Why did Joni Mitchell remove a Don Henley collaboration from her album?
Aside from her incredible vocal performances and infallible songwriting ability, Joni Mitchell is perhaps best known for her seeming inability to beat around the bush. It is often said that you can never truly know what another person is thinking, but in the case of Joni Mitchell, the likelihood is that she will tell you exactly how she is feeling. This no-nonsense approach has endeared her towards fans for decades, though it probably hasn’t succeeded in making her many friends in the music industry.
Over her long and illustrated career, Mitchell collaborated with a wide range of artists, from Johnny Cash to Chaka Khan. Obviously, the vast plethora of high-profile artists who have worked with Mitchell would suggest that she is a pleasure to play alongside. However, the songwriter has also been very open in her criticism of other artists too – even Bob Dylan, whom she has collaborated with in the past. So, when Mitchell cut a collaboration with Eagles member Don Henley, the assumption was that the pair had simply not seen eye to eye.
The collaboration came about in the early 1980s while Mitchell was recording her 11th studio album, Wild Things Run Fast, which drew on inspiration from the blossoming new wave scene of the time. Henley was due to sing the backing vocals for Mitchell on the song ‘Ladies Man’.
Of course, there are many reasons why you might want to remove Don Henley’s soft rock stylings from your record. In this case, perhaps his classic rock style simply did not fit with the 1980s pop angle Mitchell was reaching for on this album. Maybe the idea of having somebody who was arrested for supplying an underage girl with drugs singing on a track entitled ‘Ladies Man’ was cause for concern.
In actuality, the reason why Henley was cut from the final release of Wild Things Run Fast is much more banal. According to the liner notes of the 2003 compilation Complete Geffen Recordings, Mitchell herself explained, “I invited Don Henley to come and sing with me on this one. After he left, when I was playing it back, I was amazed at how similar our voices sounded.”
She added, “It took a while to even notice that a new singer had been introduced.”
So, even though the track had apparently already been recorded, Henley was not to appear on the final cut of Mitchell’s 1982 album. However, all hope was not lost when it came to ‘Ladies Man’, as none other than Lionel Richie stepped up to take on the role originally played by Henley.
Mitchell shared, “I went across the hall to where Lionel Richie was recording and I conscripted him. There was the contrast I wanted, so I replaced Don with Lionel. The old cutting room floor routine.”
It is unclear whether this replacement ever caused any bad blood between Joni and Don, though Mitchell did once share an anecdote of Henley being “kinda like a jerk” to her during a party with Sting. As the songwriter tells it, Henley ignored Mitchell at the party in an attempt to save himself for The Police frontman, much to her annoyance.
