352. Joni Mitchell - Hejira (1976)
















Track Listing

1. Coyote
2. Amelia
3. Furry Sings The Blues
4. Strange Boy
5. Hejira
6. Song For Sharon
7. Black Crow
8. Blue Motel Room
9. Refuge Of The Roads

Review

Yet another Joni Mitchell album, and this is no bad thing, just wait and see the next few albums coming up and you'll understand what I mean. Still, Joni never surpassed herself in Blue and this is unfortunate. I actually like this a little more than Hissing Of Summer Lawns but I am still not blown away from it.

The lyrics are great as always but the music seems a bit samey, near Court and Spark really, and even tough Hissing was a departure it doesn't seem to have been that formative because she is going back to her old self here.

So if you are a great big fan of Joni this is another perfectly competent album, it is not Blue or Court and Spark but it's slightly better than Hissing. So get it if you are a fan, if not there are other places you should start with. It is still Joni so it will always be a very good album, just not excellent.

Track Highlights

1. Coyote
2. Hejira
3. Song For Sharon
4. Amelia

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

* Neil Young plays harmonica on "Furry Sings the Blues." The song is inspired by a meeting that occurred between Mitchell and the blues guitarist and singer Furry Lewis in New Orleans in 1975. After the release of the song, Lewis complained that Mitchell had exploited the circumstances of the meeting; but the song has contributed to awareness of Lewis.

* David Sedaris named one of his stories in his collection "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" after this record. In the story, Mr. Sedaris is thrown out of the house for supposedly subversive behaviour, including over-indulgence in listening to Joni Mitchell.

Sorry about the not very good sound quality on this video of Coyote: