.....culled this December 2014 interview from Billboard.....its pretty cool, just like the lady..... Joni Mitchell Talks New Boxed Set, Not Being Able To Perform: I Dont Miss Much of Anything Joni Mitchell doesnt get out much these days -- aside from the occasional benefit in her honor or Clive Davis party, she travels away from her Los Angeles home once, maybe twice a year. And even then its usually to her native country Canada, where shes been eager to mount her next big project: a four-part ballet culled from her 40-year-plus catalog, whose music was curated and remastered by Mitchell herself for the recently released boxed set Love Has Many Faces, A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced (Rhino). Why Joni Mitchell Nixed Taylor Swift-Starring Biopic Its a project thats had a journey nearly as complicated as the different phases of love described in Mitchells songs, both beloved (A Case of You, Both Sides Now, River, Blue) and more obscure (The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey, My Best to You), all restored from 16 of her 19 studio albums (Mitchell omitted songs from her first three records because, she says, I dont like my singing). Originally, the compilation was intended as a 75-minute, one-disc collection that would accompany a ballet to be danced in early 2014 by the Alberta Ballet -- her first production since 2007s Shine -- but Mitchell pulled it at the last minute to expand the piece. Of course, theres reasons more serious for Mitchells lack of travel these days -- the increasingly difficult impact of Morgellons Disease, a rare skin condition shes had for years, which makes plane travel nearly impossible for the singer and has effectively rendered her unable to sing, perform or record ever again (making Shines accompanying album her last new release). But in a wide-ranging discussion with Billboard recently, Mitchell, 71, bears no regrets about her current condition and instead still finds all sorts of new pleasures in the creative process -- whether its painting, revisiting her music, prepping a four-act ballet or an upcoming collection of short stories -- that go far beyond her beloved voice. Below are excerpts from the conversation. Q. Love Has Many Faces, A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced is a four-disc, remastered retrospective spanning your entire career. All the songs characterize love in its different phases, yet the boxed set doesnt include any songs from your first three albums, most notably Ladies of the Canyon. Why is that? A. I dont like my singing on my second and third albums. My first album was just natural, Id been singing and playing in clubs and thats the way I sang and played. But I began to have what I considered to be a bad influence on my music, which leaked in on the second and third albums and I just find it hard to listen to personally. Other people like it, and Im sure if I went back Id find that Im wrong. I also produced myself, so it took me until Blue to [sing] well, Im sure. Q. Even Big Yellow Taxi, which is arguably your biggest hit, isnt part of this. A. Well that songs got nothing to do with the theme of this boxed set, and that was in the last ballet, which was about an ecology war. This was about love and the lack of it. Cool Water, which is about love of earth and water and love of land, thats a loose connection to the theme -- but other than that it starts in the 50s, which is Chuck Berry time, kissing and going to dances, thats basically what the theme of 50s music is, those are my 50s memories. Thats how Act 1 begins back in the 50s, kissing in cars, right? And going to dances. So no, Big Yellow Taxi does not belong to this collection. Q. The boxed set began as a one-disc compilation to accompany a 75-minute ballet. Now its four discs, which means the ballet has to be a five-hour production. A. Yeah, but Einstein on the Beach was eight hours. Ive played different versions for test groups -- like a playwright, actor, actress, jazz musician, punk musician, a girl whose boyfriend dumped her after 17 years -- and all their needs were different, so my little sample audience didnt have time to develop thematically. It was going up, down, up, down, it was just a collection of songs. To me, having time to develop more than a collection of songs is a journey. Q. How did the project evolve once you expanded it from one disc to four? A. It was supposed to be danced in Alberta in February, and I got it down, but I wasnt satisfied with it. And in the last minute in my dissatisfaction I bailed on it, money had to be refunded some people had bought tickets in advance. I just thought, I cant see it as a play, its just a collection of songs. I cant see how one leads to the other. Theyre just changing moods. Those 75 minutes, those songs those 13 songs are dispersed all the way through it. But you can put a song to connect all the way through it. I had one song, Nothing Can Be Done, the jazz musician was [at the ballet workshop] with his wife of seven years, and that song made him jump up. I found a cover version I did of a Billie Holiday song [Comes Love] that also says, nothing can be done -- but in a funny way. In the play, shes saying, Look, I forgive you, youre screwing up, and obviously their relationship is a wreck. But in the next song its a different approach, its like an aside, another character steps in and says, Comes the measles you can quarantine the room…comes love nothing can be done. You didnt have the luxury in the short version to send in the clown, and now Im thinking of this one man. If that had followed it, he would have had a good laugh. Youve got a ballet audience, youre gonna have a whole room full of people in different phases of relationships. This girl who got dumped by her boyfriend, she loved the Hana song because its a pep talk -- dont be a victim, get back on track. Hanas got a knack for getting people back on track because she knows they all matter. This girl who was leaving at the time, she loved that and she loved Hejira because thats when the healing begins -- it enabled her to see her way out of the hole that she was in. But she was the only one in the group who had that response. So everyone in the audience is going to be responding to different aspects because theyll all be at different places in their life. At 75 minutes, the places I could go were too limited. Q. Was there anything you tweaked or adjusted once you revisited the masters? A. The masters have been irresponsibly maintained, a lot of them were corroded, so I had to go a different way. I remastered from my own record collection, so it was generational, on Pro Tools which is all digital. And digital has done horrible things to music. But using digital, the enemy, with analogue-y cues on some of these programs, I put some of the warmth back in as best I could. But [mixer] Bernie Grundman went back to the masters and found they werent in good shape. So he remastered side 3, and I remastered sides 1, 2 and 4. Henry and I made 14 albums together and the sound of those was pretty consistent. It was when Larry Klein pulled me away and Mike Shipley in the 80s, and that appetite for sizzle and fry as I call it. Its a very unattractive sound, and it dates. But that was only one album, and there was some imposition of trendy stuff. But even in the remastering I was able to clean some of that junk off of it. Q. Now that the original production was shelved, do you still hope to produce a four-act version? A. I hope so. Weve got to find a good company with a lot of dancers. The Alberta troupes got 25 dancers, so we need about 100 dancers if were going to do this all in one night – they cant dance more than 75 minutes without injury. Were playing around with a bar format that would mean theyd be getting lots of rest onstage – people are seated, then they spring into action, so they dont burn out so quickly. But this [boxed set] is step one of a dream that may not go any further. We live in fascist times, and money goes to blood sports not the arts. I dont know if there anyone who will support this, it remains to be seen. Q. Will you be spending more time in Canada to get this off the ground? A. No, I cant travel. That was one of the problems with the last ballet, they didnt want to take it unless I came along. And at that time I was very ill and I couldnt leave the house. So we toured it on the road very limited, because most people wouldnt take them unless I came, and I couldnt travel. I cant fly without consequences at this point – I can fly off to Canada, thats about all I can handle. And Im sick on both ends for about 10 to 12 days. Its all that heavy metal in the air, and also viruses. My immune system is also very taxed, and the metal that comes off the exhaust and gets into the cabin and gets into my system...just being delicate. Im always jetlagged so touring was always hard for ne. And now its kind of impossible. Q. You havent been able to perform or tour in years, due in large part to your suffering from the rare skin condition Morgellons Disease. Is there anything you miss about touring? A. No Ive had a very full life. I dont miss much of anything. I cant sing anymore – dont miss it. I cant play anymore – dont miss it. Ive got all these instruments laying around and hopefully one day Ill pick them up. But I do want to start writing my short stories, thats what I want to do after I get this ballet out of the way. If it can happen, great -- if it becomes apparent its not gonna happen, alright, Ive got plenty to do. And Ill still paint. Q. You keep a low industry profile these days, but did re-surface last year to appear at Clive Davis annual Grammy party. Is being in those rooms the only way you stay in touch with current music? A. Ive tried to stay in touch with it on the radio. I dont find much of it very interesting. I need innovation. And if somebodys working in a tradition, it doesnt excite me. Like hip hop. Im sick of hip hop. Q. Can you remember the last new piece of music you connected with? A. No, but some music is forever new -- Duke Ellington, Subtle Lament? That piece is progressive to this day. Harmonically, just totally original piece of music. Kind of Blue, Miles [Davis] – thats a magnificent piece. There are some things that are magnificent that are always new, it doesnt matter when they were made. I just dont see much thats made that isnt derivative. Theres no Charlie Parkers, nobody coming out of the blue. I listened to this one radio station out of Vancouver, and they played this horrible piece of music – these girl DJs said it was the best piece of music theyd ever heard. It was a bad garage version of the Beach Boys, and Id never heard such horrible music played. I thought, Id rather listen to something that was made before your generation. Because the generation isnt concerned with talent, theyre too busy twiddling their thumbs and pushing buttons on their computers. Q. You dont own a computer, you dont email, but you do have an iPhone, I understand. A. I use it as a camera. And I also carry some Duke Ellington on it.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 19:12:23 +0000
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