Expecting Rain

Transcription of Joni Mitchell interview with CBC Music. Video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZY8aDg_dTI


CBC: When you talk about someone, like in 2010 about Dylan, about Bob Dylan, when you say “He’s not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, his name and—“

JM: Wait, wait. I didn’t say that. I didn’t say that he’s not authentic at all. That is not a word I used, no.

CBC That’s from the LA Times.

JM: Yes, okay. That’s journalistic bullshit, you know? And you know, he told me, “I haven’t written a song in years.” I said, “Well, what are you talking about? Who’s writing them then?” he said, “The Box.” He just jots down… it came down to craft. Inspiration doesn’t stay with a lot of artists very long. It’s very brief. And then you’re in the game and you got to keep it, sustaining it with something. Right? You notice it, like one-trick wonders, two good albums and then they peter out. To sustain a gift for a long time is very rare.

CBC: Does that make you disappointed in him?

JM: In Dylan? No. And that remark is completely out of context . The interviewer was an a******e. I went into that thing about the actor, the thing we’ve been through here, and he accused me of being unauthentic. Now, that’s just ignorance. I’m talking to a guy… How do I explain to this moron whose IQ is somewhere between his shoe size and he’s misconstruing everything I say. I’m doing this for John Kelly, who’s impersonating me. I hate doing interviews with stupid people… this guy’s a moron. And then I said, “and then I got philosophical.” “Philo-sophical?” I said, “Yes, philosophical.” He said, “You do know what philosophy is, don’t you?” Everything I said he’s calling into question. I can’t talk to a dolt like that without getting aggravated. They call us “Exploding Margies.” Our nerves are all wrapped around by fibrous things. Our nerves are worn thin. We do not want to talk to stupid people. Anyone with this disease…

CBC: How are we doing?

JM (laughs): We’re doing fine. I do get intense sometimes. But let’s get off the Bob Dylan plagiarism.

CBS: I will ask… he is of your generation. There’s a generation there. And you talked about Leonard and Bob before—

JM: I like a lot of Bob’s songs. Musically he’s not very gifted. He borrowed his voice from old hillbillies. He’s got a lot of borrowed things. He’s not a great guitar player. He’s invented a character to deliver his songs. [imitates Dylanesque voice] “Sometimes I wish that I could have that character.” You know, you can do things with that character. It’s a mask of sorts.

jazz cats and bluesmen signifying

thanks fred, sounds different in black and white

She has no style.

She might consider borrowing some style from Bob Dylan.

I haven't heard a lot of Joni Mitchell's music to say much about it, but the stuff I have heard didn't move me anywhere near as much as the work of Bob Dylan. That's all I'll say about that.

She has some good stuff, there's no denying that, but she just comes off sounding bitter and jealous.

From Uncut magazine via ISIS 171, more Joni:

She's dismissive and disappointed. To her, the "box" writing is some violation of the singer/songwriter office. I get that and I enjoyed his stuff much more when he was living it. But TOOM pretty much was the end of that period and since then we've had lots of box.

But... aren't we living (with) other people's art when we enjoy their music, writing, etc? Maybe these influences are stronger now than they were at other times in his life / career. Maybe there's just no reason to write, say, break-up songs now.

I am unfamiliar with Joni's work beside her contribution in The Last Waltz, but I saw her CBS interview recently and they cut to this magnificent song from Joni:

River http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpFudDAYqxY

I thought it was worth sharing.

She's asked if she's disappointed and says "no", to me she comes across as very respectful and impressed with the amount of creativity he has sustained over a long period of time, even if he currently relies on craft more than inspiration. She knows damn well how hard it is to be productive over five decades.

My introduction to Joni was her album 'Wild Things Run Fast'. I'm fairly sure she did the painting on the cover.



I particularly enjoyed the song 'Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G333adJxbM
It opens to the strains of 'Unchained Melody' and uses a lot of that song throughout.
The song is about two middle-aged friends and flashes back to 'Unchained Melody' because
it was the song played on the jukebox in the Chinese Café the women frequented in their youth.
So it's easy to understand why the lyrics are included in Mitchell's song.
The album's credit for the song is thus:
"Chinese Café/Unchained Melody" – 5:17 (Mitchell, Alex North, Hy Zaret)

North and Zaret wrote 'Unchained Melody'.

I respect her integrity.

Love it.
She is opinionated.
So what?
She has a point.

Magnificent, indeed - and beautiful. Yes, it was well worth sharing. Do try to hear the rest of the album "Blue".

PS: smoke, planet drop, Alouette, yep!

PPS: Peggy Night, pink - oh dear

David Crosby likes her style.