February 8, 2000

Posted February 08, 2000

Arriving just in time for Valentines Day, Joni's Both Sides Now Limited Edition CD is available in stores today. Looking like a classy box of candy, the cleverly designed package includes gorgeous lithographs of four of Joni's paintings, along with lyrics and other CD notes. And the music here is as sweet as the contents of any box of candy: What Joni has described as "a history of love in the twentieth century" is a collection of lush and beautiful interpretations of some of her favorite standards, along with new versions of "A Case of You" and "Both Sides Now." Much more than a simple rehash of songs from the past, Joni has taken the songs to new places, fulfilling her desire to keep the project progressive and not just a "curio."

"It just seemed like a reminder had to made of what the bloody stuff is supposed to be, you know? And who was great," Joni told Billboard magazine recently. "Today, you see all these little puff creatures with unbelievably little talent. That's what the record company wants."

Elegantly performed over three days at George Martin's Air Studios in London, Joni traverses myriad emotional peaks and valleys as she tells an affecting story, tracing what co-producer Larry Klein describes in the notes as "the arc of a modern romantic relationship." The backup ranges from a 71-piece orchestra to a 22-piece big band ensemble.

I remember Joni telling Wally and me about the ecstatic reaction of the orchestra members during the recording session, giving her standing ovations and actually weeping as they heard the playbacks of her new versions of "Both Sides Now" and "A Case of You." "That was very touching to me," she said during the Billboard interview, "because classical orchestras are typically jaded: A lot of them, their mother wouldn't let them go out and play and some of them are mean-spirited, and they're always reading The Wall Street Journal behind their music staffs."