William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Clouds ; Year: 1969; Genre: Folk So, a new month doth begin.... I have always been an admirer of Joni Mitchell's musical ability and songwriting, of which she really does not get the recognition entitled, outside of the serious and accomplished or so it would seem. This is probably one of, if not her most famous piece of music; it is really amongst the "landmark" songs of the last century. There's really nothing about it that is "wanting" in any aspect and leaves it to the listener to pick out and listen to the track deeply or more shallow depending on the person and mood at the time.   Hear Both Sides, Now on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Queen - Seven Seas on Rhye     My song pick 2 years ago today: Al Di Meola - Broken Heart     My song pick 3 years ago today: The Searchers - Needles & Pins   My song pick 4 years ago today: The Offspring - I Choose   My song pick 5 years ago today: Wolfmother - The S...

From: Mingus ; Year: 1979; Genre: Jazz Heard a song from this album on the way home yesterday evening and it's been on my mind ever since; I had to pick another one from it. I love the music especially the bass playing and Joni Mitchell's vocals are as beautiful as ever. Hear God Must Be a Boogie Man on YouTube. My song pick 1 year ago today: Funkadelic - Uncle Jam My song pick 2 years ago today: Hawkwind - Looking in the Future My song pick 3 years ago today: Stratovarius - Lifetime in a Moment My song pick 4 years ago today: Nocturnal Rites - Nightmare My song pick 5 years ago today: Steve Vai - Rescue Me or Bury Me My song pick 6 years ago today: The Police - Spirits in the Material World My song pick 7 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Silver River Turning My song pick 8 years ago today: George Frideric Handel - HWV 57 - Samson My song pick 9 years ago today: Argent - God Gave Rock and Roll to You My song pick 10 years ago today: Dio - Killing the...

From: Hejira ; Year: 1976; Genre: Jazz Fusion/Blues Rock I had this album on my mind today and figured I'd go ahead and pick one off the album. This one was written about an encounter Joni Mitchell had with blues guitarist Furry Lewis , much to his dismay; apparently he didn't like the song and she didn't get permission to use his name from what I understand. Hear Furry Sings the Blues on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Paul Revere & The Raiders - Kicks My song pick two years ago today: C.W. McCall - Ghost Town My song pick three years ago today: Stevie Nicks - Stand Back My song pick four years ago today: Jigsaw - Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind My song pick five years ago today: U2 - Mysterious Ways My song pick six years ago today: Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son My song pick seven years ago today: The Who - Behind Blue Eyes My song pick eight years ago today: Jethro Tull - Part Of The Machine

From: Hejira ; Year: 1976; Genre: Jazz Fusion/Folk Hejira is and will always be one of my absolute favourite albums from Joni Mitchell. This is such a great mix of music and lyric writing; I love the way they mixed her great folk stylings with jazz. Anyway, this is one of the great examples off the record, obviously with it being the title-track, such a pretty song. Hear Hejira on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Dream Theater - Under a Glass Moon My song pick two years ago today: Pearl Jam - Light Years My song pick three years ago today: Band of Horses - Factory My song pick four years ago today: Rush - Freewill My song pick five years ago today: R.E.M. - Stand My song pick six years ago today: Queen - Killer Queen

This album was the last project that Charles Mingus was part of before succumbing to Lou Gehrig's Disease; the album was titled Mingus as a tribute to him. The song is actually a cover/re-recording of the song from his album Mingus Ah Um except with lyrics written by Joni Mitchell. On this album Joni Mitchell borrowed members from Weather Report to be her backing band. Jaco Pastorius actually played the bass parts on this album; one legendary bassist playing the parts of another legendary bassist. Hear a live recording of the song on YouTube. Watch the Shadows and Light live performance on YouTube. Hear Charlie Mingus' original on YouTube. +

Yesterday was one of those days that I was operating on four hours of sleep and having to work on a term paper. Finally as was able to relax this song kept running through my head, so I took it as a sign that it was in need of being picked. This is my favourite song off of the Hejira album, which in my opinion is one of the best of her albums musically. In this whole album she surrounded herself with a great cast of musicians who helped make this album a great one. This song compares a coyote’s predatory behaviour with the behaviour of a man in the song who pursues her. Really this song has no weak spots in my opinion at all, it is a truly great song. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is the Shadows and Light live performance on YouTube. +

For song 32, I decided to go with Amelia by Joni Mitchell off of her 1976 Hejira album. This album is considered to be part of her Jazz period. The album contains many great musicians including Jaco Pastorious on bass. Most of the writing on this album was done while she was alone on the road, every song kind of reflects this; this one I think reflects the loneliness the most. This is a very powerful and very beautifully done, Joni Mitchell's vocals and guitar work really stand out on this one. I would recommend her Hejira album to anyone who likes deep and moving music. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance from the Shadows and Light Tour on YouTube. +