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Various Artists

A Tribute to Joni Mitchell

Nonesuch | 2007 | Album

Biography

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Everybody loves Joni Mitchell as evidenced by a this multi-generational (everyone from James Taylor to Sujan Stevens) tribute to the lady of the canyon. Over the course of her storied 40 year + career, Mitchell has recorded everything from folk to rock to jazz and blues so it’s no surprise that artists from many different genres have showed up to sing their respects.

Singer/songwriter Sujan Stevens seemed like the right person to take on one of Mitchell’s more straight-forward songs “Free Man in the Paris” but his little-bit-of-everything approach and alternate beats throws the whole network of the song into disary until it comes crashing down in a big mess. On the other hand, Bjork turns in a delicate lovely rendering of “The Boho Dance”. She has the right kind of passion, even if it is more on the eccentric side, to get to the heart of the song before spinning it off in her own direction.

Prince is one of the more high-profile tributers and his take on other people’s songs is usually memorable but this time out, he seems more lost than inspired when trying to reinvent “A Case of You”. It probably doesn’t help matters that the song is off Joni Mitchell’s most famous album Blue and is highly recognizable at that, but the Purple One’s struggle to take on heart-wrenching female singer/songwriter-centered despair is just too much of a stretch.

While women on the disc are better, overall at capturing the tone of the music, they are also some of the least adventurous. Sarah McLachlan sounds so much like Joni Mitchell as she croons her way through “Blue” that you mind find yourself checking the liner notes more than once. k.d. Lang also offers up a surprisingly by the book take on “Help Me”. Cassandra Wilson is a little more adventurous on “For the Roses” but it’s still not revolutionary.

The artists most comfortable with Joni Mitchell’s complex flow and tone are, not surprisingly, simpaticos James Taylor (“River”) and Emmylou Harris (“The Magdalene Laundries”), who also came up during the glory days of the singer/songwriter movement.

All in all the struggles and successes of the various tracks on the tribute album prove just how influential Joni Mitchell has been and still is to members of the music community today. If the music wasn’t so good to begin with, it wouldn’t be so hard to get it right!

Amy Wagner