There is one central theme which ties today's music to the sounds of the past. Love.
From the days of Russ Columbo and New Orleans to David Bowie and the trends of today, songwriters and singers have devoted the majority of their efforts to the age-old issue of love (although the style of loving may have changed radically over the years!).
During the early years of rock, love was something you got from your girl in exchange for your ring:
"When I'm dancing with Deserei
All the Boys are jealous of me
And I'm happy as can be"
F. Zappa
It was a greasy, sensual, simple kind of love which was reflected in the simple but pulsating rhythms of the day:
"Cheap thrills in the back of my car
Cheap thrills, how fine they are
Cheap thrills up and down my spine
I need it, I need it cause it feels so Fine"
F. Zappa
With the advent of Bob Dylan, rock gained some much needed maturity. This growth was reflected in the music and in the love songs of the time:
"My love, she speaks like silence
Without ideals or violence."
Dylan
This was a tremendous step forward from the childish jibbering that came forward in the late '50s and early '60s. (That kind of maudlin sentimentality is still rampant in the tinny-weeny rock of the pre-pubescent sound of the Osmonds et al.)
Joni Mitchell first came forward as a young Canadian songwriter who penned a big hit for Judy Collins, "I've Looked at Love Both Sides Now." This song launched her on her own career. She produced several beautiful albums and made headlines with her many lovers, Steve Stills, Graham Nash, James Taylor et al. After that last fling with "Sweet Baby James," she seemed to fade out of the limelight in favor of such artists as Carol King and Carly S. Taylor.
With "Court and Spark" she makes the strongest musical statement yet on that age old theme. She captures the pains and the pleasure, the sensualities and the fears inherent in a possessive relationship:
"Help me, I think I'm falling in love again"
Or:
"I asked myself when you said you loved me
'Do you think this can be real.'"
She has put her talented finger on the essential dichotomy inherent in any love relationship based upon monogamy. That being, is the price of love worth the loss of one's personal and essential freedom? She offers us 10 personal and quite meaningful songs. They are not THE ANSWERS only thoughts from the depths of her soul.
The music is brought to life by some of the best musicianship yet put on the grooves of a record album. Jazz artists such as Tom Scott and the Crusaders, Robbie Robertson of the Band, David Crosby and Graham Nash, and Cheech and Chong serve as her essential musicians and voices. To add a dash of fun she closes the disc with "Twisted," the classic from jazz giants Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. Pure fun.
The beauty this woman has infused into this album cannot be minimized. She opens her soul to all of us and invites us to take that giant step in and take part.
She offers no answers to the riddles she spins on love. Instead she gets you (and me), the listener, to take the plunge and involve yourself in the pain and the pleasures. It is an accomplishment of monumental proportions.
"Court and Spark" was provided for this review by De Bell Music Co., 1420 S. 4th Ave.
Printed from the official Joni Mitchell website. Permanent link: https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=6054
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