#jonimitchell

psych@diasp.org

A bit gobsmacked by memories, stories, and a few visits to see some of the video and some of the history....

Re: The Band, Stage Fright, The Last Waltz, the song authors, the challenges, the venues, promoters and friends - like Dylan, Neil Young, & Joni Mitchell.

Thin-sliced: Here's an article from the CBC (fittingly), out 7 yrs ago on the 40th anniversary of The Last Waltz.

Lots of good triviata and fascinating tidbits here... A taste below. Enjoy the article and be sure to see the vids.
To THE Band... and this one's for you @V. T. Eric Layton 🥃 🎶

10 things you should know about the Band's Last Waltz

"The White Room" (ever hear of it?)

As Helm writes in his memoir, it was floor-to-ceiling white, with cutouts of Groucho Marx's nose postered to the walls and glass tables with razor blades "artfully strewn about."

"Cocaine was a big, big deal at the time," writes Helm, adding that the room was "often filled with people tapping razors on the table."

"Neil Young's cocaine booger"

Young must have spent his fair share of time in the Cocteau Room, as he reportedly came out to perform "Helpless" with a large cocaine rock stuck up his nose. You can see it in the teeth-gritting intensity of the performance, but you can't physically see the rock. Robertson has admitted to spending a fair amount of money in post-production editing it out, as per Young's manager's request. "The most expensive cocaine I ever bought," he once said. As he recalls in his memoir, "as soon as Neil Young took the stage, I could tell no one at Winterland was feeling better than he was."

It's not difficult to see how 'buzzed' Young and band are; they sure did seem to be enjoying it, as sad as the end was, but celebrating.
And then there's Joni Mitchell... But not to spoiler alert that bit... Enjoy!

#music #RockHistory #TheBand #70s #1970 #1976 #BobDylan #JoniMitchell #LevonHelm #RickDanko #BillGraham

adamblewett@diasp.org

If—
BY RUDYARD KIPLING
(‘Brother Square-Toes’—Rewards and Fairies)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

(https://youtu.be/SBuqy9oLISA?list=RDSBuqy9oLISA)

#poetry #music #JoniMitchell

psych@diasp.org

On David Crosby and Joni Mitchell

The chemistry and music history bubbling up in 1967 from Laurel Canyon and beyond....
This is the song Joni presented at a party hosted by Peter Tork to David Crosby, breaking up with him... (story below)

That Song About the Midway

I met you on a midway at a fair last year
And you stood out like a ruby in a black man's ear
You were playin' on the horses, you were playin' on the guitar strings
You were playin' like a devil wearin' wings
Wearin' wings, you looked so grand wearin' wings
Do you tape them to your shoulders just to sing?
Can you fly? I heard you can, can you fly?
Like an eagle doin' your huntin' from the sky
I followed with the sideshows to another town
And I found you in a trailer on the camping grounds
You were betting on some lover, you were shaking up the dice
And I thought I saw you cheatin' once or twice
Once or twice, I heard your bid once or twice
Were you wond'rin' was the gamble worth the price?
Pack it in, I heard you did, pack it in
Was it hard to fold a hand you knew could win?
So lately you've been hidin', it was somewhere in the news
And I'm still at these races with my ticket stubs and my blues
And a voice calls out the numbers and it sometimes mentions mine
And I feel like I've been workin' overtime
Over time, I've lost my fire, over time
Always playin' one more hand for one more dime
Slowin' down, I'm gettin' tired, slowin' down
And I envy you, the valley that you've found
'Cause I'm midway, down the midway
Slowin' down, down, down, down

Article: Joni Mitchell breaks up with David Crosby in the most brutal way

#MusicLegends #music #JoniMitchell #DavidCrosby #MusicHistory #musica #musique #Midway