{"id":4677,"date":"2011-04-27T19:26:43","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T19:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=4677"},"modified":"2011-05-05T00:36:22","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T00:36:22","slug":"edith-and-the-kingpin-queen-joni-mitchell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2011-04\/edith-and-the-kingpin-queen-joni-mitchell\/","title":{"rendered":"Edith and the Kingpin–Queen Joni Mitchell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

During the years from 1971 to 1976, Joni Mitchell released a consecutive string of revelatory albums that will never be challenged artistically by another female artist.\u00a0 Ever.\u00a0 First “Blue,” then “For the Roses,” then “Court and Spark,” and then the great live album “Miles of Aisles.”\u00a0 And then she jazzed things up even further with “The Hissing of Summer Lawns” and “Hejira,” the latter being her last great album.\u00a0 The compositions, complexity and lyricism were and still are unparalleled.\u00a0 Lady Shmaga!<\/p>\n

We’ll write more about that string of albums another date, but we’ve become smitten once again with one of the great songs off “The Hissing of Summer Lawns”:\u00a0 Edith and the Kingpin. <\/strong><\/em>It’s a poetic short story of epic proportions, and we never fail to be blown away by the regal stature of the song.\u00a0 Check out her studio version, her live take at the Santa Barbara Bowl in 1979, and Elvis Costello’s great reading with Herbie Hancock’s musical lead on Costello’s spectacular Spectacle <\/strong><\/em>show.\u00a0 Tina Turner and many others have covered as well.\u00a0 Enjoy.<\/p>\n

“The big man arrives
\nDisco dancers greet him
\nPlainclothes cops greet him
\nSmall town, big man, fresh lipstick glistening
\nSophomore jive
\nFrom victims of typewriters
\nThe band sounds like typewriters
\nThe big man he’s not listening
\nHis eyes hold Edith
\nHis left hand holds his right
\nWhat does that hand desire
\nThat he grips it so tight<\/p>\n

Edith in the ring
\nThe passed-over girls are conferring
\nThe man with the diamond ring is purring
\nAll claws for now withdrawn
\nOne by one they bring
\nHis renegade stories to her
\nHis crimes and his glories to her
\nIn challenge they look on
\nWomen he has taken grow old too soon
\nHe tilts their tired faces
\nGently to the spoon<\/p>\n

Edith in his bed
\nA plane in the rain is humming
\nThe wires in the walls are humming
\nSome song-some mysterious song
\nBars in her head
\nBeating frantic and snowblind
\nRomantic and snowblind
\nShe says-his crime belongs
\nEdith and the Kingpin
\nEach with charm to sway
\nAre staring eye to eye
\nThey dare not look away
\nYou know they dare not look away”<\/p>\n

Joni Mitchell–Edith and the Kingpin<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/03-Edith-And-The-Kingpin.mp3|titles=03 Edith And The Kingpin]
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And below is a great live version by Joni at the Santa Barbara Bowl in September 1979 (from the “Shadows and Light” DVD) with Jaco Pastorius killing on bass:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/div>\n
Joni Mitchell – Edith And The King Pin (Official Music Video)<\/a>Joni Mitchell<\/a><\/div>\n

Finally, below is Elvis Costello’s rendering backed by Herbie Hancock and his phenomenal band:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tAHkJ92WNrE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the years from 1971 to 1976, Joni Mitchell released a consecutive string of revelatory albums that will never be challenged artistically by another female artist.\u00a0 Ever.\u00a0 First “Blue,” then “For the Roses,” then “Court and Spark,” and then the great live album “Miles of Aisles.”\u00a0 And then she jazzed things up even further with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}