Court and Spark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Court and Spark
Studio album by Joni Mitchell
Released	January 1974
Recorded	?
Genre	Folk jazz, Singer-songwriter
Length	36:52
Label	Asylum
Producer(s)	Joni Mitchell
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (A) link
Joni Mitchell chronology
For the Roses (1972)	Court and Spark (1974)	Miles of Aisles (1974)

Court and Spark is Joni Mitchell's January 1976 full-length release. Her most commercially successful album, Court and Spark reached #2 on the Billboard 200 charts, and infused her folk-rock style with jazz inflections. Three singles were generated from the album: "Help Me" (her biggest commercial hit, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100), "Free Man in Paris" (about David Geffen, with whom she shared a house around the time of the album),[1] and "Raised on Robbery". It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 2003, the album was ranked number 111 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, the album was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

When Mitchell played the just-finished album for friend Bob Dylan, he fell asleep midway through the tape. Mitchell laughed off the incident, saying, "I knew it was good. I think Bobby was just being cute."^[1]

American singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik covered the title song from this album; it was released on Brighter/Later: A Duncan Sheik Anthology.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Personnel 3 Production 4 References

[edit] Track listing

1. "Court and Spark" – 2:46
2. "Help Me" – 3:22
3. "Free Man in Paris" – 3:02
4. "People's Parties" – 2:15
5. "Same Situation" – 2:57
6. "Car on a Hill" – 3:02
7. "Down to You" – 5:38
8. "Just Like this Train" – 4:24
9. "Raised on Robbery" – 3:06
10. "Trouble Child" – 4:00
11. "Twisted" – 2:21

[edit] Personnel

• Joni Mitchell - Vocals, including background; acoustic guitar; piano; clavinet on "Down to You"
• John Guerin - Drums and percussion
• Wilton Felder - Bass
• Max Bennett - Bass on "Trouble Child"
• Jim Hughart - Bass on "People's Parties" and "Free Man in Paris"
• Milt Holland - Chimes on "Court and Spark"
• Tom Scott - Woodwinds and reeds
• Chuck Findley - Trumpet on "Twisted" and "Trouble Child"
• Joe Sample - Electric piano, clavinet on "Raised on Robbery".
• David Crosby - Background vocals on "Free Man in Paris" and "Down to You"
• Graham Nash - Background vocals on "Free Man in Paris"
• Susan Webb - Background vocals on "Down to You"
• Larry Carlton - Electric guitar
• Wayne Perkins - Electric guitar on "Car on a Hill"
• Dennis Budimir - Electric guitar on "Trouble Child"
• Robbie Robertson - Electric guitar on "Raised on Robbery"
• Jose Feliciano - Electric guitar on "Free Man in Paris"
• Cheech Marin - Background voice on "Twisted"
• Tommy Chong - Background voice on "Twisted"

[edit] Production

• Joni Mitchell - Cover Painting
• Producer - Joni Mitchell
• Engineer - Henry Lewy

[edit] References