Miles of Aisles | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | November 1974 | |||
Recorded | March 2 and 4; August 14–17, 1974 | |||
Venue | The Universal Amphitheatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Berkeley Community Center | |||
Genre | Jazz, rock, pop | |||
Length | 78:01 | |||
Label | Asylum | |||
Producer | Joni Mitchell | |||
Joni Mitchell chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B− [2] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
MusicHound | [4] |
Rolling Stone | (not rated) [5] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [6] |
Uncut | 8/10 [7] |
Miles of Aisles is the first live album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1974 on Asylum Records. It is a double album documenting her concerts in support of the Court and Spark album with her backing band for the tour, the L.A. Express. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and became one of her biggest-selling records, certified a gold record by the RIAA. [8]
This was Mitchell's first tour with backing musicians; prior to this she had generally performed solo, and had never organized a tour with a band. [9] She hired an already existing group, the jazz fusion band L.A. Express, members of which had appeared on her previous studio album, Court and Spark, the biggest commercial success of her career. A track from this live album, "Big Yellow Taxi", was released as a single. Four years after the studio version had stalled at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single, this live version reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, becoming Mitchell's fourth Top 40 hit single and third in a row.
The album contains many of her best-known songs up to that time, but only one track derived from her recent album and neither of its two hit singles, "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris". It also includes two brand new songs "Love Or Money" and "Jericho" – the latter of which she would record a studio version of for her 1977 album Don Juan's Reckless Daughter . There is no known studio version of "Love Or Money" which only ever seems to have been performed live. All tracks except two were recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, August 14 to 17, 1974. "Cactus Tree" was recorded at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on March 4, [10] and "Real Good for Free" at the Berkeley Community Theater on March 2. The cover photo was taken at the Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan. [11]
Record World said of the single release of "Jericho" that it is "a solid musical successor to 'Big Yellow Taxi.'" [12]
All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell.
Side one
Side two
Side three
The L.A. Express
Technical
Chart (1974–1975) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [13] | 46 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [14] | 13 |
UK Albums (OCC) [15] | 34 |
US Billboard 200 [16] | 2 |
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums [17] | 2 |
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her personal lyrics and unconventional compositions which grew to incorporate pop and jazz elements. She has received many accolades, including eleven Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century."
Ladies of the Canyon is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on Reprise Records in 1970. It peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The title makes reference to Laurel Canyon, a center of popular music culture in Los Angeles during the 1960s, where Mitchell lived while she was writing the album. Specifically, Mitchell lived and wrote at 8217 Lookout Mountain Avenue, the house which is the subject of Graham Nash's "Our House". The album includes several of Mitchell's most noted songs, such as "Big Yellow Taxi", "Woodstock" and "The Circle Game".
The Hissing of Summer Lawns is the seventh studio album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in November 1975 on Asylum Records. It continues the jazz-influenced sound of Mitchell's previous album, Court and Spark, with more unconventional and experimental material. It features sampling, synthesizers such as the Moog and ARP, and contributions from acts including the jazz-rock groups the L.A. Express and the Jazz Crusaders and James Taylor, David Crosby, and Graham Nash.
Court and Spark is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Released in January 1974, it infuses the folk rock style of her previous albums with jazz elements.
"A Case of You" is a song by Joni Mitchell, from her 1971 album Blue.
"Carey" is a song from the 1971 Joni Mitchell album Blue. It was inspired by her time spent with Cary Raditz, living with a cave-dwelling hippie community at Matala, on the Greek island of Crete.
"Free Man in Paris" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. It appeared on her 1974 album Court and Spark, as well as her 1980 live album Shadows and Light. It is ranked No. 470 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Hejira is the eighth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1976 on Asylum Records. Its material was written during a period of frequent travel in late 1975 and early 1976, and reflects Mitchell's experiences on the road during that time. It is characterized by lyrically dense, sprawling songs and musical backing by several jazz-oriented instrumentalists, most prominently fretless bass player Jaco Pastorius, guitarist Larry Carlton, and drummer John Guerin.
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her ninth album, it is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz-influenced sound of Mitchell's previous recordings. Mitchell has stated that, close to completing her contract with Asylum Records, she allowed this album to be looser than anything she had done previously.
"Big Yellow Taxi" is a song written, composed, and originally recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell in 1970, and originally released on her album Ladies of the Canyon. It was a hit in her native Canada as well as Australia and the UK. It only reached No. 67 in the US in 1970, but was later a bigger hit there for her in a live version released in 1974, which peaked at No. 24. Charting versions have also been recorded by The Neighborhood, and most notably by Amy Grant in 1994 and Counting Crows in 2002. The song was also sampled in Janet Jackson's "Got 'til It's Gone" (1997).
For the Roses is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. It was released in November 1972, between her two biggest commercial and critical successes—Blue and Court and Spark. In 2007 it was one of 25 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
Song to a Seagull is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Produced by David Crosby, the album was recorded in early 1968 at Sunset Sound and released in March 1968 by Reprise Records.
"Help Me" is a love song written, produced, and performed by Joni Mitchell and released on her 1974 album Court and Spark. The song was recorded with jazz band Tom Scott's L.A. Express as the backing band.
Taming the Tiger is the sixteenth studio album by the Canadian musician Joni Mitchell. Released on September 29, 1998, through Reprise Records, it is the follow-up to the successful Turbulent Indigo (1994). The album was, at the time, widely believed to be her last of completely original material; this would be disproved with the release of Shine in 2007.
Shine is the 19th and final studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on September 25, 2007, by Hear Music. It is Mitchell's first album of new material since Taming the Tiger (1998).
The L.A. Express was an American jazz fusion ensemble. Members of L.A. Express played on several Joni Mitchell albums, namely Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns and the live album Miles of Aisles between 1974 and 1975.
Since her debut album in 1968, Canadian musician Joni Mitchell has released 19 studio albums, most recently 2007's Shine. Her most commercially successful period was the early-mid 1970s, which included 1970's Ladies of the Canyon, 1971's Blue and 1974's Court and Spark, all three of which reached Platinum status in the US.
"You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" is a 1972 song written and originally recorded by Canadian singer songwriter Joni Mitchell. It was released on her fifth studio album entitled For the Roses and was issued as a single as well.
The Joni Mitchell Archives is an ongoing project to release previously unreleased recorded material by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. So far, each new release schedule consists of a box set collection, a compilation with material on the box set release, and a live album. The project is being overseen by Mitchell and Patrick Milligan, director of A&R for Rhino Records, the label through which the project's offerings are being released. The first release also received input from Neil Young, who had experience with the release of his own extensive archival series, and Mitchell and Young's late manager Elliot Roberts, who died during the process of planning the first box set, and to whom the release is dedicated.
Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968–1971) is a five-disc box set by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on November 12, 2021, by Rhino Records. The box set is the seventh overall release and second offering of unreleased material from the Joni Mitchell Archives, a planned series of releases containing remastered material from the singer's personal archives. Formatted in chronological order, the second volume of the series consists of the archived material that was recorded during Mitchell's tenure at Reprise Records, which includes the years between the release of her debut studio album, Song to a Seagull (1968) and her fourth studio album, Blue (1971).
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Mitchell performed on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage in 1972 and 1974, with the Los Angeles Times describing her 1972 concert as "Joni Mitchell in a Giant Living Room."
1974.03.04 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Los Angeles, CA