Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell album)
| Both Sides Now | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Joni Mitchell | ||||
| Released |
February 8, 2000 (special edition) March 20, 2000 (regular edition) | |||
| Recorded | Air Studios, Hampstead, London, United Kingdom, 1999 | |||
| Genre | Vocal jazz, torch songs | |||
| Length | 51:29 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer | Joni Mitchell, Larry Klein | |||
| Joni Mitchell chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | A−[2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
Both Sides Now is a concept album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell released in 2000. It is her seventeenth studio album. The album won two Grammy awards in 2001 for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for the song "Both Sides, Now".
It traces the progress of the modern relationship through Mitchell's orchestral renditions of classic jazz songs. Two of Mitchell's own songs are also 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 were released on February 8, 2000, in special chocolate-box packaging for Valentine's Day, including several lithographs of original Mitchell paintings. A regular jewel-case edition was released on March 20, 2000. Both Sides Now is also available on DVD-Audio. As of December 2007, the album has sold 323,000 copies in the United States
On the concert tour tie-in to this album, Mitchell performed the songs in the same sequence, but opened with an overture, "Nuages" — the first movement from Nocturnes, an orchestral suite composed by French composer Claude Debussy. "Nuages" is the French word for "clouds". While the music certainly sets a romantic mood, the usage of this piece can be seen as a clever pun, since Clouds is also the name of the album on which the song "Both Sides, Now" made its original appearance.
Both the album and the title song are featured in the film Love Actually (2003).
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "You're My Thrill" | Sidney Clare, Jay Gorney | 3:52 |
| 2. | "At Last" | Mack Gordon, Harry Warren | 4:28 |
| 3. | "Comes Love" | Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept, Charles Tobias | 4:29 |
| 4. | "You've Changed" | Bill Carey, Carl Fischer | 5:00 |
| 5. | "Answer Me, My Love" | Fred Rauch, Carl Sigman, Gerhard Winkler | 3:23 |
| 6. | "A Case of You" | Joni Mitchell | 5:52 |
| 7. | "Don't Go to Strangers" | Redd Evans, Arthur Kent, David Mann | 4:10 |
| 8. | "Sometimes I'm Happy" | Irving Caesar, Clifford Grey, Vincent Youmans | 3:58 |
| 9. | "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" | Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler | 3:49 |
| 10. | "Stormy Weather" | Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler | 3:07 |
| 11. | "I Wish I Were in Love Again" | Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers | 3:36 |
| 12. | "Both Sides, Now" | Joni Mitchell | 5:45 |
Personnel
- Joni Mitchell — vocals
- Mark Isham — trumpet, solo
- John Anderson — oboe
- Julie Andrews — bassoon
- Nick Bucknall — clarinet
- Stan Sulzmann — clarinet, flute
- Philip Todd — clarinet, flute and alto flute
- Jamie Talbot — clarinet, flute, alto flute and alto saxophone
- Andrew Findon — flute
- Dave Arch — piano
- Vaughan Armon — violin
- Kate Wilkinson — viola
- Dave Daniels — cello
- Philip Eastop — horn
- John Barclay — trumpet
- Pete Beachill — trombone
- Wayne Shorter — soprano and tenor saxophone
- Owen Slade — tuba
- Richard Henry — bass trombone
- Peter Erskine — drums
- Chris Laurence — double bass
- Frank Ricotti — percussion
- Herbie Hancock — piano
- Skaila Kanga — harp
- Joni Mitchell - cover art[4]
References
- ↑ Ruhlmann, W. "Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ↑ Christgau, R. "Robert Christgau: CG: joni mitchell". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ↑ Moon, Tom. "Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
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