Friday, November 07, 2008

Happy Birthdays!


-->
Today is the birthday of one of my favorite chirps*Joni Mitchell. The lovely Ms. Mitchell is (gasp!) 65 years old today. In celebration here are a couple of my very favorite Joni Mitchell tunes, beginning with “A Case of You” (which also features a very nice slide-show, with lotsa great vintage photos):


And… “Both Sides Now:”


No less an august institution than the Wall Street Journal was compelled to commemorate the occasion of Joni’s birthday. (Lengthy parenthetical aside: The credit goes to great good friend Lori, who tipped me to this article. Lori and I share a love of and for Joni... Ms. Mitchell was a bond between she and I in the way-back, and that bond remains. Joni got Lori and I through some pretty long and cold North Dakota nights all those many years ago and those nights are among my fondest memories.) So. Here are a few excerpts from that WSJ article (“A 65th Birthday Tribute to Joni Mitchell”):

Joni Mitchell turns 65 years old on Friday. As a milestone, reaching that age doesn't mean what it once did, but any opportunity to celebrate Ms. Mitchell and her work is worth seizing. Gifted and fearless, she remains among the finest singer-songwriters of the rock era, a title that doesn't quite accommodate the breadth of music and the audacity of her career. As David Crosby told me when I called him last week, "In a hundred years, when they ask who was the greatest songwriter of the era, it's got to be her or Dylan. I think it's her. And she's a better musician than Bob."
Mr. Crosby produced Ms. Mitchell's first album, "Song to a Seagull" (Reprise), which was released in 1968. Though she had a democratic approach to music, enjoying Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Edith Piaf and the scat-singing trio Lambert Hendricks and Ross, among others, she developed her skills playing folk in coffeehouses in western Canada, Toronto, Detroit and New York's Greenwich Village. On "Song to a Seagull," she's presented as fully formed -- a thrilling folk singer and gifted songwriter.
"It was the quality of her songs," Mr. Crosby said when I asked him what he found appealing about young Ms. Mitchell. "And the singing, and the instrumental ability. She was beautiful and intriguing, but the songs were so good." Her early catalog was so strong that she chose to omit from her debut album three of her compositions that had already been recorded by a variety of other singers -- "Both Sides Now," "The Circle Game" and "Urge for Going."
I’ve been a fan since 1970, at least, and perhaps slightly longer than that. Ms. Mitchell provided the sound track for a good portion of my life and most certainly the soundtrack for some memorable love affairs. Some Joni songs still bring a tear to my eye when I hear them… the memories are that strong, that vivid, that lasting. Part of that effect is the person (or persons) with whom I associate the memories, but it’s Joni that invokes the feeling. I owe the woman a lot… a whole helluva lot.

Happy Birthday, Joni… and many happy returns.

* Joni’s self-description, as immortalized in the stage patter on “Miles of Aisles” (“… and me… the chirp”)

―:☺:―

Apropos of something… The First Mrs. Pennington also turns 65 today. It would be churlish of me to not mention this… even though TFMP has never read EIP, to my knowledge. Her boys do read, though, and I don’t want either to think poorly of me.

Happy Birthday, Ramona. And many happy returns to you, too.

The First Mrs. Pennington (circa 1969) in our very tiny apartment in Wakkanai, Japan. That’s SN2 in the high chair.

13 comments:

  1. I love that picture of TFMP. It makes me want to paint - it is so artsy. And TFMP was just hot in her day. She certainly gave you two fine looking sons, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great Photo, I agree, it should be put on canvas....

    I am also a fan of Joni Mitchelle and it's nice to know my oldest child is in good company on her Birthday.....albeit her coming of age one..... She is 18 today... and to answer the burning question in your mind.... I am having issues today :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a good photo of TFMP. How come you can manage to take a good photo when someone isn't looking, but everytime my husband gets one of me it's horrible! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Huge Joni fan here, too. BTW, the discs she's putting out today, and the live performances she's doing today, are *still* amazing... her last two albums, "Songs of a Prairie Girl" and "Shine" are terrific.

    Saw a live performance on TV last year; she sang (among other things) "A Case Of You", and while she no longer has a young woman's voice, the voice she has now is rich and evocative and brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TFMP is a gorgeous woman. No wonder your offspring turned out so purty.

    Joni Mitchell - songs like this seemed so old-soulful in one as young as she was then, and only grows more poignant. Happy birthday to her, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy birthday to Ramona and to Joni!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You are showing our age Buck....Joni was hot when I was in the AF...still is today.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lou sez: I love that picture of TFMP. It makes me want to paint - it is so artsy. And TFMP was just hot in her day. She certainly gave you two fine looking sons, too.

    Thanks, Lou. I should have mentioned the pic is a re-run. I DO have more recent pics of TFMP, but... as you said: she was hot in her day. We ALL looked better in our 20s than we do in our 60s. Well, maybe I should just say things are relative in this space, eh? ;-)

    ASW sez: She is 18 today... and to answer the burning question in your mind.... I am having issues today :D

    I'll pop over to your place later on, but for now: Happy Birthday to Grace! I understand your issues, ASW... believe me. Although I think it's harder with girls than with boys... harder for Moms, too.

    Jenny sez: That is a good photo of TFMP. How come you can manage to take a good photo when someone isn't looking, but everytime my husband gets one of me it's horrible! LOL!

    Once again... I think things are relative, here. The few photos you've posted of yourself look pretty good to me, Jenny.

    Barry sez: Saw a live performance on TV last year; she sang (among other things) "A Case Of You", and while she no longer has a young woman's voice, the voice she has now is rich and evocative and brilliant.

    I might have seen pieces of this. I agree with you about the change in her voice and I like it. What I don't like is the reason for the change, in large part. All those damned cigarettes... (Yep -- a classic case of pot calling the kettle black. But I quit [cigarettes]. Too late, perhaps, but I DID quit.)

    Phlegmmy sez: Joni Mitchell - songs like this seemed so old-soulful in one as young as she was then, and only grows more poignant. Happy birthday to her, too. :)

    Point VERY well taken! I marveled at her emotional maturity (what other words fit?) back then, and it's even more amazing now, as you say. The difference for me is I had NO earthly idea what she was on about back then (in terms of personal experience), I sure as Hell do NOW. Some of us grow up later than others, if we grow up at all.

    Lori and Laurie: Thank ya, Ladies. Especially you, Lori. Thanks again for sending that WSJ link.

    Hoot sez: You are showing our age Buck...

    True, dat. But aging is better than the alternative, eh? ;-)

    Thanks for dropping by.

    ReplyDelete
  9. TFMP was a really good person to all of us. What a great cook too, but that particular look is somewhat misleading. Usually that look came out when there was mischief afoot and she was contemplating on where to hide our bodies. Happy birthday R.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You know the woman well, Dan... everything you wrote is absolutely TRUE. As far as "hiding the bodies" goes.... you didn't want to cross her then, and that's ever-so-true today, perhaps even more so. And yeah, she's still one of the best cooks walking the planet, especially in her genre.

    Thanks for the kind words. I may consolidate all these comments and forward them to one of the boys, so they can forward them to her.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love the picture of TFMP - how beautiful she is! 65 years old now - how did we ever all age so fast???

    I LOVED Joni Mitchell too - I also feel her songs were part of the sound track of my life. Good memories....

    ReplyDelete
  12. ...how did we ever all age so fast???

    It just ain't FAIR... is it? :-)

    Thanks for the good words, Sharon!

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask.