Maps of Music

Miles of Aisles (1974)

Where the lyrics of Miles of Aisles take you, and where it was really made.

The cover photo was taken by Joni Mitchell herself at a Michigan venue that is now called DTE Energy Music Theatre.

Key places

Los Angeles recording nights, August 1974 (1974)

Recording site Universal Amphitheatre — The recording place listed for the album is the Gibson Amphitheatre. The source says all tracks except two were recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles between 14 and 17 August 1974. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cactus Tree at the LA Music Center (1974)

Recording site Ahmanson Theatre — Cactus Tree was recorded at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion inside the Los Angeles Music Center on March 4, 1974. It is one of the two tracks not recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Real Good for Free in Berkeley (1974)

Recording site Berkeley Community Theatre — Real Good for Free was recorded at the Berkeley Community Theater on March 2, 1974. It is the other track not recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cover photo at Pine Knob (1974)

Album cover Pine Knob Music Theater — The cover photo was taken at the Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan. Japanese Wikipedia notes that the venue is now called the DTE Energy Music Theatre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Miles of Aisles is the first live album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
• Released in November 1974 on Asylum Records
• Double album documenting concerts in support of the Court and Spark album
• Mitchell's backing band for the tour was the L.A. Express
• Reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and became one of her biggest-selling records

Background

• This was Mitchell's first tour with backing musicians
• Before this she had generally performed solo and had never organized a tour with a band
• She hired the existing jazz fusion band L.A. Express, formed in 1973 by Tom Scott
• Members of the band had appeared on Court and Spark, her biggest commercial success
• The album contains many of her best-known songs up to that time
• Only one track came from her recent album, and neither of its two hit singles, Help Me or Free Man in Paris, is included
• Two brand new songs appear: Love or Money and Jericho

Recording

• All tracks except two were recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, August 14 to 17, 1974
• Cactus Tree was recorded at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Los Angeles Music Center on March 4, 1974
• Real Good for Free was recorded at the Berkeley Community Theater on March 2, 1974
• Mobile recording was done by Wally Heider Recording, with Ken Caillat as live tracking engineer
• Henry Lewy handled sound engineering and mixing

Cover

• The cover photo was taken at the Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan
• Mitchell took the gatefold exterior photo herself

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · de.wikipedia.org · ja.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

• Record World: said the single release of Jericho is a solid musical successor to Big Yellow Taxi

Reappraisal

• Rolling Stone included the album in its list of the 50 greatest live albums of all time

Records

• Billboard 200: No. 2
• Big Yellow Taxi, live version: No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, four years after the studio version stalled at No. 67
• It was Mitchell's fourth Top 40 hit single and her third in a row
• Certified gold by the RIAA, on 27 November 1974
• One of Mitchell's biggest-selling records

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

Trivia

• The live version of Big Yellow Taxi reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 four years after the studio single stalled at No. 67.
• No studio version of Love or Money is known; the song seems to have been performed only live.
• Jericho received a studio version for the 1977 album Don Juan's Reckless Daughter.
• The gatefold sleeve has an extra central flap with lyrics, credits and a photograph, making six panels in total.
• Mitchell took the gatefold exterior photo herself.

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

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