Joni Mitchell evolved from the smooth jazz-pop of Court and Spark to the radical Hissing of Summer Lawns, an adventurous work that remains among her most difficult records. After opening with the graceful "In France They Kiss on Main Street," the album veers sharply into "The Jungle Line," an odd, Moog-driven piece backed by the rhythms of the warrior drums of Burundi -- a move into multiculturalism that beat the likes of Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, and Sting to the punch by a decade. While not as prescient, songs like "Edith and the Kingpin" and "Harry's House -- Centerpiece" are no less complex or idiosyncratic, employing minor-key melodies and richly detailed lyrics to arrive at a strange and beautiful fusion of jazz and shimmering avant pop.
This record is a total work conceived graphically, musically, lyrically and accidentally—as a whole. The performances were guided by the given compositional structures and the audibly inspired beauty of every player. The whole unfolded like a mystery. It is not my intention to unravel that mystery for anyone, but rather to offer some additional clues: “Centerpiece” is a Johnny Mandel-Jon Hendricks tune. John Guerin and I collaborated on “The Hissing of Summer Lawns”. “The Boho Dance” is a Tom Wolfe-ism from the book "The Painted Word." The poem, “Don't Interrupt the Sorrow” was born around 4 a.m. in a New York loft. Larry Poons seeded it and Bobby Neuwirth was midwife here, but the child filtered thru Genesis at Jackfish Lake, Saskatchewan, is rebellious and mystical and insists that its conception was immaculate. Henry—more than an engineer—Lewy and his assistant Ellis Sorkin, piloted these tapes to their destination; Henry and I mixed them; and Bernie Grundman mastered them at A&M Studios in Hollywood. I drew the cover and designed the package with research help and guidance from Glen Christensen, Elektra / Asylum Art Director. The photo is Norman Seeff's. I would especially like to thank Myrt and Bill Anderson, North Battleford, New York, Saskatoon, Bel-Air, Burbank, Burundi, Orange County, the deep, deep heart of Dixie. Blue, National Geographic Magazine, Helpful Henry the Housewife's Delight—and John Guerin for showing me the root of the chord and where I was.
. . . She
could
see the
blue pools in the
squinting sun
and hear the
hissing of
summer
lawns . . .
Original LP liner notes.
This User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; Source: Last.fm.