We were both in the midst of making albums: me, up to no good at Heider’s, Joni, finishing up Clouds and writing new songs for what would become Ladies of the Canyon. I started hearing snippets of “The Circle Game” and “For Free” during the hours when she concentrated on new work. We both wrote whenever the spirit moved us. If she was working at the piano or playing guitar in the living room, I’d head into the bedroom with my guitar or often take a walk. Occasionally, I lingered in the kitchen, just listening to her play. I loved hearing Joan developing those songs. From the moment I first heard her play, I thought she was a genius. I happen to be good at what I do, but genius? Not by a long shot. She was on another planet in terms of her songwriting ability. Her acoustic guitar was the entire orchestra. The bass strings became the cellos and double basses, the middle strings the violas, and the high strings, violins. And everything she played was in strange tunings and picking patterns. The way she’d gotten to them was through a childhood brush with polio. As a result, her left arm was a little weaker than the rest of her body, so forming an F chord, which required some strength, presented real problems. To get around it, she learned to play in the open tunings that blues players had used for years so she wouldn’t have to play that damned F chord. Later, she began to write using unique tunings that she composed herself. Those tunings mesmerized me. I was merely a rhythm strummer, but Joni played with what is called an indicated arrangement, with hints of bass lines and counterpoints that balanced the vocal with the instrument. Over time, I convinced her to show me some of those tunings and used them liberally to work out new tunes. Once, I heard her playing in a gorgeous new configuration. After she was finished and had gone into the kitchen, I picked up her guitar and the notes that cascaded out were like shooting stars; they astounded me. I figured out a couple of ways to play interesting sounds with it, and then I finished “Lady of the Island” using Joni’s special tuning. Nash, Graham. Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 15:46:48 +0000
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