"Both Sides, Now" was written by the great Joni Mitchell, and first recorded by Judy Collins for her 1967 album, 'Wildflowers'. It was released as a single in 1968, and became a hit for the Folk star. The song went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, and to #3 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart. For her performance on the song, Collins won a Grammy for Best Folk Performance. Mitchell recorded it as part of her 1969 album 'Clouds'. "Both Sides, Now" was such a success for Collins, it became a signature song. Here is a video of Judy performing the song with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops at Boston's Symphony Hall 1976.
You can find Judy Collins' recording of "Both Sides, Now" on 'Wildflowers', as well as on 'The Very Best of Judy Collins', a collection of her greatest hits. You can find 'The Very Best of' on iTunes and Amazon. 'The Very Best of Judy Collins' features so many great songs, including "Suzanne", "Someday Soon", "Chelsea Morning", "Amazing Grace" and "Send In The Clowns". I hope your weekend is going well.
Clockwise: Judy Collins; Joni Mitchell; Joan Baez; and Linda Ronstadt.
Big Band and Jazz singers were not the only artists allowed to sing a good torch song. After all, what makes a torch song? Love gone wrong, that's what it's all about. And in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was the time of free love, and plenty of that free love went wrong. Like in 1967, when the stunning Judy Collins sang about a Hard Lovin' Loser, written by Richard Farina, and originally recorded by Richard and his wife Mimi, who was also the sister of Joan Baez. Check out Judy singing the song live, with the assistance of the very talented Tom and Dickie Smothers, on their show.
Next, I thought of the angelic voice of Joni Mitchell, and after side-stepping the obvious choice of Both Sides Now, I made my way to a gorgeous song off he 1971 album Blue. It was said that the song really is a discussion of the end of Joni's love affair with Graham Nash, of Crosby, Still & Nash fame. So here is Joni Mitchell singing A Case Of You, a performance on the BBC in 1974.
In 1974, Linda Ronstadt released the brilliant album Heart Like A Wheel. The album combined Rock, Country, Blues, and Pop like few had been able to do before, and it was incredible. It included a cover of a Hank Williams song that few could sing like Ronstadt could. And did. Here is Linda Ronstadt singing I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You) featuring the beautiful vocals of Emmylou Harris.
For many, Joan Baez is the Queen of Folk music. I have to say that would include me. She starting performing in the coffeehouses in the 1950s, and continued for the following decades, making memorable music all the time. On the New York City circuit, she performed with some of the greats of the business, including Bob Dylan. The following clip is Diamonds & Rust, inspired by her relationship with Dylan in the early 1960s. It is an amazing song. Here is the Queen of Folk singing her own song, Diamonds & Rust.
When I did the Joni Mitchell post this week, I had found this video, and knew I wanted to use it. The video features Cæcilie Norby and jazz great Dianne Reeves making extraordinary music with Joni's Both Sides, Now. The weather here has been a bit stormy lately, and I have taken some pictures. Well, Friday night as I was looking at the latest pictures I had taken, it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps I should post the video, and just lay in some photos of clouds...
The video features Reeves and Norby on vocals, and Romero Lubambo and Russell Malone on guitar, and Lars Danielsson on bass. This performance was from the 2004 Jazz Baltica in Salzau, Germany.
I have wrestled with how I would cover the amazing Joni Mitchell on this blog. After all, she had not had nearly the amount of Billboard hits as she should have, a measurement I often use on the blog. But the striking Canadian singer/songwriter has made some of the most interesting and amazing music over the last 40 years. I remember during high school, listening to Joni in the basement of my friend Candace's house. Candace would raid the collection of her sister, Kim, and we'd listen to Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Livingston Taylor, and, of course, Joni Mitchell. I do believe that included a copy of the song Chelsea Morning from the 1969 album Clouds.
There is little more than needs to be said about her iconic song, Both Sides, Now. But a rather interesting side note is while she wrote it, she didn't have the initial success. That was musical powerhouse Judy Collins, who not only released the song first, she took it to #8 on the Billboard Pop chart, and was awarded a Grammy for Best Folk Vocal Performance for her 1968 recording. So, Joni recorded it in 1969, as part of the Clouds album.
In 1970, Joni released the beautiful Ladies of the Canyon album. The song Woodstock was on the album, but was released by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, who scored a #11 on the Billboard Pop chart. But it was also where you can find what might be one of her most popular songs, Big Yellow Taxi. While it was released as a single, it placed well on charts throughout the world, but the weakest in the US. However, a few years later, 1975, a live version of the song would make it to #24 on the Pop charts. In 2003, the Counting Crows would have a hit with the song as well, as part of a soundtrack for the movie Two Weeks Notice. But here is a clip of a performance from the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970.
Now my final video on this post could be one of my favorite Joni songs of all time. It certainly springs from of of my favorite Joni albums, the 1974 release Court And Spark. For me, the song was intriguing, almost intoxicating, with the use of rhythms and vocal patterns that just made the song so vibrant, so strong. Help Me went to #7 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the only top 10 hit in Joni's career. It went to #1 on the adult contemporary chart. Here is a performance in London in 1974.
For more about Joni Mitchell, check out her official website here. You can, and should, buy her albums where ever music is sold.
With his striking good looks, a beautiful voice that can sound both strong and willful as well as haunted and hurt, out singer/songwriter Christopher Dallman became part of my music library on a lark, and for that I will be forever grateful. I was ordering a CD from CD Baby a few years ago, and decided I was getting boring, so I picked a couple of others I wasn't too familiar with, and hoped for the best. The fates were being very kind to me that day, as one of those CDs was called Race The Light, and from the first listen, it became a favorite. So I did some research on the web, and found out a little more about the artist, Christopher Dallman. I also wrote him a note on MySpace, thanking him for the music that I loved. He wrote a gracious reply, and I have been following him since.
After a bit of a respite, Dallman came back on the music scene with a bang, releasing Anthem, a marriage equality single, Sad Britney and Never Was in 2009, and Live in LA in 2010. He is also looking to release more music in the beginning of 2011. All of this makes fans like myself quite happy, cause you can never have enough Chris in your life. But, if it weren't for the great music from Race The Light, I am not sure I would have been following Christopher as closely, and know his music now. So I will be grateful for songs like Mistake.
I love that song, like so many others in Christopher's catalog, so of course I wanted to include him in the holiday series. And I was quite pleased he took the time out of his busy schedule to be a part of holidays on Soundtrack to my Day. So I started off my asking about his own favorite holiday music. "I like the classic holiday music like Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole," he replied. "It makes me feel like a kid at Christmas." Well, I can't argue with that one at all, and only hope to encourage it with a clip of the amazing Nat King Cole singing The Christmas Song.
So I wanted to nkow if Christopher had any favorite holiday song he liked to perform live? "I like doing Joni Mitchell's River," he answered, "and my own version of Silent Night. Sad versions, of course." Apparently, sad isn't a word he just associates with Britney. But I have to admit to being intrigued about hearing Dallman performing the Joni Mitchell song. Watch this, and tell me if you you aren't dying to hear Chris sing River, too.
So, Chris Dallman, what are your hopes for the New Year? "I hope my family and friends stay safe and healthy," he said warmly. "And I hope to drink a lot of really nice wine."
Well, while it might be slightly out of sequence, I thought I would slip in another holiday classic, with Bing Crosby singing White Christmas for Mr. Dallman.
Time for my preoccupation with the listening habits of people who are on my iPod. I wanted to know what was his favorite music from 2010. "My favorite music of 2010 is Lissie. She has been around for a while," he explained, "but she blew up this year. I love her album, I love her EP, I love her live show, and I love the song she did with George Stanford on his record Roll Away."
What is Chris looking forward to musically in 2011, since it is so close now? "I'm releasing a new music video for Gimme More from Sad Britney in January," he explained, "followed by a new record produced by George Stanford, and then a short (but hopefully not too short!) US tour. It's going to be a good year."
Now, the idea of Christopher appearing near me on tour soon is enough to make me a happy camper. Near giddy, as a matter of fact. While he may be planning on playing the new music, I also hope he makes time for favorites old and new. One of those is the last video he released for the song Ghosts from Never Was.
For more about Christopher Dallman's music, check out his official website here. You can check in there to find out the latest new on releases and upcoming tour dates. You can also buy some really great music.
