Court and Spark
Her most successful album, after a year in the studio, with Help Me as her only top-10 single.
Joni Mitchell, 1974
- Released
- January 1974
- Label
- Asylum
- Producer
- Joni Mitchell
Mitchell released nothing in 1973, the first year of her professional career without an album, and spent most of it in the studio with the engineer Henry Lewy. They called in leading Los Angeles players, among them members of the Crusaders and of Tom Scott's L.A. Express, with cameos from Robbie Robertson, David Crosby and Graham Nash and a comic turn from Cheech and Chong.
Raised on Robbery came out as a single on 1 December 1973 and reached 65. The album followed in January 1974, then Help Me, which reached 7 on the Hot 100. The album reached 2 in the United States, held there for four weeks, and 1 in Canada. It went double platinum in 1997, was voted best album of 1974 in the Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll and entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004. Mitchell told Cameron Crowe in 1979 that Bob Dylan fell asleep when she played it for him.
Track listing
- Court and Spark2:46
- Help Me3:22
- Free Man in Paris3:02
- People's Parties2:15
- The Same Situation2:57
- Car on a Hill3:02
- Down to You5:38
- Just Like This Train4:24
- Raised on Robbery3:06
- Trouble Child4:00
- Twisted2:21
Personnel
- Joni Mitchell vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, clavinet, producer, cover painting
- Tom Scott woodwinds, reeds
- Joe Sample electric piano
- Larry Carlton electric guitar
- Max Bennett bass
- John Guerin drums, percussion
- Chuck Findley trumpet on Trouble Child and Twisted
- Jose Feliciano electric guitar on Free Man in Paris
- Robbie Robertson electric guitar on Raised on Robbery
- David Crosby backing vocals on Free Man in Paris and Down to You
- Graham Nash backing vocals on Free Man in Paris
- Henry Lewy engineer
- Ellis Sorkin engineer
- Norman Seeff photography
More from Joni Mitchell
Clouds (1969), Ladies of the Canyon (1970), Blue (1971), Miles of Aisles (1974), The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975), Hejira (1976), Both Sides Now (2000)
Sources
- Court and Spark, Wikipedia
- Discogs master, Discogs