Maps of Music

Night Ride Home (1991)

Where the lyrics of Night Ride Home take you, and where it was really made.

This was the first Joni Mitchell album not distributed by the WEA family of labels, after Geffen's sale to MCA moved its release to Uni Distribution.

Key places

Additional recording at A&M Studios (1991)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — Additional recording for the album took place at A&M Studios in Hollywood. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Additional recording at One On One Studios (1991)

Recording site One on One Recording Studios — Additional recording for the album also took place at One On One Studios in North Hollywood. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded and mixed at The Kiva (1991)

Recording site Chappell Studios (Encino) — The album was recorded and mixed at The Kiva, shown here at the city-center point of Encino. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Night Ride Home: fourteenth album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
• Released in the UK on February 18, 1991, and in the US on March 5, 1991
• The last of four albums Mitchell recorded for Geffen Records
• All music by Mitchell except "Nothing Can Be Done" by Larry Klein
• Lyrics by Mitchell except "Slouching Towards Bethlehem," based on W. B. Yeats' "The Second Coming"
• Title track was originally titled "Fourth of July"

Background

• Title track was first performed during promotion for her previous album in 1988
• Title song was inspired by a moonlit night in Hawaii
• First Mitchell album not distributed by the WEA family of labels
• Mitchell had been signed to WEA's Asylum and Reprise labels in the past
• Warner Bros. Records distributed Geffen Records from 1980 to 1990
• In 1990 Geffen was sold to MCA Music (now Universal Music Group)
• The album was distributed by Uni Distribution Corp., MCA Music's distribution arm, which also took over the rest of the Geffen catalogue

Recording

• Wayne Shorter on soprano saxophone on tracks 3 and 9
• Larry Klein on bass, with Vinnie Colaiuta on drums on tracks 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10
• Bill Dillon on guitar on tracks 2 and 7, and pedal steel guitar on track 1
• Michael Landau on guitar on track 10
• Jeremy Lubbock as conductor, arranger and string arranger on track 10
• Backing vocals: Karen Peris (track 3), Brenda Russell (track 9), David Baerwald (track 7)
• Recorded and mixed at The Kiva, with additional recording at A&M Studios and One On One Studios
• Mastered by Bob Ludwig

Sources: en.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

• The album received critical acclaim
• Despite the acclaim, the album contained no charting singles
• The track "Come In from the Cold" received airplay on AOR stations
• "Come In from the Cold" is a retrospective single about childhood and middle age
• The title track was inspired by a moonlit night in Hawaii
• Songs such as "The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)" and "Cherokee Louise" deal with personal stories from the lyrics

Records

• US Billboard 200 peak: No. 41
• US sales: 238,000 copies as of December 2007
• Released in the UK on February 18, 1991, and in the US on March 5, 1991
• Last of four albums recorded for Geffen Records
• First album not distributed by the WEA family of labels

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

Trivia

• A home video, Come In from the Cold, came out the same year with promo videos for five tracks and an interview with Mitchell about their inspiration.
• The title song began as "Fourth of July" and was first performed in 1988 while promoting her previous album.
• "The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)" is about a maid who tried to sue Mitchell.
• "Cherokee Louise" is about a childhood friend who suffered sexual abuse.
• The album was distributed by Uni Distribution Corp. after Geffen was sold to MCA Music in 1990.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact