Background and release
The album traces the progress of the modern relationship through Mitchell's orchestral renditions of classic jazz songs. Two of her own songs are included: "A Case of You" (1971) and "Both Sides Now" (1969). The orchestra was arranged and conducted by Vince Mendoza.
In the liner notes, co-producer Larry Klein describes the album as "a programmatic suite documenting a relationship from initial flirtation through optimistic consummation, metamorphosing into disillusionment, ironic despair, and finally resolving in the philosophical overview of acceptance and the probability of the cycle repeating itself".
A limited run of copies was released on February 8, 2000, in chocolate box packaging for Valentine's Day with several lithographs of Mitchell paintings. A jewel case edition was released on March 20, 2000.
On tour, Mitchell performed the songs in the same sequence as the album, but she opened with the overture "Nuages", the first movement from Nocturnes , an orchestral suite composed by Claude Debussy. "Nuages" is the French word for "clouds". Clouds is the name of the album on which the song "Both Sides Now" made its appearance.
Reception
Stereophile reviewer Richard Lehnert assigned the album 4.5 stars for both performance and sound. [5] The album was featured as the "Recording of the Month". [5] Lehnert wrote,
"Mitchell's voice seems ever more complexly faceted even as age and tobacco increasingly roughen its cut. Her high notes remain, however weakened, but her low register has grown more textured and expressive with each record. Her interpretive strengths here are less the scat coloratura of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, more the intimate musical monologues of Betty Carter and Shirley Horn, with a good helping (especially on "You've changed") of Billie Holiday's rhythmic coyness. But Mitchell's vocal style is entirely her own — the pure folk roots of her early albums are as evident here as are the flavors of the jazz singers she's studied in the 30 years since". [5]
AllMusic reviewer William Ruhlmann assigned the album 3 stars. [6] He called Mitchell "a master of phrasing and tone. Mitchell often sounds like an alternate Billie Holiday, with the breathiness and note decay characteristic of later Holiday, if none of her delayed timing". [6]
JazzTimes reviewer Sean Daly wrote that Mitchell, "gives somber, soulful readings" and that she "retains much of her lonely storyteller’s charm, keeping her denim-clad readings honest and heartfelt while the myriad instruments swoon behind her. These songs obviously mean something more to Mitchell than mere chances to slow dance, and the fusion of the vastly different worlds is enlightening". [7]
Colin Larkin assigned 4 stars to the album in the Encylcopedia of Popular Music. [8] Larkin wrote, "Both Sides Now was essentially an album of covers, one of which was an excellent cover version of Etta James' 'At Last'. Other highlights included a string-laden recording of 'Both Sides Now'." [8]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide assigned the release 3 stars. [9] The review states, "Mitchell's mature voice, darkened to an elegiac timbre through decades of smoking, brings added poignancy to the standards she personalizes on Both Sides Now". [9]
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