Maps of Music

Shine (2007)

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

Joni Mitchell's final studio album was released by Hear Music, and it is only the second of her albums never distributed by Warner Music Group.

Key places

Recording at Castle Oaks Productions (2007)

Recording site Castle Oaks Productions — Shine was recorded at Castle Oaks Productions in Calabasas, California. The point uses the studio's coordinates, so it marks the studio area rather than a verified building outline. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Shine: the nineteenth and final studio album by Joni Mitchell
• Released 25 September 2007 by Hear Music
• First album of new material since Taming the Tiger (1998)
• Ten tracks, all written by Joni Mitchell; lyrics for "If" are adapted from a Kipling poem
• Album cover shows a scene from The Fiddle and the Drum

Background

• In 2002 Mitchell left the music business
• Her return became public in October 2006 through an Ottawa Citizen interview
• Four months later, in an interview with The New York Times, Mitchell said the album was inspired by the war in Iraq and by a remark from her grandson
• The album was launched on 25 September 2007 at the Sunshine Theater on Houston Street, New York City, with a film of Alberta Ballet performing The Fiddle and the Drum

Recording

• Recorded at Castle Oaks Productions, Calabasas, California
• Personnel: Mitchell (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar), Larry Klein (bass, double bass), Brian Blade (drums), Bob Sheppard (alto and soprano saxophone)
• Paulinho Da Costa plays percussion on Hana; James Taylor plays acoustic guitar on Shine

Cover

• The cover features a scene from The Fiddle and the Drum, a ballet devised with Mitchell by choreographer Jean Grand-Maître

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · de.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 Sunday Times wrote in February 2007 that the album has a minimal feel and a sparseness that harks back to her early work
• The Sunday Times added that rest and some good healers had restored much of the singer's vocal power
• The Globe and Mail described the title track as a lush lullaby for the soul
• Mitchell herself described Shine as as serious a work as she has ever done
• Debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, her best US peak since Hejira (1976)
• Peaked at No. 36 on the UK chart, her first Top 40 album there since Night Ride Home (1991)
• Sold about 40,000 copies in the US in its first week and about 60,000 worldwide

Reappraisal

• Metacritic score: 77/100
• One Week Last Summer won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance

Records

• US sales: 372,000 copies as of February 2008
• Billboard 200 debut: No. 14
• UK chart peak: No. 36
• First-week worldwide sales: about 60,000 copies

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

Trivia

• The CD came with a matching blue band that was not glued on, which hid the male dancers' tights-clad bodies from the general public.
• The launch film showed The Fiddle and the Drum, a ballet devised with Mitchell by Jean Grand-Maître that premiered in Calgary on February 8, 2007.
• "Bad Dreams" was inspired by a comment Mitchell's grandson made at age three.
• "Night of the Iguana" is based on the Tennessee Williams play The Night of the Iguana.
• Shine is one of only two Mitchell albums never distributed by Warner Music Group, the other being Night Ride Home.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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