JONI MITCHELL – HEJIRA LP – Nr MINT A1/B1 UK 1976

Joni Mitchell – Hejira
(Asylum Records  1976  K53053)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Gatefold Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– some very light marks on front and faint sticker discolouration mark top right corner
Insert in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition

Roberta Joan “Joni” Mitchell, CC (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and painter. Rolling Stone called her “one of the greatest songwriters ever”, and AllMusic has stated, “When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century”.

Drawing from folk, pop, rock and jazz, Mitchell’s songs often reflect social and environmental ideals as well as her feelings about romance, confusion, disillusionment and joy.

Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatchewan and western Canada before busking in the streets and shoddy nightclubs of Toronto. In 1965, she moved to the United States and began touring. Some of her original songs (“Urge for Going”, “Chelsea Morning”, “Both Sides, Now”, “The Circle Game”) were covered by folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell, with popular songs like “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Woodstock”, helped define an era and a generation. Her 1971 recording Blue was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone‘s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, the highest entry by a female artist. Mitchell switched labels and began moving toward jazz rhythms by way of lush pop textures on 1974’s Court and Spark, her best-selling LP, featuring the radio hits “Help Me” and “Free Man in Paris”.

Around 1975 her vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more of a wide-ranging contralto. Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she explored jazz, melding it with influences of rock and roll, R&B, classical music, and non-western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working closely with noted jazz musicians, among them Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She turned again toward pop, embraced electronic music, and engaged in political protest.

She is the sole producer credited on most of her albums, including all her work in the 1970s. A blunt critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th, and reportedly last, album of original songs in 2007.

With roots in visual art, Mitchell designed her own album covers. She describes herself as a “painter derailed by circumstance”.

Hejira is the eighth studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1976.

The album title is a transliteration of the Arabic word hijra, which means “journey”, usually referring to the migration of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (and his companions) from Mecca to Medina in 622. The songs on the album were largely written by Mitchell on a trip by car from Maine back to Los Angeles, California, with prominent imagery including highways, small towns and snow. The photographs of Mitchell on the front and back cover were taken by Norman Seeff and appear against a backdrop of Lake Mendota, in Madison, Wisconsin, after an ice storm.

The album did not sell as well as its predecessors, peaking at #22 in Mitchell’s native Canada, although it still reached #13 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart and was certified Gold, and #11 in the UK where it has been certified Silver. Critically, the album was generally well received and has since been recognized as one of the high-water marks in Mitchell’s career.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Joni Mitchell.

Personnel

• Joni Mitchell – vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars
• Larry Carlton – electric guitar on “Amelia”, “A Strange Boy”, and “Black Crow”; acoustic guitar on “Blue Motel Room”
• John Guerin – drums on “Furry Sings the Blues”, “Song for Sharon”, “Blue Motel Room”, and “Refuge of the Roads”
• Jaco Pastorius – bass on “Coyote”, “Hejira”, “Black Crow”, and “Refuge of the Roads”
• Bobbye Hall – percussion on “Coyote”, “A Strange Boy”, and “Hejira”
• Max Bennett – bass on “Furry Sings the Blues” and “Song for Sharon”
• Chuck Findley, Tom Scott – horns on “Refuge of the Roads”
• Chuck Domanico – bass on “Blue Motel Room”
• Victor Feldman – vibraphone on “Amelia”
• Abe Most – clarinet on “Hejira”
• Neil Young – harmonica on “Furry Sings the Blues”