Maps of Music

Turbulent Indigo (1994)

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

The cover is a self-portrait of Joni Mitchell styled as a Van Gogh type, and the title track also refers to Van Gogh.

Key places

Recorded and mixed at The Kiva (1994)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Turbulent Indigo was recorded and mixed at The Kiva in Bel Air, California. This point is placed at city-centre level, so it does not mark the exact studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Turbulent Indigo: 15th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
• Released in 1994; Portuguese Wikipedia gives 25 October 1994 as the release date
• Issued through Reprise Records
• Ten tracks, all composed by Mitchell except where indicated
• "How Do You Stop" written with Charlie Midnight and Dan Hartman
• "Yvette in English" written with David Crosby
• Title track refers to Vincent van Gogh and the mental turmoil of creative work

Background

• Marked her return to Warner Music (formerly WEA) distribution
• Previous album Night Ride Home had been distributed by MCA for Geffen Records

Recording

• Recorded and mixed at The Kiva in Bel Air, California
• Produced by Joni Mitchell and Larry Klein
• Engineer and mixer: Dan Marnien
• Mastered by Bernie Grundman

Cover

• Cover shows a self-portrait of Mitchell
• Paste Magazine's Matt Mitchell says she styles herself as a Vincent Van Gogh type

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

• Q's Tom Doyle called it a welcome return to the atmospherics and acoustic terrain Mitchell is best known for
• Doyle wrote that most tracks recall the wafting soundscapes of Hejira (1976)
• Doyle praised the gentle, controlled feedback, Pastorius-styled bass, Wayne Shorter's saxophone patterns and walls of acoustic guitars
• Rolling Stone's John Milward wrote that it was Mitchell's best album since the mid-'70s
• The album received critical acclaim on release

Records

• Won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Album
• Reached number 47 on the Billboard 200 (French Wikipedia)
• As of December 2007, sold 311,000 copies in the US

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

Trivia

• "Not to Blame" was rumored to be about Jackson Browne, a former lover of Mitchell, who was alleged to have beaten his girlfriend, actress Daryl Hannah.
• Mitchell re-recorded "The Magdalene Laundries" with the Chieftains on Tears of Stone (1999), singing and playing guitar.
• The album is packaged in a tri-fold Digipak.

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

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