Customer Reviews

Joni Mitchell - Collectors Edition

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This release pairs the long awaited Joni Mitchell biography from PBS American Masters "Woman of Heart And Mind" (2003) with the 1998 soundstage concert video "Painting With Words and Music". Both are excellent, and a must have for lovers of Joni's music.

that they have both been issued separately, so avid Joni-watchers may inadvertently re-buy thinking this is new stuff. If they are new to you though, you will not be disappointed. The PBS special fills in a lot of history for those of us who weren't in the music scene in the late 60s and the soundstage concert is filled with great music and many special moments. Enjoy!

I am not a music snob, or a purist--Madonna is my favorite artist! That said--if you love Joni Mitchell, or just love music, this set of dvd's will be a must-have for your collection...anyone who knows Joni's music well will know that her words when speaking about her music make it all the more profound. Joni is an artiste in every sense of the word. I have no higher respect for anyone in music.
She was a painter before she was a songwriter and performer, and her works in all of these fields are something to behold. I was emotionally moved to tears (not an easy feat for me) by some of what she described about her artistic process and its connection to events in her life. The way in which she connects the dots between her works and her experience made the performances resonate in a way that is indescribable, much the same way that "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown" did for me. If you're only going to buy one of these, buy "Woman Of Heart and Mind"--it gives the best overview of Joni's music career with clips from performances of music from various stages of her career. "Painting With Words and Music" would be for those more interested in her artwork, and a look at performances from one particular night. Either way, you can't go wrong.

I first heard Joni Mitchell's music when I was 16, and my admiration for her talent has never wandered away. I suspect most fans would admit, even unconsciously, that her art is an integral part of our lives. This dual edition is wonderful -- to actually hear her speak at some length and view chunks of her personal history. I have waited many years for this. It is like finally meeting a life-long pen pal in the flesh, and discovering you appreciate them more than before. The display of her paintings, combined with her music, convinced me she is channeling little chunks of Van Gogh, Beethoven, and all the inquisitive and brilliant hearts that have ever roamed the earth. If you are a fan, you should get this. If you aren't one yet -- you should get it and become one.

For me the treasure here is the biography produced for the PBS series American Masters, Woman of Heart and Mind. It's fairly comprehensive, with photos and videos from every stage of her life and career (up to 2003), including the story of her childhood polio, early love for painting (when music was a secondary love), the beginnings of her performing career in Alberta, the birth of her daughter, marriages, lovers, musical companions, Laurel Canyon, New York, her changes in musical direction, and thoughts on all these things from her, friends, associates and music critics. Participants include David Crosby, Graham Nash, James Taylor, Tom Rush, Eric Andersen, David Geffen, and many more.

The documentary proper is 92 minutes, presented in anamorphic widescreen, and there are also nine bonus "sound bites," interview pieces with Mitchell a minute or two long, organized by subject. The video and sound quality varies with the source material, of course, but is generally just fine. (There are four bonus performances on the disc, all taken from the concert on the other disc in this set.)

I'm in the crowd that was and still is enraptured by Mitchell's early music. It's still incredible that anyone could sing as she did, and her music was a perfect match for her voice. In the documentary there is generous use of video recordings of early performances. There's some attention to her unusual guitar style, self-taught, and to her unusual chords in particular. David Crosby called them Martian; she called them "chords of inquiry," because they have a question mark, corresponding to her unresolved feelings; she searched for chords that felt like she felt.

And how she felt, as she points out, was an essential part of her music that has changed over the years. When she was young she was depressed and vulnerable. She calls her depression the sand for the pearl, and remarks that when the (creative) demons leave, the angels do too. She doesn't mean by this that she's no longer musically creative, but it's evident that the exceptional emotional intensity of her early music isn't there in the same way in the later music. Along with physical changes, in her voice from smoking and age, and in her hands from lingering effects of the polio (she has said elsewhere that it now hurts to play acoustic guitar), this explains some of the changes in her music over the years. Even though my heart is especially with the early work, I enjoy her more recent music too, and can hardly begrudge her not staying depressed and vulnerable or changing in other ways.

It's actually one of the enjoyable things about her 1998 concert video also included in this set that she seems relaxed and is having fun. The concert is in the round, in a small space with living-room style seating, and Mitchell's paintings on the walls. She recalls as a child a teacher told her that if she could paint with pictures she could paint with words. Here she combines Painting with Words and Music. She's (improbably) painting on one of her framed pieces when the concert begins, and she rushes to the stage to play and tell stories. Close-ups of paintings are occasionally shown during the concert.

The musical pieces range through her career, and also include a doo-wop ("Why Do Fools Fall in Love?") and a Marvin Gaye song ("Trouble Man"--she makes no mention of a connection to her own "Trouble Child"). (The complete playlist: "Tiger Bones" (instrumental over which she introduces the concept of the concert), "Big Yellow Taxi," "Just Like This Train," "Night Ride Home," "Crazy Cries of Love," "Harry's House," "Black Crow," "Amelia," "Hejira," "Sex Kills," "The Magdelene Laundries," "Moon at the Window," "Face Lift," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," "Trouble Man," "Nothing Can Be Done," "Song for Sharon," "Woodstock," "Dream Land.")

By 1998 Mitchell's voice had become smokier (so to speak), so it's breathier than in younger days, and it breaks a little in the high range. The musicality is intact. She's joined by some fine jazz-leaning musicians/friends, including former husband Larry Klein on bass, Mark Isham on trumpet, Brian Blade on drums, and Greg Leisz on pedal steel. She plays electric guitar. It's a friendly atmosphere; when she once forgets the words, she asks the audience, and someone shouts them so she can continue. She dances, she jokes, she banters. She shows some skill as a mimic and storyteller, doing her take on Bob Dylan during "Big Yellow Taxi" and, in a longish story, doing an older woman she encountered in a resort when she had thought she was by herself. It's fun because of the way she tells it.

The sound quality for the concert is good, to my ears; the video is a little soft but OK. 97 minutes for the concert, plus a brief introduction by the producer. Full screen format.

The bio disc is sold separately here, and the concert disc here.

These Videos only confirm the brilliance that is Joni Mitchell! She really was , and is, a one of a kind artist... Painter, poet, musician and performer! Loved the inside info about her special tuning and the interviews with her peers and how impressed they were with her talents. If you love Joni, Buy this!

I stumbled onto this Collectors Edition looking to replace my personal copy of the PBS/American Experience Special, "Woman of Heart & Mind," which I gave to a passing old friend, and when I saw it paired with "Painting With Words & Music" which is such a heartfelt tribute by her family, friends, and fellow peers. How can a guy go wrong with this purchase. I think these two DVDs are an excellent and complete(current)Bio of Joni Mitchell. Very educational, is how I would like to refer to them both. As this woman is a study in the "Philosophy of Mankind" herself, not to mention including a collective history of music, additionally.
Anyone who appreciates her music as a casual observer will soon become an avid follower of the Woman as a modern day philosopher and some say prophetic in her wisdom and vision... Myself included! I just feel proud to have lived in the same era as this "Confucius from Canada" plays through this journey set to music, words, paints(and undying love).
Buy it now, before it's too late...;~}

Watching a video at Christmas, 2009, I heard the song "Both Sides Now" (2000). The characters in the movie discussed the name of the artist. I looked up Joni Mitchell on the Net and found her on YouTube. Weird to live on the same land at the same time with such an artist and be totally unaware all these years.

A person has a feeling for an artist's work or he does not. The more I listened the more I loved her music. I bought these DVDs and ... same effect.

I appreciated the video biography; reading books and articles is great, but the pictures were mesmerizing and the stories by a few of her contemporaries were interesting. Joni Mitchell discussed her life and times intermittently during both DVDs - brilliant. The concert, Painting with Words and Music, demonstrated something I did not pick up on previously - Joni Mitchell has an impressive memory for lyrics and compositions!

I am glad I have these DVDs. I will put them on from time to time to re-experience her heart and mind.

I love hearing about other peoples lives, and being a Joni Mitchell fan, I really enjoyed this DVD. She did so much more than I ever knew about. She really has experimented with different types of music, and ending up with more of a jazz sound rather than a folk song type of music. She really has grown as a musician. Kudos to the DVD. Really enjoyed it!

I am a huge Joni Mitchell fan but was disappointed with this video. It makes sense the film quality would be low since she was at her peak quite some time ago...but the actual selection of songs, etc is pretty darn boring.