An Album/Song A Week: Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark

Have you seen those internet question that ask "who had a 5 album run of great albums?"  The usual names pop up like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder.  One name that doesn't is Joni Mitchell.  From 1970-76, Mitchell released 4 classic album in a row, then a live one (which I don't count), then 2 more near-classic LP's.  Although Joni Mitchell is now regarded as a genius on a level with Bob Dylan, it seems like for years her greatness was not as acknowledged as it is today.  But what a glorious run she had.  1971's Blue was her first masterpiece.  But I've always gravitated towards 1974's Court and Spark.  Most likely for sentimental reasons.  "Help Me" is the first Joni Mitchell song that stuck with my very young musical brain.  I'm sure I'd heard "Big Yellow Taxi" because it was on American Top 40. And 1973's "You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio", was also on AT40.  But "Help Me" was a bigger hit, and since in 1974 at age 10, I was just becoming a weekly AT40 nut, that song has always stuck with me.  Released in the Spring of '74 it was also her biggest hit, peaking at #7.  Hearing it today reminds me of the Summer of '74, living in Germany, and going to the public pool, with the latest hits playing in the background.

But the rest of the album is just as great.  "Free Man In Paris" was the follow-up, reaching #22.  There's album cuts that have stayed with me like the title track, "Down to You", "Just Like This Train", "Raised on Robbery" and her cover of Annie Ross' "Twisted".  Court and Spark also solidifies Mitchell's love of Jazz that began on her previous album, For the Roses. She came close to topping it with 1976's Hejira, but Court and Spark was better. 

You really can't go wrong with the 1970-76 era of Joni Mitchell.  After Hejira she started to experiment even more.  And while she never matched the Pop success of "Help Me",  she remained an artist that was always worth visiting.