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I've recently acquired two Joni Mitchell LPs: "Court and Spark" (1974) and "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter" (1977). What blew me away on both albums (besides the music and the performances) is the incredible sound quality. It is quite rare that one hears such brilliant, intense and detailed recorded, mixed and mastered sound. My question is: are most of her other albums that well produced, or was it only that back in the 1970s she was able to get the engineers to produce such marvellously sounding records?
Follow Ups:
Blue would be my favorite, but she had many brilliant albums. I think that I have most of them on vinyl.
I have a wonderful friend that bought me the 4 cd Love Has Many Faces and it Joni talks about paying particular attention to the sound and it is nice and I listen for the songs but the sound quality too me is just clean, and fairly dull and lifeless.
I have an original Court and Spark on vinyl and it is superb. Just jumps from the speakers. Of course, I love the songs but the sound quality is evident.
Of course this is just general discourse and I never compared a cd of court and spark to the vinyl but I already know I don't need it on cd.
IF I was selling turntables I would use Court and Spark on it if any buyer expressed interest in listening to Joni.
Happy Spinning.
I have her "Hits" compilation on CD and the sound on that recording is excellent.
Her debut album "Song to a Seagull is one of my favorites for sound quality.I learned something new today from Wikipedia about the recording of this album, produced by David Crosby:
"...Crosby wanted Mitchell to sound pure and natural, so he asked her to sing into the studio grand piano, and set up extra microphones to capture her voice repeating off the strings; unfortunately the set up captured too much ambient noise, resulting in excessive tape hiss, which could only be removed post-production at the cost of the high sounds in the audio range, which gives the album a flat feel"
Maybe they mean 'flat' as in some of the highs have been filtered out, but it's still a fine recording. Listen to "Sisotowbell Lane", for instance.
Edits: 05/05/17
WTF? or from the too much acid files...
"...Crosby wanted Mitchell to sound pure and natural, so he asked her to sing into the studio grand piano, and set up extra microphones to capture her voice repeating off the strings..."
Her debut album "Song to a Seagull is one of my favorites for sound quality.
Sadly, I haven't heard that album yet. Joni herself complained bitterly about David Crosby and how he ruined that record for her with his ham-fisted approach to recording, mixing, and producing it. That fiasco (in her own words) forced her to take reins and from that time on take charge of producing her records.
But your observations are interesting, and now I'm really curious to hear that record...
I will be interested to hear your impression after listening. The tracks preceding and following Sisotowbell lane are nice too. By the way I am not specifically referring to vinyl, the same qualities are evident on CD or good quality streaming (I listen mostly with Spotify premium).When I was in high school (early to mid 70's) I had a friend who also liked Joni's music, she went to a concert of hers to take photos for the school newspaper. She said once Joni started singing she completely forgot about anything else. She came back with an empty roll of film!
Edits: 05/05/17
Why post here and not in vinyl asylum?
"Why post here and not in vinyl asylum?"
Maybe the CDs sound good too.....
Why post here and not in vinyl asylum?
I reckon the sound quality of recordings should be of general concern, no?
Well, you seem NOT to be talking about sound quality in general, but about sound quality in VINYL. Perhaps all the vinyl guys hit the general forum; perhaps not. In any event, yes the Joni Mitchell albums can be very good. As I wrote recently in vinyl, I've used "Blue" as a reference to help set SRA.
Edits: 05/05/17
I also use "Blue" to adjust VTA, in particular the song California. The second time Joni sings "California" is difficult for most cartridges to track without distortion unless the VTA is just right.
Well, you seem NOT to be talking about sound quality in general, but about sound quality in VINYL.
Is there any other sound quality?
There is MUCH sound quality apart from vinyl.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Mingus is great too.She's an artist that took control of her art in all regards.
Plus analog recording techniques/technicians were at their peak in that time frame.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure
Edits: 05/05/17
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
You can really hear/feel his improvisation, "sound of surprise", tonal experiments with new toys.
You can almost hear JP thinking about what to do/where to go next in all his JM recordings.
They are musically "looser" and much less structured than WR recordings and JP uses the space wisely and tastefully.
The recordings help his bass shine (and verse visa) but even the tracks on Heija that don't
have JP are wonderful and musically satisfying.
Heija, IMO is an example of a perfect musical gestalt.
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Plus analog recording techniques/technicians were at their peak in that time frame.
True. I have pretty much all of Carley Simon's LPs from the 1970s, and they sound fantastic. I recently bought one of her LPs from the 1980s, and the sound is atrocious. Unlistenable.
I personally think recording quality of mainstream rock and pop recordings by and large peaked in the 1970s...... Things started going downhill in the 1980s, and have continued to deteriorate after that.
I personally think recording quality of mainstream rock and pop recordings by and large peaked in the 1970s...... Things started going downhill in the 1980s, and have continued to deteriorate after that.
I agree with that. I'm blown away by the lucid sound captured on her "Court and Spark", and even more so on "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter". I also listened to "Blood Sweat and Tears 3" LP last night (recorded in 1970), and was startled with the incredible sound quality captured on that record. Had to pick up my jaw off the floor!
I have a question: yesterday I went out and bought Joni's "The Hissing of Summer Lawns", a used LP (couldn't find a sealed copy). Took it home, cleaned it, and was a bit underwhelmed with the sound quality. Much darker, quieter, duller sounding than the two LPs I mentioned above. So I'm not sure whether it's a lousy copy, or whether that's how she produced that record. Anyone knows?
What about the CDs? My 'Blue" CD is not great. Have not tried SACD.
Bill
"What about the CDs? My 'Blue" CD is not great. Have not tried SACD."
I know there was a later version that was mastered with HDCD (it says so on the disc). I have the earlier one. Has anyone with an HDCD-friendly system compared these two?
It's Joni Mitchell, therefore I'm not interested in listening.
:)
(nt)
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter has long been my go-to album for when I'm trying to figure out if a new component can get along with my ears.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom: Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
I really enjoy live recordings.
Miles of Aisles in one of the best. A beautiful, humble artist at her best.
Nt
Original pressings of Joni's work on Asylum records are usually pretty good. I haven't enjoyed her work on Geffen so much, that I think that has more to do with the mastering than anything else. Reprise pressings have been hit and miss for me, but that is likely due to my luck (low) in finding decent, clean copies!
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
I believe "Nautilus" pressed Court and Spark and also I believe "Blue" and "clouds", maybe others too. Lower surface noise and better definition on those half speed lps.
nt
or something like that. Cutting the the pressing disc at half means more information gets to be put into the grooves.
more like twice the hype.
most half-speed remasters sound worse than good originals.
Edits: 05/09/17
.
"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius
Nt
co-produced by Joni Mitchell and Henry Lewy. The recording engineer was Henry Lewy who also recorded a lot of musicians such as Neil Young, CSN to name just a few back in 1970's.What makes the Court and Spark album sounded terrific is the musicians that Joni Mitchell assembled to help create it.
Here's the list of musicians who played with her on the album
(source: wiki)Joni Mitchell - vocals, including background; acoustic guitar; piano; clavinet on "Down to You", cover painting
John Guerin - drums, percussion
Wilton Felder - bass on "People's Parties" and "Free Man in Paris"
Max Bennett - bass (on all tracks except "Free Man in Paris", "People's Parties" and "Trouble Child")
Jim Hughart - bass on "Trouble Child"
Milt Holland - chimes on "Court and Spark"
Tom Scott - woodwinds, reeds
Chuck Findley - trumpet on "Twisted" and "Trouble Child"
Joe Sample - electric piano, clavinet on "Raised on Robbery"
David Crosby - background vocals on "Free Man in Paris" and "Down to You"
Graham Nash - background vocals on "Free Man in Paris"
Susan Webb - background vocals on "Down to You"
Larry Carlton - electric guitar (on all tracks except "Car on a Hill", "Raised on Robbery" and "Trouble Child")
Wayne Perkins - electric guitar on "Car on a Hill"
Dennis Budimir - electric guitar on "Trouble Child"
Robbie Robertson - electric guitar on "Raised on Robbery"
José Feliciano - electric guitar on "Free Man in Paris"
Cheech Marin - background voice on "Twisted"
Tommy Chong - background voice on "Twisted"
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Edits: 05/04/17
Robbie Robertson, "Raised on Robbery"
Excellent alliteration.
If you don't become the ocean, you'll be seasick everyday ...
- Leonard Cohen
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