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Joni and Bob ("Talk to Me")
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Willie
Jun 27, 2021, 1:39:01 PM6/27/21
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I was reading an old (2017) interview with David Yaffe, about his then recent biograpy of Joni Mitchel. It includes this:
"'Joni was originally a Dylan detractor. She thought he was just a Woody Guthrie imitator. She didn’t see what the big deal was at first,' Yaffe said. But when she heard 'Positively 4th Street,' she changed her mind, he said. Hearing the song — especially the line 'You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend' — was exciting and represented a new world of possibilities for personal, intimate lyrics. 'When she heard that, she thought, ‘Oh my God, now we can write about anything,’' Yaffe said."
In this "Far Out" article (https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/joni-mitchell-song-about-bob-dylan-talk-to-me/), Joni is quoted as saying, "We are like night and day, [Dylan] and I,” she said. “Bob is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception.”
The article says that Joni's great song "Talk to Me" is addressed to Bob. It contains lines like:
"You spend every sentence as if it was marked currency!
Come and spend some on me--
Shut me up and talk to me!"
(Then she literally squawks like a chicken.)
I always listened to that song with no particular person in mind. but it being Bob does kinda fit.
I haven't watched the Scorsese "Rolling Thunder Review" film yet. But the "Far Out" article includes this from it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeaO5UZ5OcI&t=51s
Does the film offer footage with more insights into their attitudes toward each other?
"'Joni was originally a Dylan detractor. She thought he was just a Woody Guthrie imitator. She didn’t see what the big deal was at first,' Yaffe said. But when she heard 'Positively 4th Street,' she changed her mind, he said. Hearing the song — especially the line 'You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend' — was exciting and represented a new world of possibilities for personal, intimate lyrics. 'When she heard that, she thought, ‘Oh my God, now we can write about anything,’' Yaffe said."
In this "Far Out" article (https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/joni-mitchell-song-about-bob-dylan-talk-to-me/), Joni is quoted as saying, "We are like night and day, [Dylan] and I,” she said. “Bob is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception.”
The article says that Joni's great song "Talk to Me" is addressed to Bob. It contains lines like:
"You spend every sentence as if it was marked currency!
Come and spend some on me--
Shut me up and talk to me!"
(Then she literally squawks like a chicken.)
I always listened to that song with no particular person in mind. but it being Bob does kinda fit.
I haven't watched the Scorsese "Rolling Thunder Review" film yet. But the "Far Out" article includes this from it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeaO5UZ5OcI&t=51s
Does the film offer footage with more insights into their attitudes toward each other?
Zod
Jun 27, 2021, 8:29:48 PM6/27/21
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Just Walkin'
Jun 27, 2021, 11:38:42 PM6/27/21
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Will Dockery
Jun 30, 2021, 6:07:03 AM6/30/21
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Willie
Jun 30, 2021, 9:45:54 AM6/30/21
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nate
Jul 1, 2021, 1:39:58 AM7/1/21
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> > I haven't watched the Scorsese "Rolling Thunder Review" film yet. But the "Far Out" article includes this from it:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeaO5UZ5OcI&t=51s
> > Does the film offer footage with more insights into their attitudes toward each other?
> Nice find....
this has been circulating. what an evening in Roger McGuinn's Toronto abode.
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeaO5UZ5OcI&t=51s
> > Does the film offer footage with more insights into their attitudes toward each other?
> Nice find....
i saw another that used a black & white photo of this session over-imposed on an audio-only of Joni doing Baby Blue with some intriguing word changes.
- nate
Zod
Jul 1, 2021, 4:16:59 PM7/1/21
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On Sunday, June 27, 2021 at 1:39:01 PM UTC-4, Willie wrote:
Willie
Jul 1, 2021, 9:12:54 PM7/1/21
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Which led me to this, of which I hadn't heard (though a lot of it is on other albums: https://jonimitchell.com/music/album.cfm?id=24
Will Dockery
Jul 6, 2021, 9:47:35 PM7/6/21
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On Sunday, June 27, 2021 at 1:39:01 PM UTC-4, Willie wrote:
https://booksvooks.com/fullbook/break-blow-burn-camille-paglia-reads-forty-three-of-the-worlds-best-poems-pdf.html?page=47
"Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” is a rare exception. This is an important modern poem—possibly the most popular and influential poem composed in English since Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy.”
Joe Morris
Jul 7, 2021, 5:39:38 PM7/7/21
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Not so long ago, Willie wrote:
> I was reading an old (2017) interview with David Yaffe, about his then recent biograpy of Joni Mitchel. It includes this:
> "'Joni was originally a Dylan detractor. She thought he was just a Woody Guthrie imitator. She didn???t see what the big deal was at first,' Yaffe said. But when she heard 'Positively 4th Street,' she changed her mind, he said. Hearing the song ??? especially the line 'You???ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend' ??? was exciting and represented a new world of possibilities for personal, intimate lyrics. 'When she heard that, she thought, ???Oh my God, now we can write about anything,???' Yaffe said."
> I was reading an old (2017) interview with David Yaffe, about his then recent biograpy of Joni Mitchel. It includes this:
> In this "Far Out" article (https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/joni-mitchell-song-about-bob-dylan-talk-to-me/), Joni is quoted as saying, "We are like night and day, [Dylan] and I,??? she said. ???Bob is not authentic at all. He???s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception.???
> The article says that Joni's great song "Talk to Me" is addressed to Bob. It contains lines like:
> "You spend every sentence as if it was marked currency!
> Come and spend some on me--
> Shut me up and talk to me!"
> (Then she literally squawks like a chicken.)
> I always listened to that song with no particular person in mind. but it being Bob does kinda fit.
points are amazing
--
Joe Morris Atlanta history blog
jol...@gmail.com http://atlhistory.com
Will Dockery
Jul 8, 2021, 2:05:11 PM7/8/21
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