Maps of Music

Both Sides Now (2000)

Where the lyrics of Both Sides Now take you, and where it was really made.

Joni Mitchell's concept album about one relationship is built from jazz standards, yet it includes two of her own older songs.

Key places

Listed recording studio: AIR Lyndhurst Hall, London (2000)

Recording site Wild Bunch Studios (London) — Listed as one of the album's recording studios. The pin uses city-centre coordinates, so it does not mark the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Listed recording studio: Ocean Way Recording, Los Angeles (2000)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Listed as the second recording studio for the album. The pin uses city-centre coordinates, so it does not mark the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Both Sides Now: concept album and the seventeenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
• Released in 2000 on Reprise Records
• Orchestral renditions of classic jazz songs that trace a modern relationship from beginning to end
• Includes two Mitchell originals: "A Case of You" (1971) and "Both Sides Now" (1969)
• Orchestra arranged and conducted by Vince Mendoza

Background

• Co-producer Larry Klein describes the album in its liner notes as a programmatic suite about a relationship
• Limited run released on February 8, 2000, in chocolate box packaging for Valentine's Day, with several lithographs of Mitchell paintings
• Jewel case edition released on March 20, 2000
• On tour, Mitchell performed the songs in the album's sequence but opened with the overture "Nuages", the first movement of Debussy's Nocturnes

Recording

• Studios listed for the album: AIR Lyndhurst Hall in London and Ocean Way Recording in Los Angeles

Cover

• According to the French-language Wikipedia article, the cover shows a self-portrait of Mitchell with a depressed expression

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

• Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter, born Roberta Joan Anderson in 1943 in Fort Macleod, Alberta.

Formation

• Began singing in Saskatoon nightclubs, then performed in Calgary and Toronto before moving to the United States in 1965.
• Her songs were first recorded by other singers, which helped her sign with Reprise Records.
• Debut album Song to a Seagull was released in 1968.

Career

• Blue (1971) is often cited as one of the greatest albums of all time.
• Court and Spark (1974) moved toward jazz influences and became her best-selling album.
• Collaborated with jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Charles Mingus.
• Won eleven Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
• Returned to live performance in 2022 at the Newport Folk Festival after a 2015 brain aneurysm.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Stereophile reviewer Richard Lehnert gave the album 4.5 stars for both performance and sound, and it was featured as the "Recording of the Month"
• AllMusic reviewer William Ruhlmann gave the album 3 stars
• JazzTimes reviewer Sean Daly wrote that Mitchell gives somber, soulful readings and keeps her lonely storyteller's charm

Reappraisal

• Colin Larkin gave 4 stars in the Encyclopedia of Popular Music and called the album essentially an album of covers
• The New Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the release 3 stars

Records

• Won two Grammy Awards in 2001: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for "Both Sides Now"
• Won the Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year
• Charted at number 66 on the Billboard 200 and number 9 on the Top Internet Albums chart, according to the French-language Wikipedia article

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The limited run came in chocolate box packaging for Valentine's Day, with several lithographs of Mitchell paintings.
• Mitchell's version of "Both Sides Now" first appeared on the album Clouds, which came after Judy Collins's 1967 version.
• "Nuages" is the French word for "clouds", and the opening overture on tour was Debussy's first Nocturnes movement.
• Larry Klein's liner notes describe the album as a programmatic suite that moves from flirtation to disillusionment and acceptance.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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