COURT AND SPARK - Joni Mitchell

YEAR: 1974

LABEL: Asylum

TRACK LISTING: Court and Spark, Help Me, Free Man In Paris, People's Parties, The Same Situation, Car On A Hill, Down To You, Just Like This Train, Raised On Robbery, Trouble Child, Twisted

IMPRESSIONS: Praised critically and selling like gangbusters, Joni Mitchell seems to make her first inroads towards combining her folk-rock sound with some jazz influences. This is also the album which gave Mitchell her one and only top 10 single in "Help Me" which received heavy radio play. There's something about this album that makes me all warm and fuzzy when I put it on. The album also contains some of my favourite Joni Mitchell songs: Car On A Hill, Free Man In Paris and the title track. In fact, there's something about the laid back, easiness of the song "Court and Spark" which transports me to Joni-land; and that's a really nice place to be.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Court and Spark, Help Me, Free Man In Paris, The Same Situation, Car On A Hill, Down To You, Trouble Child, Twisted

GUEST ARTISTS: David Crosby (vocals on "Free Man In Paris" and "Down To You"), Graham Nash (vocals on "Free Man In Paris"), Robbie Robertson (electric guitar on "Raised On Robbery"), Jose Feliciano (electric guitar on "Free Man In Paris"), Cheech Marin (background voice on "Twisted"), Tommy Chong (background voice on "Twisted")

FACT SHEET: COURT AND SPARK is Joni Mitchell's sixth album and her most successful commercially reaching #2 on Billboard's charts and going double platinum. Besides writing, arranging and performing, Joni Mitchell also produced the album. "Twisted" is a cover of jazz singer Annie Ross' song; Ross was a member of the jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.