Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark

Painter-turned-folksinger Joni Mitchell had slipped stark saxophone solos into her prior album, For the Roses, and her singing had often hinted at a capacity for bluesier fare than her guitar- and piano-framed confessional ballads offered. None of those hints prepared fans for this sudden, expansive shift toward a much larger canvas--a sleeker, orchestrated pop style pulsing with jazz elements. Court & Spark found Mitchell casting aside her earth mother affectations and revealing herself as the thoroughly modern, thoroughly complicated woman she is; the songs sustained familiar preoccupations with relationships but replaced courtly settings and naturalistic imagery with recognizably modern locales. Deeply romantic, constantly questioning, classic tracks like the title song, "Help Me," "Free Man in Paris," "Same Situation," and "Raised on Robbery" display a more liberated Mitchell, ready to rumble with unbridled electric guitars (guest Robbie Robertson on "...Robbery"), even willing to poke fun at her own oh-so-sensitive rep with a hip cover of Annie Ross's hilarious "Twisted." --Sam Sutherland Amazon.com essential recording

'Stoking the star maker machinery, behind the popular song.'

Court and Spark not only ranks among my three favorite Joni Mitchell albums (the other two being Blue and Hejira), it is arguably Joni Mitchell's best album. Certainly it has been her most commercially successful. Its 1974 release marked a radical departure for Mitchell, infusing her definitive folk-rock sound with elements of pop without any compromises. In many ways, Court and Spark is Mitchell's watershed album, with a perfect arrangement of meticulously-crafted pop songs and Mitchell classics ("Help Me," "Free Man In Paris," and "Raised On Robbery"). Her hit single "Help Me" became Mitchell's first and only Top 10 single. The album features an impressive list of backing musicians: Tom Scott on woodwinds and reeds; Joe Sample on electric piano; David Crosby and Graham Nash on background vocals; Robbie Robertson on electric guitar; Jose Feliciano on electric guitar; and even Cheech and Chong on "Twisted." The complete album tracklist includes:

1. Court And Spark 2:46
2. Help Me 3:24
3. Free Man In Paris 3:03
4. People's Parties 2:15
5. The Same Situation 2:57
6. Car On A Hill 3:02
7. Down To You 5:38
8. Just Like This Train 4:24
9. Raised On Robbery 3:07
10. Trouble Child 4:00
11. Twisted 2:21

G. Merritt
June 16, 2008

Always true to her music

Mitchell is an artist who has always followed her artistic instincts with big payoffs. It is a testiment to her talent and dedication that her music and lyrics are of high quality. Although Court and Spark is arguably her most commercial work she still experiments and push the boundaries of her comfort zone. I suspect that she could be a poet if she wasn't musically inclined. One of the few artists who has achieved fame and respect without resorting to skimpy costumes and gimmicky videos. I've been able to listen to her songs over many years and never tire of her beautiful voice. In these days where American Idol tries to find bland safe singers, it's good to take a look back and listen to a true artist. May 27, 2008

Joni's best

Love this album. Love all Joni's albums, but this one especially. Wonderful songs. A very happy album. May 19, 2008

A pleasant diversion between two masterpieces

"For the Roses" preceded and "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" followed this album, and they stand as perhaps Joni Mitchell's finest albums ever. "Court and Spark" is a mostly pleasant diversion by comparison. Joni well deserved the airplay and chart success of this album, but she is right to be ambivalent about it. "Help Me", "Free Man", "Twisted" and "Raised on Robbery" are first rate fun, and "Trouble Child" is an ace, but the rest of the album drags in comparison, with her self-observations and world-observations not ringing as true or as deeply as on earlier and later work. Several of the songs don't wear well with time, even as compared with her very earliest work. But the pleasures are notable, including a couple of my favorites: Joni's voice hanging over the word "good" as the backup voices intone "didn't it feel good?" on "Help Me". The creepy muted trumpets and "breaking waves" guitar of "Trouble Child". And who can resist "Twisted"? If Joni ever did a song that better conveyed her delightful laughing side, I'm unaware of it. April 26, 2008

This girl is a woman now.

"Court and Spark" marked the quantum leap for Joni Mitchell. The young introspective woman who turned inside herself so deftly on Blue suddenly opened up, both personally and musically. The hints of jazz that peaked through on For the Roses explode full force here, yet the key elements of Joni's sound are intact. She just sounds looser and more willing to play out on songs like "Help Me" (the commercial breakthrough) and the comical "Raised on Robbery."

More crucial to the development here is Mitchell's looking to others instead of herself as song subjects. The notorious "Free Man In Paris" was Joni translating label honcho and friend David Geffen's malaise with the music industry. The goofy desperate protagonist in "Raised on Robbery" hounds her mark at the bar until he's running away in fear. The musicians color in the spaces exquisitely, with Tom Scott leading the way. The muted trumpets and saxophones that pepper the album made "Court and Spark" one of the jazziest pop albums to yield top 40 singles. It is also, without question, one of the most important albums by a female artist.

The production was also vibrant. Choirs of voices sometimes arc out from the songs, adding an ethereal quality. The guest list - everyone from David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jose Feliciano and Cheech & Chong - fill in their cameos without overstating them. The merging of jazz and folk here was exquisitley produced, to this day it sounds fresh and exciting. She still had moments where the lady of the confessional canyon spoke up (the title track, "Trouble Child"), yet for the most part, Mitchell made "Court and Spark" the first major stylistic shift of an album in a career that is laced with them. December 12, 2007

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