Joni Mitchell’s Jazzy Late ’70s Career to Be Explored Via Outtakes and Live Tracks in ‘Archives, Vol. 4’
Chris Willman
'Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980)' will explore the most jazz-impacted part of her career on 6 CDs, or a 4-LP variation.
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Variety
Joni Mitchell‘s vault will get an even deeper dig this fall with the release of a 6-CD boxed set that will bring together about a hundred previously unreleased recordings from the fruitful late ’70s period in which jazz exerted its greatest influence on her output.

Titled “Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980),” the set will be out Oct. 4, via Rhino. This collection of demos, studio outtakes and live tracks comes on the heels of a June set that boxed up all the original studio albums from this same period. The albums that came out during the time frame are 1976s “Hejira,” 1977’s double-LP “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter,” 1979’s “Mingus” and the 1980 live album “Shadows and Light.”

Vinyl enthusiasts will be able to purchase a condensed and distilled version of the collection as a four-LP set, described as containing Mitchell’s own personal favorites from the larger digital package.

A preview track, “Intro to Coyote/Coyote,” recorded live in Canada in December 1975 when she was out on tour with Bob Dylan, was released Thursday.

Music fans who wished that Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” boxed set of a few years back had included material from other artists on that tour will see part of their wishes fulfilled with the Mitchell box: the first 11 tracks in this new set come from her Rolling Thunder sets of 1975-76 (actually predating the first year listed in the collection’s title, by just a bit), courtesy of the Bob Dylan Archives. Other live material covered includes Mitchell’s own headlining 1976 tour, a 1979 tour, and recordings culled from her appearances at the Bread & Roses Festival and Anti-Nuclear Rally.

The studio sessions represented will allow fans to hear more of what she was doing with such masterful jazz talents as Herbie Hancock, Jaco Pastorious, Wayne Shorter and Pat Metheny.

As with previous installments in the “Archives” series, Cameron Crowe contributed to the package’s liner notes, engaging in conversation with Mitchell to bring out memories and anecdotes from the period covered.

Mitchell’s long road of recovery from health setbacks in recent years will reach another culmination this fall when she headlines two appearances at the Hollywood Bowl Oct. 19-20 under the banner of a “Joni Jam.” Brandi Carlile has produced a few previous public Joni Jams at the Bowl and elsewhere, including a Newport Folk Festival appearance that was released as a live album.

The full CD and vinyl track lists:

6CD Tracklisting

Disc One:

Rolling Thunder Revue

Live In Niagara Falls

Convention Center, Niagara Falls, NY, November 15, 1975

Recorded by L.A. Johnson & Petur Hliddal

Live at Harvard Square Theater

Cambridge, MA, November 20, 1975

Recording supervised by Don DeVito; Mixed by Sean Brennan

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, November 21, 1975

Recording supervised by Don DeVito; Mixed by Patrick Milligan

Live in Bangor

Bangor, ME, November 27, 1975

Recorded by L.A. Johnson & Petur Hliddal

Gordon Lightfoot’s House

Toronto, ON, Canada, November 30, 1975

Recorded by L.A. Johnson & Petur Hliddal

Live at Montreal Forum

Montreal, QC, Canada, December 4, 1975

Recording supervised by Don DeVito; Mixed by Sean Brennan

1976 Tour of the United States

Recorded by Stanley Johnston from PA mixes by Brian Jonathan

(Courtesy of the estate of Stanley Tajima Johnston)

Live in Madison

Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI, February 29, 1976

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, February 19, 1976

Live at Nassau Coliseum

Uniondale, NY, February 20, 1976

Disc Two:

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, February 19, 1976

Live in Madison

Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI, February 29, 1976

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, February 19, 1976

Live at Duke University

Cameron Stadium, Durham, NC, February 7, 1976

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, February 19, 1976

Live at Duke University

Cameron Stadium, Durham, NC, February 7, 1976

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, February 19, 1976

Disc Three:

Hejira Demos

A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA, March 1976

Recorded by Henry Lewy; Mixed by Patrick Milligan

Rolling Thunder Revue

Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX, May 16, 1976

Recording supervised by Don DeVito; Engineered by

Don Meehan; Mixed by Patrick Milligan

Hejira Sessions

A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA, Summer 1976

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy

Disc Four:

Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter Sessions

A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy

Mingus Sessions

Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy & Jerry Solomon

Live at Bread & Roses Festival

Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, September 2 & 3, 1978

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy

Mingus Early Alternate Version

Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY and A&M Studios,

Hollywood, CA, 1978 & 1979

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy & Jerry Solomon

Disc Five:

Mingus Sessions

A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA, 1979

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy

Live at May 6 Coalition Rally Against Nuclear Power

National Mall, Washington, D.C., May 6, 1979

1979 Tour Rehearsals

SIR Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA

Recorded by Joel Bernstein

1979 Tour of the United States

Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium

Queens, NY, August 25, 1979

Recorded by Joel Bernstein from PA mix by Ed Wynne

Disc Six:

Live in Philadelphia

Robin Hood Dell West, Philadelphia, PA, August 28, 1979

Recorded by Joel Bernstein from PA mix by Ed Wynne

Live at Greek Theatre

Los Angeles, CA, September 13, 1979

Recorded by Andy Johns & Henry Lewy; Mixed by Patrick Milligan

4LP Highlights Tracklisting

Side One:

Rolling Thunder Revue

Live at Harvard Square Theater

Cambridge, MA, November 20, 1975

Recording supervised by Don DeVito; Mixed by Sean Brennan

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, November 21, 1975

Recording supervised by Don DeVito; Mixed by Patrick Milligan

Live in Bangor

Bangor, ME, November 27, 1975

Recorded by L.A. Johnson & Petur Hliddal

Side Two:

Live at Montreal Forum

Montreal, QC, Canada, December 4, 1975

Recording supervised by Don DeVito; Mixed by Sean Brennan

1976 Tour of the United States

Recorded by Stanley Johnston from PA mixes by Brian Jonathan

(Courtesy of the estate of Stanley Tajima Johnston)

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, February 19, 1976

Live at Nassau Coliseum

Uniondale, NY, February 20, 1976

Side Three:

Live at Music Hall

Boston, MA, February 19, 1976

Hejira Demos

A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA, March 1976

Recorded by Henry Lewy; Mixed by Patrick Milligan

Side Four:

Rolling Thunder Revue

Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX, May 16, 1976

Recording supervised by Don DeVito; Engineered by

Don Meehan; Mixed by Patrick Milligan

Side Five:

Hejira Sessions

A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA, Summer 1976

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy

Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter Sessions

A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy

Mingus Sessions

Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy & Jerry Solomon

Side Six:

Live at Bread & Roses Festival

Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, September 2 & 3, 1978

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy

Mingus Early Alternate Version

Electric Lady Studios, New York, NY and A&M Studios,

Hollywood, CA, 1978 & 1979

Recorded & Mixed by Henry Lewy & Jerry Solomon

15. God Must Be A Boogie Man

Side Seven:

1979 Tour Rehearsals

SIR Rehearsal Studios, Los Angeles, CA

Recorded by Joel Bernstein

1979 Tour of the United States

Live at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium

Queens, NY, August 25, 1979

Recorded by Joel Bernstein from PA mix by Ed Wynne

Side Eight:

Live at Greek Theatre

Los Angeles, CA, September 13, 1979

Recorded by Andy Johns & Henry Lewy; Mixed by Patrick Milligan