Songs of a Prairie Girl

by

Joni Mitchell

Edit

As you may know Joni Mitchell has decided a while back to stop writing and singing -sad, sad news- so since Travelogue, her album of full orchestra arrangements of many of her great songs, fans of her stunning songbook have been confined to compilations like this.

Now, the question is why would you add this album to your collection? Well, if you are relatively unfamiliar with Mitchell, or do not own much of her discography this release or the earlier "Beginning of Survival," are valuable places to go for surveying such extensive and extraordinary body of work.

In both cases, Joni has selected each of the songs included herself and, rather than doing so based on personal preferences or sentimental attachments, these anthologies were created with a certain theme in mind.

Whereas the earlier, above mentioned predecessor focus on songs that showed Ms. Mitchell's personal philosophy on the state of the world through her lifetime," Songs of a Prairie Girl reunites those songs, through the years, where she's looked back at her childhood growing up in Canada.

In that sense, this collection is quite revealing of someone's life, a diary of how a powerful and sensitive soul came to be what it is, moments of youth that may even bring to mind memories of yours. Certainly, a more interesting proposition than the typical "greatest hits" fare that merely tries to milk past successes.

Still, other than a remix of "Paprika Plains" and the beautiful "Urge for Going" which was released before on a prior anthology, there's nothing "new" here. And this fact, for someone like me who owns most of her albums, it's hardly enough to justify its purchase.

All that said, most of the selections contained here, spanning over thirty-plus years, are remarkable proof of the breadth and longevity of Mitchell's talent. Quite a feat given the praise bestowed to people who do not have half the track record and influential power of Mitchell's music.

Four stars, then, on the strength of these stunning songs, the nature of the anthology and the gorgeous packaging in which this CD is presented.

As far as the complaints some other people have expressed about Mitchell compromising of her values by releasing anthologies, I believe Joni's integrity over almost forty years of honest and intelligent songwriting outweigh any indictments. Besides, would you accuse a painter of selling his soul for mounting a retrospective of his earlier works?

So, buy it or don't buy it. Either way, celebrate a woman who gave us some of the most touching and courageous music of the last four decades.

This is the latest in a series of Joni Mitchell repackagings, and consists entirely of previously released material. However, engineers went back to the original tapes to remix the epic Paprika Plains anew. This new mix will mainly be of interest to Joniphiles and those who love this 17 plus minute opus.

I've had the opportunity to do some careful listening to the new mix of Paprika Plains on SoaPG, and to compare it to the first pressing CD (not the HDCD version).

This is only the second time an original catalog Joni song has been remixed, the first being the Big Yellow Taxi version without the doo-wop vocals from the Big Yellow Taxi Remix EP (I'm not counting the espresso/taxi remixes since those were essentially new recordings).

I consider Paprika Plains to be a religious experience. It is Joni's longest composition, and unique in it's conception. It started with 4 half hour piano improvisations recorded in LA at a time when Joni was feeling very 'in the groove' musically. These were edited to form one seven minute piece, then seven months after starting the project, she wrote a song inspired in part from a conversation with Bob Dylan, and inserted the original improv piece into the middle of this. Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter and John Guerin were added to the last section, recorded in London.

It was orchestrated by English composer Michael Gibbs who also conducted the sessions in New York.

[A little background on PP is in order. When Joni met Charles Mingus, he commented that the strings on PP went in and out of tune. Joni had been saying this all along, but no one else involved in the project could hear it. The reason given for the pitch variation is that the beginning and end piano parts were recorded seven months after the center section, and the piano had been retuned. Joni specifically refers to the edit points where the new and old pianos start and stop, where the orchestra plays over the edits, as being out of tune. I can't really hear this. See if you can-the center section "January piano" starts at 5:14, the "August piano" comes back in at 11:13 on the original PP (11:11 in the new version). I don't know if anything was digitally retuned for this new mix, or if it's even possible, given that the orchestra players would probably automatically adjust their intonation as they played to the tape.]

A couple of hard to explain oddities: One of the vocal lines, "I gotta get some air" is missing. Also, there is a pop sound at 9:56 that does not appear in the original mix.

The sonic dynamics are handled differently on this new mix. The problem (if it is one) is that, in the old mix, if you turn up the volume in order to clearly hear the first part, then when the band comes in at the end, it's REALLY loud. So the new mix makes the volume on both parts more consistant.

The old mix was fairly dry, with the vocal right up front. The new mix has more ambient space, and sounds very 3D, and the vocal is not as loud. The orchestra has dimension, and feels more unified with Joni's parts. The piano has a nice stereo spread. Joni's voice is clear and detailed, and has a reverb ambience around it. Maybe a little too much compression, robbing her voice of power during a few louder refrains. The orchestra sounds excellent, much better than the original. Strings have texture, percussion is deep and natural. Also, different orchestra mikes are emphasized, resulting in different sounds at times. My one complaint about the orchestra is where Joni sings "I dream Paprika Plains" and the orchestra hits a big crash (twice). On the original mix, especially the second hit, there is a luscious, wicked, thunderous roll looming ominously. This effect is tamer on the new mix. (Rolling Thunder may have been a literal inclusion-PP is based on a dream Joni had while on the Dylan tour of the same name. The poem written inside DJRD and reprinted in SoaPG is that dream.)

Another thing about the new mix is that it has much more low frequency information. This was not audible without a subwoofer, but it is there. You can hear the orchestra room breathing. Jaco's bass at the end is the voice of god, you can see the notes slither through the air. On the original, Guerin's drums are a bit more in your face, especially the snare. On the new one, they are more refined. The cymbals are pristine, the toms rich, and a good stereo panorama. Shorter's soprano sax is more detailed and nuanced; you can hear him squeezing and stretching the notes out of his horn. Joni's piano sound on the first and end parts is very present and crisp, a beautiful piano sound.

The piano in the center part has a darker sound, perhaps because the lid is down. This section sounds better and has a better stereo spread than the original, but still sounds markedly different than the "August" piano. You can hear the change in sound at the edit points mentioned above.

On the new mix, check out around 4:45, the recording is so clear you can hear Joni's nails clicking on the ivories.

All in all, very well done, and a great way to spend 17 plus minutes.

I don't know how much difference you would hear on a boombox, but through headphones or on a good stereo, you will.

Concerning the package, it's a digi-pak (boo). But the layout is very nice, mainly due to the B&W photos of Joni on skates, in her black crow dress, and, contrary to the seriousness of Hejira, looking playful. Thankfully no Joni self portrait this time. The sticker on the cover says "A new collection curated by Joni Mitchell. Musical Tales of Long, Cold Winters. With a Hint of Short but Glorious Summers." Art direction and design are credited to Joni Mitchell and Masaki Koike. The photos are great, and would make a good print series.