroyed something beautiful, but I’ll always have that memory of sharing something transcendent with an amazing musician and Joni fan on the other side of the continent. Because the Internet.
I cannot wait to hear Volume 3 of the archives.
I can't wait, either! That is so cool! Elon Musk didn't ruin everything, You still got to do that. Wendy and Lisa sang on the Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm version of "Tea Leaf Prophecy." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVF2DMcu8ao
I'm sure you know that Prince said Hissing was the last album he enjoyed the whole way through. Thank you for that story. I'm glad you reached out to Lisa, and to me.
Yes, yes, I know all of this! You’ve probably heard this story too, but when Joni first met Wendy, she asked her which open tuning she used on Purple Rain. (Purple Rain is in standard tuning, but the chords are not typical pop song guitar chords and it certainly sounds like an open tuning Joni would have used).
I devoured your book on Joni, thank you for writing it.
Bravo David! I have total recall of listening to the vinyl on release so many years ago. And still so fresh, so new.
"Besides, 1974 was a year for wild asymmetry, even at number one. Look at what made number one that year: Stevie Wonder, “You Haven’t Done Nothing,” Billy Preston, Nothing From Nothing,” this was a year of a lot of nothing. But that meant it was also a year for anything."
That's because 1971 sucked up all the creativity years into the future (via a wormhole of course):
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/may/22/asif-kapadia-1971-music-documentary-apple-tv
Except for Joni who, with Blue released that year, was only getting started, as you have so nicely shown here.
SWEET BABY JAMES - "SUITE FOR 20 G"
"When I go to sleep at night
Wanna hear a slide guitar
When I'm feeling loose and right, go
Riding in my automobile
Boney Maroney and Peggy Sue
Got the rocking pneumonia
Got the boogie-woogie flu, baby
Hold my soul, said I'm sure 'nough fond
Of my rock 'n roll."
"Me and My Guitar" -- "It's me and my guitar, essentially me and my guitar.
Oh, maybe a few friends fall by for tea, a little bit of 'who do you love?'
But pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, it's me and my guitar.
Having fun, boogie-woogie, uh-huh, me and my guitar." --James Taylor
This is actually on the album WALKING MAN.
"Boogie Woogie" might be a James Taylor reference to a song on SWEET BABY JAMES.
What’s the song called? That could be!
Such a revelatory demo. Thanks for your perceptive analysis.