The one word complaint that “really bothered” Joni Mitchell
While Joni Mitchell‘s legacy is firmly rooted in folk, she grew up on a diet of jazz records, the type of free-flowing compositions that influenced her on a far greater scale than anything from the world in which she made her name. However, when she finally made the bold move to move into the musical realm of her heroes, the switch was met with contempt in some quarters, much to Mitchell’s frustration.
Mitchell was raised on artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. Still, because she paraded around with an acoustic guitar, she felt their influence on her artistry was never understood. The singer-songwriter believed she was unfairly categorised, and despite everything she did to demonstrate her vast musical horizons, Mitchell couldn’t escape the tag.
Rather than continuing to master the art of subtlety when implementing her love of jazz into her work, Mitchell collaborated with the legendary Charles Mingus on Mingus in 1979, fusing their two worlds together.
Mingus initiated the LP after being impressed with her jazz leanings on Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter. Due to his health problems, he could not play like he once did, but he could fulfil his creative vision by recruiting Joni.
Tragically, Mingus passed away as the finishing touches were still being put on the album. Nevertheless, his guidance still helped Mitchell reach a new destination with her career. The collaborative record was a brave step from the Canadian, who knew it wouldn’t succeed commercially. However, it was an irresistible artistic endeavour she couldn’t reject.
Nevertheless, upon release, Mingus was derided by the music press. While Mitchell was no stranger to criticism, one particular word seemed to follow the album, which she found wildly insulting.
In 1983, the singer-songwriter told BBC Radio 1: “The only thing that bothered me about was there was a reoccurring word that would come up … it’s the only thing I can remember negative about the press on that … and that was that it was pretentious.”
Mitchell continued: “And that really bothered me because I thought the use of that particular word was for anybody else who wanted to stretch out, for anybody coming up alongside or behind me, I thought, that’s a very bad attitude for experimentation. And then I thought well, Americans don’t have a very good command of English, perhaps they meant apprenticeship.”
In the same interview, Mitchell also explained why artists should always be evolving and why she believes people failed to understand the meaning of Mingus.
She added: “Change in an individual is not heralded by those around them. The other thing was that there were many critics who I thought were ill-informed and missed the point of what I was trying to do in that they wanted me to be like Ella or they wanted me to be … they would compare me unfavourably to existing masters. And I thought, ‘Well, I don’t… they’ve done what they’ve done. If I’m going come into this new arena, I should bring in some fusion.’ My roots are different; therefore, I should be dragging some of my background behind me.”
Thankfully, in the decades since Mingus was released, the album’s reputation has drastically changed, and the record is widely appreciated as a masterpiece, which proved to be a turning point for Mitchell.
