"Song To A Seagull" Debut Album from 1968
CD Available with Original Gatefold Mini LP Repro Sleeve
Inside "The Studio Albums (1968-1979)" Box Set
"…Out Of The City and
Down To The Seaside…"
The
not-so-stellar Production chops brought to Joni Mitchell's 1968 debut album "Song To A Seagull" by ex Byrds songsmith and pal David Crosby has been the subject of none-to appreciative debate for over
five decades now. Our Lady Of The Canyon heroine has famously put in her own salty pennyworth with unladylike f-type mutterings amidst cigarette smoke plumes.
In fact the
Joni Mitchell Archive Series has an official artist-approved remix of "Song To A Seagull" in the June 2021 Box Set "The
Reprise Albums (1968-1971)" - a recent seller that reissued her first four studio efforts. But I'm not a fan and I'll stick to this rather lovely repro instead, even if it is obviously a tad audio-compromised. To the music...
Along
with Little Feat's "Rad Gumbo... " 13-CD
Box Set from Rhino - "The Studio Albums 1968-1979" by JONI
MITCHELL is probably my favorite Box Set ever issued – evah evah! UK
released October 2012 (November in the USA) – the 10CD Clamshell Box Set on
Warners/Reprise/Asylum/Rhino 8122797178 (Barcode 081227971786) offers you Mini LP
Repro Artwork for each of 10 studio albums and even their relevant inserts. The Audio is
superb, most being Remasters and decent transfers. The debut album isn't immaculate, but I likes it. To the details of that...
Disc
1 (38:07 minutes):
Side 1 "I Came To The City"
1.
I Had A King
2.
Michael From The Mountains
3.
Night In The City
4.
Marcie
5.
Nathan La Franeer
Side 2 "Out Of The City And Down To The Seaside"
6.
Sisotowbell Lane
7.
The Dawntreader
8.
The Pirate Of Penance
9.
Song To A Seagull
10.
Cactus Tree
Tracks
1 to 10 are her debut LP "Song To A Seagull" aka "Joni Mitchell"
– released March 1968 in the USA on Reprise RSLP 6293, June 1968 in the UK with the same catalogue number.
Featued Stephen Stills on Bass with David Crosby Producing – Mitchell plays
all other instruments.
Each
of the 5" card repro sleeves inside reflects the original AMERICAN artwork and
so every one of the 10 has a gatefold
sleeve (the first two albums were single sleeves only in the UK). CDs 1 to
4 (including "Song To A Seagull") even have the tan colour Reprise
label. Most of the gatefolds open from the inside in order to get at the CD –
so I put mine in a Japanese plastic protective (which you can buy online) to
avoid scuffing. It has to be said that the uber clean Mini LP Gatefold Repro
Artworks are beautifully done and for an old album's nut like me –
aesthetically pleasing – even if you will need a microscope to actually read
any of the lyrics or recording info. There's no booklet which is a damn shame
given this woman's musical stature. The "Song To A Seagull" gatefold opens to the
lyrics and that lovely photo of her – hair blowing in the wind.
The
best bit for many will be the GORGEOUS QUALITY SOUND. From what I can hear
every one of these has used the upgraded HDCD remasters and the audio warmth
and presence is mind-blowingly good. Which brings us to the music itself…
Even
the title of her 1968 debut album seemed in slight dispute originally. Unintentionally
one suspects, her own artwork drawing on the front cover kind of hides the "Song
To A Seagull" title and the original Side 1 and Side 2 LP labels on both
sides of the pond didn't have that name as its moniker, but instead put in the
Side titles given above – "I Came To The City" and "Out Of The City And Down To
The Seaside". The 2021 Reissued Remasters put "Song To A Seagull" in
pride of place as the album's title this time around.
First
admission would be that her debut isn't the incredible song-runs of "Clouds"
(1969), "Ladies Of The Canyon" (1970) or the magical "Blue"
(1971) to come. But there are still nuggets, simplicity to the tunes - her bright-eyed and bushy-tailed youthful delivery that delights. Stephen Stills of Buffalo Springfield fame and his old
Byrds sparring partner contributed – Stills on Bass and Crosby Producing. Joni
player, guitar, piano and sang – all titles originals.
A
tenement castle sets the scene for "I Had A King" – a place she can't
return to because all of her keys won't fit the door. There is a faint hiss as
the acoustics sail across your speakers, but the performance is gorgeous. Even
now the cascade of words on the inner gatefold impress – a poetess letting it
rip, thumb nailing a dog-eared Thesaurus. "Michael From Mountains" is
such a pretty melody – taffeta patterns and coloured arrangements hanging from
the sky – her guitar sound even then being so "Hejira" from 1976.
Gorgeous
feel and sound to "Night in The City", the first song on the album
that shows how adventurous in composition she would become – barrelhouse piano
and counter voices cleverly placed in the mix. Back to candy store flower curtain prettiness for "Marcie"
– soft acoustics telling us that delicate Marcie's faucet needs a plumber while her
sorrow needs a man. Lyrically it's a spellbinding tale – her storytelling magic
wafting around your room as she sings of the Hudson River and Dusty Magazines. Ghostly
gardens grow in the grumpy traveling song "Nathan La Franeer" – Lee
Keefer providing what is described as a Banshee
Sound in the liner notes (actually sounds like a treated Harmonica).
Jovial
neighbours come down from the hills in "Sisotowbell Lane" – an
acoustic softy that goes through the seasons – admittedly with a bit of that
hiss that afflicted some of the Side 1 songs. Gilded galleons spill across the
ocean floor in "The Dawntreader" – rigging creaking, mermaids and
bounty, dolphins playing in sunlight – the sea has it all. The final three
offer more of the same – harbour towns and cellars and dreams of seagulls
flying free.
For
sure, her debut has such a basic sound that in 2022, it might not appeal to
those who thrill to her later more complicated songs. But this is bare and
brilliant - track after track simply flooring you – melodious, witty,
heartfelt, articulate – Joni Mitchell with melodies and words that
oozed a rare intelligence. She's an artist who was (and is) bound to engender
true hero worship.
The
other brill thing about the box set "The Studio Albums 1968-1979" is
the dipping-in and the rediscovering of song nuggets that you'd either
forgotten or aren't on those "Best Of" compilations – "That Song About The
Midway" (from Clouds), "Conversation" (from Ladies Of The Canyon), "California"
(from Blue), "Electricity" (from For The Roses), "People's Parties" (from Court And
Spark), "The Boho Dance" (from The Hissing Of Summer Lawns), "Furry Sings The Blues"
(from Hejira) and "Off Night Backstreet" (from Don Juan's Reckless Daughter). The
only real clunker for me is the patchy jazz album "Mingus" which to this day
still feels indulgent. Other than that this is a peerless and incredible body
of work (for not a lot of wedge).
On 1975's song "The Boho Dance" she would sing about bands and artists and the road they take and not for her the glamour gowns (from the LP "The Hissing of Summer Lawns"). "I was a hopeful in rooms like this, when I was working cheap..." Joni reminiscing back to 1967 and 1968 and this fresh-faced 'Seagull' beginning.
If
ever an artist deserved lavish, its Canada's finest – Joni Mitchell. Don't
think – don't dither – dive in and drool.
God
bless you our Lady of the Canyon and stop smoking you silly twit – you're far
too precious to lose…
