Don Juans Reckless Daughter, Joni Mitchell (1977)

Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, Joni Mitchell (1977)

Just to be contrary, I’d love to argue against consensus here; to pitch that Joni Mitchell’s Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter simply didn’t deserve such a mixed critical response – and that it should stand as one of her peak period classics. But I can’t. Not seriously, anyway. Not only was Don Juan bad; it was the record Mitchell lost her touch – and from which, in hindsight, she never came back from. 

So what went so wrong with Don Juan? A few things, I suppose. Instrumentally, Mitchell urged towards whatever she believed was jazz, growing increasingly indulgent but near-totally lacking in reward. Even without the lyrics and vocals, Don Juan was lengthy and dull in particularly uninspiring ways.

But it was in the lyrical realm that Don Juan suffered most. Having apparently lost her poetic touch – but, judging from references to her own esteemed poeticism, unaware of it – Mitchell gave off shoddy parody. The stories weren’t there, but neither were the one-liners, the deft poignance, the vivid metaphors. In short, pretty much everything I loved about her previous records was amiss, replaced by tired scenes and silly references.

Add all that together (plus the blackface cover, a dash of Islamophobia and several instances of cultural appropriation and awkward white ignorance) and one is left with a severely unflattering portrait of an artist. Unflattering enough to retroactively dismantle the air of genius of earlier Mitchell works? Perhaps not. But the very idea that this record could dare to call into question Mitchell’s prior untouchability gives you an idea of just how poor it is and remains.

Pick: ‘Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter’

Phil Ochs at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois | August 27, 1968

Source

Song of The Day

do you want the history of a folk song? dm me or submit an ask and I'll do a full rundown

"Turn! Turn! Turn!"

The Byrds, 1965

"Turn! Turn! Turn!"/"To Everything There Is a Season" was a song written by Pete Seeger in 1959 and first recorded in 1962 by the Limeliters and then Seeger a few months later. It was featured in Sing Out! magazine in 1964

sing out! vol 14 iss 4 It was based on the Book of Ecclesiastes of the Hebrew Bible, which starts the same way "To Everything there is a season; a time for every purpose under heaven" The song was popularized by the 1965 version by The Byrds.

I like this song, I think it's sweet. I like the original poetry of the Book of Ecclesiastes as well. I like the message, I like the idea that while there is a time war or for rage, there is also a time to mourn and to mend. I think that this song has the attitude of a traditional folk song.

Nina Simone and Judy Collins also covered it

He also did it as a duet with Judy Collins in 1966

Some people say little girls should be seen and not heard. Well I think, ‘Oh bondage up yours!’

phil ochs. the New york public library digital collection