Blue Highlights

ジョニ・ミッチェル・アーカイヴ・シリーズから昨年発売50周年を迎えた名盤『BLUE』関連の貴重な音源を選抜いた1枚組LP。デモやセッション音源、BBCのライヴ・イン・コンサートからの音源を収録。

The second volume in an ongoing archival series, Blue Highlights: Demos Outtakes Live spans Joni Mitchells years with the Reprise label from 1968s Song to a Seagull on through her landmark 1971 album, Blue. These were her breakout years and, while she later would go on to create some of the most innovative singer/songwriter albums of the mid-70s, this period is largely seen as her most commercially successful era. The anthology consists of 12 cuts, curated by Mitchell herself, and features previously unreleased demos, outtakes, and live versions of songs from her four Reprise albums. Notable tracks include her lovely string-laden version of "Urge for Going," one of several Mitchell songs recorded by folk singer Tom Rush. There are live versions of Blue classics "A Case of You" and "California" with then-beau James Taylor and a curious unused studio arrangement of "River" decorated with muted French horns. A half-century on, the studio versions of these songs are beloved classics of the original singer/songwriter era, making these glimpses behind the curtain all the more thrilling. ~ Timothy Monger