Joni Mitchell: Classic or Dud

Joni's story is definitely not one of her getting smarter and sharper over time: I think from Don Juan onwards there is an increasing sense of her losing any real capacity for self-criticism or self-awareness, until you end up with truly dumb songs like "The Windfall (Everything For Nothing)" that could only come from someone who is totally uncomprehending of their own privilege (also some great songs, but I don't think Joni circa 1975 would have let "The Windfall" make it onto an album).

― Tim F

100% agree, DJRD was a foreshadowing of Joni throwing her self-awareness and self-editing instincts out of the window for the most part of the 80s.

That story from the prison - did she think she was making 'authentic' jazz or R&B records in this period? I love these albums but that's kind of hilarious, like if David Gilmour got incensed that Dark Side of the Moon didn't make the R&B charts despite having a sax player, a soulful female singer, a blues track in "Money", etc.

The way she insisted on smoking in public during the '90s was Trumpian in its defiance.

pretty much all the original punks were late baby boomers I don't see why people think they are another generation

Certainly in the US.

I think the early Brit punks were all born in the 50s? Certainly Rotten, Strummer, Devoto, Sioux.

Strummer was an old man by UK punk standards.

Someone who was born after the baby boom would have been 12 in 1977.

So even Eater would have been boomers.

Yeah, to be clear, I wasn't thinking of punks with my comment. More like Tarantino etc.

FWIW, I also don't think of (white) hippies as having been particularly focused on racial justice, or sensitive to those concerns. I'm sure some were, though.

Details on her new box set:

Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967) (2020)

CD1
House Of The Rising Sun (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
John Hardy (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
Dark As A Dungeon (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
Tell Old Bill (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
Nancy Whiskey (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
Anathea (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
Copper Kettle (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
Fare Thee Well (Dink’s Song) (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
Molly Malone (Radio Station CFQC AM, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (ca. 1963))
Introduction (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - First Set)
Nancy Whiskey (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - First Set)
Intro to The Crow On The Cradle (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - First Set)
The Crow On The Cradle (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - First Set)
Pastures Of Plenty (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - First Set)
Every Night When The Sun Goes In (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - First Set)
Intro to Sail Away (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - First Set)
Sail Away (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - First Set)
John Hardy (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - Second Set)
Dark As A Dungeon (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - Second Set)
Intro to Maids When You’re Young Never Wed An Old Man (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - Second Set)
Maids When You’re Young Never Wed An Old Man (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - Second Set)
The Dowie Dens Of Yarrow (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - Second Set)
Deportee (Plane Crash At Los Gatos) (Live at the Half Beat: Yorkville, Toronto, Canada (October 21, 1964) - Second Set)
The Long Black Rifle (Joni’s Parents’ House: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (February 1965))
Ten Thousand Miles (Joni’s Parents’ House: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (February 1965))
Seven Daffodils (Joni’s Parents’ House: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (February 1965))

CD2
Urge For Going (Myrtle Anderson Birthday Tape: Detroit, MI (1965))
Born To Take The Highway (Myrtle Anderson Birthday Tape: Detroit, MI (1965))
Here Today And Gone Tomorrow (Myrtle Anderson Birthday Tape: Detroit, MI (1965))
What Will You Give Me (Jac Holzman Demo: Detroit, MI (August 24, 1965))
Let It Be Me (Jac Holzman Demo: Detroit, MI (August 24, 1965))
The Student Song (Jac Holzman Demo: Detroit, MI (August 24, 1965))
Day After Day (Jac Holzman Demo: Detroit, MI (August 24, 1965))
Unknown Title (Jac Holzman Demo: Detroit, MI (August 24, 1965))
Favorite Colour (Let’s Sing Out, CBC TV: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada (October 4, 1965))
Me And My Uncle (Let’s Sing Out, CBC TV: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada (October 4, 1965))
Sad Winds Blowin’ (Home Demo: Detroit, MI (ca. 1966))
Just Like Me (Let’s Sing Out, CBC TV: Laurentian University, London, ON, Canada (October 24, 1966))
Night In The City (Let’s Sing Out, CBC TV: Laurentian University, London, ON, Canada (October 24, 1966))
Brandy Eyes (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
Intro to Urge For Going (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
Urge For Going (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
Intro to What’s The Story Mr. Blue (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
What’s The Story Mr. Blue (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
Eastern Rain (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
Intro to The Circle Game (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
The Circle Game (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
Intro to Night In The City (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))
Night In The City (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (November 1966))

CD3
Intro to Both Sides Now (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA, (March 12, 1967))
Both Sides Now (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA, (March 12, 1967))
Intro to The Circle Game (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA, (March 12, 1967))
The Circle Game (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA, (March 12, 1967))
Morning Morgantown (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (March 17, 1967) - Second Set)
Born To Take The Highway (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (March 17, 1967) - Second Set)
Intro to Song To A Seagull (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (March 17, 1967) - Second Set)
Song To A Seagull (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (March 17, 1967) - Second Set)
Winter Lady (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (March 17, 1967) - Third Set)
Intro to Both Sides Now (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (March 17, 1967) - Third Set)
Both Sides Now (Live at the 2nd Fret: Philadelphia, PA (March 17, 1967) - Third Set)
Intro to Eastern Rain (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA (March 19, 1967))
Eastern Rain (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA (March 19, 1967))
Intro to Blue On Blue (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA (March 19, 1967))
Blue On Blue (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA (March 19, 1967))
Gemini Twin (A Record Of My Changes – Michael’s Birthday Tape: North Carolina (May 1967))
Strawflower Me (A Record Of My Changes – Michael’s Birthday Tape: North Carolina (May 1967))
A Melody In Your Name (A Record Of My Changes – Michael’s Birthday Tape: North Carolina (May 1967))
Tin Angel (A Record Of My Changes – Michael’s Birthday Tape: North Carolina (May 1967))
I Don’t Know Where I Stand (A Record Of My Changes – Michael’s Birthday Tape: North Carolina (May 1967))
Joni improvising (A Record Of My Changes – Michael’s Birthday Tape: North Carolina (May 1967))
Intro to Sugar Mountain (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA (May 28, 1967))
Sugar Mountain (Folklore, WHAT FM: Philadelphia, PA (May 28, 1967))

CD4
I Had A King (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Free Darling (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Conversation (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Morning Morgantown (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Dr. Junk (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Gift Of The Magi (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Chelsea Morning (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Michael From Mountains (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Cara’s Castle (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Jeremy (Incomplete) (Home Demo: New York City, NY (ca. June 1967))
Conversation (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Intro to Come To The Sunshine (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Come To The Sunshine (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Intro to Chelsea Morning (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Chelsea Morning (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Intro to Gift Of The Magi (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Gift Of The Magi (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Play Little David (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Intro to The Dowy Dens Of Yarrow (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
The Dowy Dens Of Yarrow (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
I Had A King (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Intro to Free Darling (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Free Darling (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Intro to Cactus Tree (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)
Cactus Tree (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - First Set)

CD5
Little Green (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
Intro to Marcie (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
Marcie (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
Intro to Ballerina Valerie (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
Ballerina Valerie (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
The Circle Game (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
Intro to Michael From Mountains (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
Michael From Mountains (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
Go Tell The Drummer Man (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
Intro to I Don’t Know Where I Stand (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
I Don’t Know Where I Stand (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Second Set)
A Melody In Your Name (Live at Canterbury House: Ann Arbor, MI (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Intro to Carnival In Kenora (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Carnival In Kenora (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Songs To Aging Children Come (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Intro to Dr. Junk (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Dr. Junk (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Morning Morgantown (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Intro to Night In The City (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Night In The City (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Both Sides Now (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)
Urge For Going (October 27, 1967) - Third Set)

Since her debut album arrived in 1968, Joni Mitchell’s songs have been embraced across generations, inspired multitudes of artists around the world, and earned every conceivable accolade. She is now opening her vault for the first time to create the Joni Mitchell Archives, a new series of boxed set releases that will span the next several years, featuring deep dives in to unreleased content from different eras of her storied career. Mitchell has been intimately involved in producing the archive series, lending her vision and personal touch to every element of the project.

The series debuts on October 23 with JONI MITCHELL ARCHIVES VOL. 1: THE EARLY YEARS (1963-1967), which features nearly six hours of unreleased home, live, and radio recordings that flow chronologically to paint a rich portrait of Mitchell’s rapid growth as a performer and songwriter during the period leading up to her debut album. This treasure trove of unheard audio includes 29 original Mitchell compositions that have never been released before with her vocals. The collection will be available as a deluxe 5-CD set as well as digitally.

The collection begins in 1963 with her earliest-known recording as a 19-year-old Mitchell performs at CFQC AM, a radio station in her hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The first song from this set, Mitchell’s take on House Of The Rising Sun, is available today as a digital single. Click here to listen now. The box culminates with a stirring, three-set 1967 nightclub performance recorded at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Through a wealth of unreleased live performances, home recordings, and radio broadcasts, ARCHIVES VOL. 1 brings into focus the period when Mitchell was finding her voice artistically. It shows her moving away from the folk standards of her early days (John Hardy and House Of The Rising Sun) and starting to write and sing her own songs (Day After Day and Urge For Going.)

ARCHIVES VOL. 1 reveals just how prolific a songwriter Mitchell was at the time. In addition to early versions of songs that would appear on Song To A Seagull (Michael From Mountains and I Had A King), the set also features songs destined for later albums: Chelsea Morning Both Sides Now (Clouds, 1969); The Circle Game (Ladies of the Canyon, 1970); and Little Green (Blue, 1971).

More than a just historic document, these recordings crackle with energy thanks to a vibrant and enchanting Mitchell. On many, you can hear her turning her guitar and telling a story about the song before playing it. That includes her rare 1967 cover of Neil Young’s Sugar Mountain, a song she says inspired her to write The Circle Game.

The 5-CD collection includes a 40-page booklet that features many unseen photos from Mitchell’s personal collection as well as new liner notes featuring conversations between writer/filmmaker Cameron Crowe and Mitchell, who recently spent a couple of Sunday afternoons together discussing her archives. Crowe will continue to provide liners for future releases in the series.

Liner notes for both vinyl releases were each composed by people who were in the room when the original performances were recorded. Barry Bowman was working as a DJ at radio station CFQC in 1963 and provides the notes for EARLY JONI. Bob Franke, who was covering Mitchell’s show at Canterbury House for the Michigan Dailywhile also moonlighting as a doorman at the club, pens the liners for LIVE AT CANTERBURY HOUSE. His original review for the Michigan Daily is also included.

Looking back, Mitchell reflects on her early label of folk singer: The early stuff, I shouldn’t be such a snob against it. A lot of these songs, I just lost them. They fell away. They only exist in these recordings. For so long I rebelled against the term, ‘I was never a folk-singer.’ I would get pissed off if they put that label on me. I didn’t think it was a good description of what I was. And then I listened and…it was beautiful. It made me forgive my beginnings. And I had this realization…I was a folk singer!

wow, I didn't realize "Urge For Going" was so early!

nice, I have a 2CD boot-type thing from Dime with a bunch of that stuff, it's good!

pretty major — this stuff will really fill out the overall picture of her career, I think. some of the early material is not amazing necessarily, but it's definitely cool to follow her trajectory (and some of it is very strong).

This particular volume isn't for me. But I'm looking forward to future releases. The word "archive" triggers a Neil Young wince in me. Let's hope she manages this project better than Shakey

Or at all; I've seen JM box sets announced before...although there was an import incl. all or a lot of the original albums, reviewed in Pitchfork. Here's some of the stuff on this one; click the link back to main menu if you refer mp3s:
http://www.ousterhout.net/lossless/jmitchell.html

oh man can we skip forward a box or two? hope whoever is running the show here is gonna roll them out in good time

joni doing 'house of the rising sun' for a saskatoon radio station, ostensibly her first-ever recording

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wWR3ZkyyGY

Anyone else think this revive would be about the snake in the CD player?

I opened up my CD player which is inside the house and found this... 😒 pic.twitter.com/SXI9j3L2pQ

— Steven Ⓜ️ (@BeardedSteven) September 10, 2020

you turn me on (i'm a reptile)

both ssssssssssidessss now

Sharon you've got a husband and a family and a farm / I've got the apple of temptation and a mottled snake inside my cd player

DEEE-DEE-DEE-DEE
DUM-DE-DEE-DEE-DEE
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Just before our love got lost, you said
"I am as constant as a snake, " and I said
"Constantly in a CD player
Where's that at?
If you want me, I'll be in the bar"

he’s a real sidewinder, he’s not like me

waiting for a snake, climbing, climbing
climbing the hill

and who could forget the hissing of summer lawns, talk about hiding in plain sight

Wonder if this is worth getting, if you don't have any of her other CDs, or a working turntable?
Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting To Be Danced (4CD)
Some good prices on Amazon, also reviewer Bloomer says there:
...She gives you pages of reading on how she came to this 4 cd box set (also includes all the lyrics)...the sound is excellent! Anyone who has followed Joni through her 40 year career of music,art and interviews knows well her ego is as big as her art!...you see here she has tried to take her songs and put them into 4 series entwining them into a music novel. Some like myself may find the order in which she chose the songs doesn't really make a lot of sense. But the great thing is you can take the 53 songs that are now at the same volume level and arrange them the way you want or just enjoy her way of thinking. Joni is a "brilliant" and articulate woman and there will never be another one like her!...if you're an avid Joni lover you will love this collection.

Track list looks fun. Songs Of A Prairie Girl is another interesting sorta random comp (track list also selected by joni)

https://www.discogs.com/Joni-Mitchell-Songs-Of-A-Prairie-Girl/master/550925

Thanks! That track list looks fun as well, will check.
Also need to get around to her mostly-covers Both Sides Now, from 2000. Even xgau, who mostly gave up on her long before, gives it up for this one:
...This very if briefly great singer-songwriter proves herself a major interpretive singer. Lucky to write two decent songs a decade now, she instead applies her smoked contralto to a knowledgeable selection of superb material by mostly second-echelon Tin Pan Alley craftsmen (and I do mean men). Splitting the difference between pop and jazz like the Chairman himself, she doesn't transform the melodies so much as texture them, and on a few highlights--on "Comes Love" and "You've Changed," on "When love congeals/It soon reveals/The faint aroma of performing seals"--she bores so deep into the words you'd think she'd written them herself back when she had something to say. But no, that's "A Case of You" and "Both Sides Now"--both of which, you can bet the mortgage, she makes sure belong. A-

Great new interview, she's certainly got her words back:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/oct/27/joni-mitchell-interview-archives-early-years-cameron-crowe

Just one little example, going with what xgau says about her as interpreter---she bores so deep into the words you'd think she'd written them herself back when she had something to say:

CC I remember you once saying every vocal performance is acting: “You must be the character who wrote the song when you sing it.” When you listen to this early music, are you playing a character? And “No, it’s me” is a valid answer.

JM It’s not like that. It’s, you know, the words to the song are your script. You have to bring the correct emotion to every word. You know, if you sing it pretty – a lot of people that cover my songs will sing it pretty – it’s going to fall flat. You have to bring more to it than that.

And it was something immediately striking, coming from some hit covers to her originals. Judy Collins' version of "Both Sides Now" was okay, the floaty opening was something of a set-up for "It's love's illusions I recall," but still she sounds wistful, despite the pverall steadiness, no JM-associated trills, etc.---but JM starts right out being more apprehensive, like this is still happening, slow down: "Rows. and flows. Of angel hair." Counting the illusions, drop by drop, pill by pill. Also, Stills does okay with intro of "Woodstock, ' but then the sparkly granola harmonies of Crosby & Nash hit the chorus. Heard a live version on Collegetown radio the other night, even better than her original, where she sings tiny interjections while ascending with the chorus, for inst explaining the stardust as carbon, rhyming it with "garden," think she mentions ecology or maybe not (this from around the first Earth Day, remember those?)

I love Prince's version of "A Case of You" - it sounds as if it was tossed off in half an hour to meet a deadline, he ditches large parts of it, yet it's still fantastic. Also Joni's cover of her own "Tealeaf Prophecy" on the Herbie Hancock album is currently my favourite track of hers.

relatively new to joni (within past 10 yrs or so) and always struggled to enjoy Heijera

a couple of weeks ago i watched the Jaco doc on Hulu. I didnt know anything about him other than he played on Heijera & was Kind of A Big Deal

i had never really listened to any jazz fusion or anything so the sounds he was throwing out felt somehow distracting, i didnt really much dig fretless bass sound? i guess i just struggled to take it all in, everything she’s doing & everything he’s doing, along with everything else & it all seemed like a sound-jumble

anyway after receiving the necessary ... um... contextualization from the Jaco doc, which i loved - i went back to Heijera & i genuinely enjoyed it for the first time ever! i found it really beautiful & quite groovy (is that ok to say?)

i think it was the line Joni says in the doc (paraphrasing) that it was like they were painting together & complimenting each other’s brush strokes - that was my lighbulb and i was like O_O “ohhhhhhh i get it now!”

i said to Mr Veg that i felt very grown-up lol

One of the things that makes the album work so well is that Jaco only plays on four of nine tracks. He's actually used sparingly but perfectly - it's hard to imagine him on Amelia or Song for Sharon, for instance.

Right? "Song for Sharon" needs the space.

Tempted to say you were righter the first time, VG, but yeah okay I can Music Appreciation Class tolerate him when applied sparingly.

I love Prince's version of "A Case of You"

Same here. I generally prefer Joni's versions of her own songs, especially on Blue, but "A Case of You" is a big exception. (And that's no knock on Joni's recording, it's just that Prince's version is so f-ing amazing.)

from that Guardian interview, with her new cat:

https://i.imgur.com/AntGG0n.jpg

I read that as "from that Guardian interview with her new cat"

also: <3 <3 <3

From the new box set, Joni's live performance of "Urge for Going from 1965(!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ474qQoRIw

An interview with the producer who compiled the Archives set with Joni. He touches on future plans, and I thought this part was cute:

"We did a Rhino festival [The Troubadours of Folk Festival in June 1993] at UCLA that was incredible. Joni did a solo set. She wasn’t really playing live at that time, and it was magical and so human. She was forgetting lines of the songs and she looked out at the audience and someone would yell out the line to her and she’d laugh and sing it. It was really endearing. And then I later found out that the two people in the front row that were screaming the lyrics back at her were Wendy and Lisa"

Really enjoying this box--hope it portends fascinating future volumes. I'm definitely a bigger fan of 'Blue' and after, but I have a real soft spot for the earlier stuff, as my mother (who fancied herself a singer-songwriter) sang me songs of the pre-'Blue' era as lullabies.

I had “The Circle Game” as a regular camp song

CC Who are you listening to? Any of the newer artists who’ve been influenced by you, like Harry Styles or Billie Eilish?

JM I have music. I don’t listen to too much contemporary music. Babyface I’m listening to – that’s about it. Babyface and Leela James.

Wasn't she tight with Prince? I wish he turned her on to better stuff than Babyface.

wat

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ea/f2/bb/eaf2bba60ba0050bf9f6a076289aa891.jpg