Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter | ||||
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![]() Original cover used for all physical releases and streaming services on or before April 29, 2024. | ||||
Studio album by Joni Mitchell | ||||
Released | December 13, 1977 | |||
Recorded | 1977 | |||
Studio |
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Genre |
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Length | 59:38 | |||
Label | Asylum | |||
Producer |
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Joni Mitchell chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
![]() Alternative cover used for all physical releases and streaming services after April 29, 2024. | ||||
Singles from Don Juan's Reckless Daughter | ||||
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Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her ninth album, it is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz-influenced sound of Mitchell's previous recordings. Mitchell has stated that, close to completing her contract with Asylum Records, she allowed this album to be looser than anything she had done previously.[7]
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter was released in December 1977 to mixed reviews. It reached No. 25 on the Billboard charts and attained gold record status within three months.
Background and content
Much of the album is experimental: "Overture" is played with six simultaneous guitars, some in different tunings from others, with vocal echo effects; "The Tenth World" is an extended-length instrumental of Latin percussion; "Dreamland" features only percussion and voices (including that of Chaka Khan).
"Paprika Plains" is a 16-minute song played on improvised piano and arranged with a full orchestra; it takes up all of Side 2. In it, Mitchell narrates a first-person description of a late-night gathering in a bar frequented by Indigenous peoples of Canada, touching on themes of hopelessness and alcoholism. At one point in the narrative, the narrator leaves the setting to watch the rain and enters into a dreamstate, and the lyrics – printed in the liner notes but not sung – become a mixture of references to innocent childhood memories, a nuclear explosion and an expressionless tribe gazing upon the dreamer. The narrator returns inside after the rain passes. In speaking to Anthony Fawcett about working on "Paprika Plains", Mitchell said:
The Improvisational, the spontaneous aspect of this creative process – still as a poet – is to set words to the music, which is a hammer and chisel process. Sometimes it flows, but a lot of times it's blocked by concept. And if you're writing free consciousness – which I do once in a while just to remind myself that I can, you know, because I'm fitting little pieces of this puzzle together – the end result must flow as if it was spoken for the first time.[7]
"Off Night Backstreet" was released as a single backed with "Jericho", but did not chart.
Two of the album's songs had previously been released: "Jericho" by Mitchell on her 1974 live album Miles of Aisles and "Dreamland" by Roger McGuinn on his 1976 album Cardiff Rose.
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter featured contributions from prominent jazz musicians, including four members of Weather Report – Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Manolo Badrena, and Alex Acuña.
Artwork
The original album jacket is a photomontage and includes three photographs of Mitchell. In the foreground she is in blackface as her "reputed alter ego, a black hipster named Art Nouveau".[8][9] For her series of box set reissues of her catalogue, the cover artwork for the album was replaced with a stylised photograph of Mitchell with a dog's head and fur, which dates from the Dog Eat Dog album period around 1985.[citation needed]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | B−[11] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Great Rock Discography | 5/10[4] |
MusicHound Rock | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 6.1/10[14] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone opined that "the best that can be said for Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is that it is an instructive failure," writing that "it's sapped of emotion and full of ideas that should have remained whims, melodies that should have been riffs, songs that should have been fragments."[16] The Globe and Mail concluded that "many of the novel sounds that marked her shift to the fully electric, pop-oriented sound have gone bland for lack of detailed attention."[17]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell, except where noted
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Overture – Cotton Avenue" | 6:41 |
2. | "Talk to Me" | 3:45 |
3. | "Jericho" | 3:22 |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Paprika Plains" | 16:21 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Otis and Marlena" | 4:09 | |
2. | "The Tenth World" | Joni Mitchell, Don Alias, Manolo Badrena, Alex Acuña, Airto Moreira, Jaco Pastorius | 6:45 |
3. | "Dreamland" | 4:38 |
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter" | 6:36 |
2. | "Off Night Backstreet" | 3:20 |
3. | "The Silky Veils of Ardor" | 4:01 |
Personnel
Musicians
- Joni Mitchell – vocals, guitars; piano on "Paprika Plains"
- Jaco Pastorius – bass guitar; bongos on "The Tenth World"; cowbells on "Dreamland"
- John Guerin – drums
- Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone on "Jericho" and "Paprika Plains"
- Alex Acuña – congas, cowbell & backing vocals on "The Tenth World"; shakers on "Dreamland"; ankle bells on "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter"
- Don Alias – bongos on "Jericho"; congas, claves & backing vocals on "The Tenth World"; snare drum & sandpaper blocks on "Dreamland"; shakers on "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter"
- Manolo Badrena – congas, coffee cans & lead vocal on "The Tenth World"; congas on "Dreamland"; credited "in spirit" on "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter"
- Airto Moreira – surdo on "The Tenth World" and "Dreamland"
- Larry Carlton – electric guitar on "Otis And Marlena"
- Michel Colombier – piano on "Otis And Marlena"
- Chaka Khan – backing vocals on "The Tenth World" and "Dreamland"
- Glenn Frey, J. D. Souther – backing vocals on "Off Night Backstreet"
- Michael Gibbs – orchestral arrangements and conductor on "Paprika Plains" and "Off Night Backstreet"
- Bobbye Hall – credited "in spirit" on "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter"
- El Bwyd – "the split-tongued spirit" vocals on "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter"
Production
- Henry Lewy, Steve Katz – production, mixing
- Robert Ash – assistant engineer
- Frank Laico – orchestra recording
- Glen Christensen – art direction
- Les Krims – artwork on Ms. Mitchell's dress
- Norman Seeff – photography
- Keith Williamson – photoprints
Charts
Chart (1977–1978) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[18] | 39 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[19] | 28 |
UK Albums (OCC)[20] | 20 |
US Billboard 200[21] | 25 |
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[22] | 23 |
References
- ^ Christopher, Currie (March 8, 1998). "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter". Tentative Reviews.
- ^ Himes, Geoffrey (April 25, 2019). "Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell: Music & Lyrics". Jazz Times. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ "Joni Mitchell: The Studio Albums 1968–1979 | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. November 9, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Strong, Martin C. (2006). "Joni Mitchell". The Great Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 712. ISBN 1-84195-860-3.
- ^ Hoskyns, Barney (2002). "Back Catalog: Joni Mitchell". Blender. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
A double album of oblique, angular jazz-rock, with Joni's cool nuances a underpinned by jungly percussion and Jaco Pastorius's alternately growly/plangent bass lines
- ^ Zimmer, Dave (December 3, 1982). "Joni Mitchell: Wild Things Run Fast". BAM. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
- ^ a b Joni Mitchell Biography from jonimitchell.com Archived August 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 22, 2008
- ^ Evelyn White, "Joni Mitchell", Herizons, June 2010. Reproduced on a fair-use basis in Joni Mitchell.com Library. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
- ^ Larry David Smith, Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and the torch song tradition (2004), Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-275-97392-1. p.64.
- ^ Ruhlmann, W. (2011). "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter – Joni Mitchell | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Mitchell, Joni". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
- ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 769. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- ^ "Joni Mitchell: The Studio Albums 1968–1979 | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. November 9, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
- ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). "Joni Mitchell". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside. pp. 547–548. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved September 8, 2009. Portions posted at "Joni Mitchell > Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (2011). "Joni Mitchell: Don Juan's Reckless Daughter : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
- ^ McGrath, Paul (January 18, 1978). "Joni's gone bland". The Globe and Mail. p. F2.
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5539a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ "Joni Mitchell Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. January 21, 1978. p. 69. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
- v
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- e
- Discography
- Albums
- Songs
- Song to a Seagull (1968)
- Clouds (1969)
- Ladies of the Canyon (1970)
- Blue (1971)
- For the Roses (1972)
- Court and Spark (1974)
- The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)
- Hejira (1976)
- Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (1977)
- Mingus (1979)
- Wild Things Run Fast (1982)
- Dog Eat Dog (1985)
- Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm (1988)
- Night Ride Home (1991)
- Turbulent Indigo (1994)
- Taming the Tiger (1998)
- Both Sides Now (2000)
- Travelogue (2002)
- Shine (2007)
- Miles of Aisles
- Shadows and Light
- Amchitka, The 1970 Concert That Launched Greenpeace
- Joni Mitchell at Newport
- Hits
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- The Beginning of Survival
- Dreamland
- Songs of a Prairie Girl
- Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, a Ballet, Waiting to Be Danced
Box sets |
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Auxiliary releases |
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Live albums |
- "Chelsea Morning"
- "Big Yellow Taxi"
- "Carey"
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- "Raised on Robbery"
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- "My Secret Place"
- "Both Sides, Now"
- "The Fiddle and the Drum"
- "Woodstock"
- "The Circle Game"
- "Little Green"
- "This Flight Tonight"
- "River"
- "A Case of You"
- "The Last Time I Saw Richard"
- "Down to You"
- "Two Grey Rooms"
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