A Nice Pair: Joni Mitchell

This week’s music and book pairing features a book about seven genres of music and one artist, Joni MItchell, one of the pioneers of a new kind of rock.

Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres by Kelefa Sanneh is “an epic achievement and a huge delight, the history of popular music over the past fifty years refracted through rock, R&B, country, pop, hip-hop, dance music, and pop.” Joni Mitchell is discussed in the rock section under the title “The Opposite of Noise”. Up until she came on the scene, this genre was mainly loud and male, their words often drowned out by the music; Joni presented a quieter version with a focus on lyrics and unique composition and she quickly became a headliner in the genre of folk rock.

We’re pairing the book with the Record Store Day Black Friday 2023 release Court and Spark Demos. Court and Spark is the most commercially successful album of Joni Mitchell’s career. This LP features the never-before-heard demos from the iconic album, including “Help Me” and “Raised On Robbery.” Record Store Day releases are only available at independent record stores and are released in limited numbers…once they’re gone, they’re gone!

Today’s the last day of our Black Friday and Saturday and Sunday sale so make sure to get here before 4 pm! New and used records are 15% off and new and used books are 25% off. See you soon!