Thursday, September 17, 2020

Song of the Day: 'House of the Rising Sun' by Joni Mitchell


This is fun timing the day after I posted a Carly Simon song from the 1960s.

Brooklyn Vegan reports that Joni Mitchell has announced a series of archival box sets called "Joni Mitchell Archives," and the first one -- "Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963 to 1967)" -- comes out Oct. 30.

It "features nearly six hours of unreleased home, live, and radio recordings that flow chronologically to paint a rich portrait of Mitchell’s rapid growth as a performer and songwriter during the period leading up to her debut album. This treasure trove of unheard audio includes 29 original Mitchell compositions that have never been released before with her vocals."

It also includes a 40-page booklet with liner notes that include conversations between Joni and Cameron Crowe. The first song released is a rendition of "House of the Rising Sun" that Joni recorded in 1963 (at 19 years old) for CFQC AM, a radio station in her hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. (That's one year before the Animals' version came out, for what it's worth.) It's apparently her earliest known recording, and it's a hauntingly gorgeous rendition of the song that has all the same charms of her better-known recordings from later on.

I've always wondered why the legendary singer/songwriter's catalog hadn't never been remastered / reissued -- so this is a great first step.

Listen:


Complete track listings HERE.

1 comment:

KRL said...

There are a few box sets of her music. A ten-cd album set, a collection of her recordings for Geffen, and a wonderful four-disc set that she put together. Sadly none (or very little) of the music has been remastered. I have my own ideas why they have not been remastered but I wish they would be. That being written, I am stoked about these new boxes of unreleased tracks!