Maps of Music

Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977)

Where the lyrics of Don Juan's Reckless Daughter take you, and where it was really made.

Mitchell's cover photo shows her in blackface, and in 2024 streaming services replaced it with a new cover.

Key places

Recorded and mixed at A&M Studios (1977)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — The album was recorded and mixed at A&M Studios in Hollywood. The point marks the studio area in Hollywood. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Orchestra recorded in New York (1977)

Recording site Columbia — The orchestra parts were recorded at Columbia Studio C in New York. The point marks the New York studio location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Additional recording in London (1977)

Recording site Sarm West Studios — Additional recording for the album took place at Basing Street Studio in London. The point marks the London studio location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Don Juan's Reckless Daughter: ninth studio album by Joni Mitchell
• Released 13 December 1977 through Asylum Records
• A double album with an unusually experimental style
• Extends the jazz-influenced sound of Mitchell's earlier recordings even further
• Side 2 is taken up entirely by 'Paprika Plains', a 16-minute piano improvisation with full orchestra
• 'Overture' uses six simultaneous guitars, some in different tunings, with vocal echo effects
• 'The Tenth World' is an extended Latin percussion instrumental
• 'Dreamland' features only percussion and voices, including Chaka Khan

Background

• Mitchell said that, close to completing her Asylum contract, she let this album be looser than anything she had done before
• Four Weather Report members took part: Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Manolo Badrena and Alex Acuña
• 'Jericho' had already appeared on Mitchell's 1974 live album Miles of Aisles
• 'Dreamland' had already been released by Roger McGuinn on his 1976 album Cardiff Rose
• 'Off Night Backstreet' was released as a single backed with 'Jericho' but did not chart

Recording

• Recorded and mixed at A&M Studios in Hollywood
• Orchestra recorded at Columbia Studio C in New York
• Additional recording at Basing Street Studio in London
• Michael Gibbs arranged the orchestral parts and conducted
• Henry Lewy and Steve Katz handled production and mixing

Cover

• Photomontage of shots by Norman Seeff, later arranged by Mitchell with a camera lucida
• Orange-and-blue colour backdrop selected by Glen Christensen
• Mitchell appears in blackface, which later became widely criticised as racist
• Streaming services gave the album a new cover on 29 April 2024, a photo of Mitchell with a dog from the 1985 Dog Eat Dog sessions

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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

• Released in December 1977 to mixed reviews
• Rolling Stone described the album as an instructive failure, saying it is sapped of emotion and full of ideas that should have remained whims
• The Globe and Mail said many of the novel sounds from her shift to a fully electric, pop-oriented sound had gone bland for lack of detailed attention
• Reviews singled out the gap between the album's ideas and their execution

Records

• Reached No. 25 on the Billboard charts
• Gold record status within three months of release
• Certified gold by the RIAA on 13 February 1978
• The album is notable for the controversy over Mitchell's blackface use on the cover
• Blackface on the cover was widely criticised as racist in later years

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

Trivia

• The cover photo shows Mitchell in blackface, and it later became one of the most controversial moments of her career.
• On 29 April 2024 streaming services gave the album a new cover, a photo of Mitchell with a dog from the 1985 photo sessions for Dog Eat Dog.
• No announcement was made about the cover change and Mitchell has not commented on it.
• The inner sleeve shows a speech bubble that refers to Muslims, echoing a line from the song 'Otis and Marlena'.
• 'The Tenth World' was also released as a single in France.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact