Both Sides Now

What started as being quite revolutionary in 1973 with:

• Bryan Ferry's covers album These Foolish Things & a couple of weeks later,
• David Bowie's Pin Ups  

...the idea that a pop star could release an album consisting of songs or in a style that their audience might not be aware of  is now pretty commonplace, with Rod Stewart making a mini-industry out of it.

So, Joni Mitchell's album of jazz standards (with her own Both Sides Now and A Case Of You tracks thrown in) is part of an established entertainment form and it's, well, pleasant.

Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now

Joni Mitchell on Both Sides Now:

Both Sides Now...is the kind of tribute album that is rooted not in a creative drought - as is too often the case with singer songwriters - but in a genuine love of the music. Bringing her story up to date, Joni describes how the inspiration for this new album struck. "...I took part in a very prestigious open-air summer concert here, a few years back, sang a Billie Holiday song with a huge orchestra...and it brought back to mind all that glorious music made by Billie and by Sinatra when he worked with the likes of Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins...Another thing I realised, at that point, was how good it felt to just get up on a stage and sing other peoples' songs and I thought 'Wouldn't it be wonderful to record, and tour with this kind of stuff?'..."

And that is exactly what Joni Mitchell is doing right now, touring to promote Both Sides Now."...I first heard {Etta James' At Last}, oddly enough, in a tampon commercial...Every time I'd hear it, I'd run towards the TV and crank it up because just as it was fading down in the first verse, she'd hit a couple of notes and all the hair on my arms would stand up and God came in and landed on her for four or five notes. Hardly any singers, ever, no matter how good they are, get God to come in..." Joe Jackson interview April 2000

Joni's voice has definitely changed, it's mellow, husky...and suits the material, songs that aren't meant to be pondered over...but to be enjoyed for what they are, sophisticated, easily understood, lyrically-disciplined songwriting with swing.

The album actually plays a pivotal part in the British movie Love Actually, with Harry (Alan Rickman), a middle-aged businessman talking to Karen (Emma Thompson), his wife:

Harry:    What is this we're listening to?

Karen:    Joni Mitchell.

Harry:    I can't believe you still listen to Joni Mitchell.

Karen:    I love her...and true love lasts a lifetime.
             Joni Mitchell is the woman who taught your cold English wife how to feel.

Harry:    Did she? Oh well, that's good. I must write to her some time and say thanks.

For more, see Extras: below. 

I'm sure that many of you agree with Karen...and if you do, Both Sides Now is a welcome indulgence. It's so nice to hear her away from the cauldron of "creativity", just enjoying herself.

Me? I don't have enough of a background in this type of music to tell you whether Both Sides Now is good or bad...or how it compares to Ella Fitzgerald, Nelson Riddle, Mantovani...or whoever. I'm into pop and rock'n'roll, primarily, straight jazz isn't my thing.

Do I like it?

Yes.

Why?

Because it's Joni having fun.

What about the music?

I wouldn't know. Play the song samples on the Amazon link and make up your own mind.

FYI,

Vince Mendoza is the arranger and conductor, there's a rhythm section of Chuck Berghofer on bass  and Peter Erskine on drums with  featured solos from Wayne Shorter on soprano & tenor sax, Herbie Hancock on piano and Mark Isham on trumpet.

I'd love to say more but I wouldn't really know what I was talking about! 

Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now

"...However clichéd it may sound, this is one of those CD's without which no collection can call itself complete. I have never been a die-hard Joni Mitchell aficionado, but this CD is not simply intended for Joni fans. The CD has struck a chord with me and I cannot recommend it enough..." Amazon.co.uk reviewer Mikezm

"...In a word? Haunting..." Amazon.co.uk reviewer J. Dubois

"...the standout tracks on the album are the revisited songs from Joni's own backlist. Her voice, less pure now, a whispered croon brings to A Case Of You and Both Sides Now a wisdom and a heartbreaking intensity which makes one forget how powerful they were thirty years ago..." Amazon.co.uk reviewer Terribleman

"...the un-self-conscious carving-out of strong yet fragile melodic lines over intelligent jazz arrangements, is breathtaking, something you hear only in the finest voices..." Amazon reviewer Peter Gresch

see also:

• wikipedia Both Sides Now

Extras:

I located a compilation of scenes from Love Actually on Youtube that culminate in the use of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, if you're interested. Here's the set-up:

1   We establish what Karen (the wife) feels about Joni Mitchell in the quoted dialogue above

2   Harry's flirtatious vixen secretary Mia (Hieke Makatsch) says that she expects a trinket...if things are to "progress" between them (you glimpse her in the video)

3   The action at the beginning of the scene shows Karen and Harry, having briefly been pulled apart by the mad currents of Xmas shopping.

Harry uses the time to quickly attempt to purchase a necklace for Mia...but gets increasingly frustrated by the shop assistant, Rufus', (Rowan Atkinson) increasingly elaborate gift-wrapping ritual. 

Karen returns and spots Harry hastily rejecting the wrapped jewelry package (which is just about the size of a CD)...and assumes that Harry's refusal to take the finally finished package from Rufus means that he'll return for it later and give it to her as a surprise for Christmas. However...