Watching the Grammy Awards last night, I began to think that Amy Winehouse was going to sweep but I still had concerns about that Album of the Year nod. Would Kanye West's entitlement issues get mixed with sympathy for a win or would the Foo Fighters come up for an underdog grasp at the prize. I hadn't even considered Herbie Hancock's tribute to Joni Mitchell, "The River" because it had been years since a jazz album had won. Forty-three years, to be exact, as Mr Hancock graciously reminded us during his acceptance speech. Go figure.
I'd already spent the day with a healthy dose of Joni Mitchell, unaware of both Hancock's album and its nomination. As a child, I'd considered Mitchell's music "old" but as I got older, I realized that her music wasn't "old", but that I was too young to appreciate it. Settling down with a man with a best friend who idolized Joni, I began to experience her in a different way; paying attention enough to recognize Joni's impact on the musicians who made records that I loved.
"Help Me" was Mitchell's only top ten single, her brush with pop stardom in 1974, and I, being a child of top forty and avid forty-five buyer, bought a copy that was rarely played because it scared me a little. It didn't play by the rules and the way she crammed so many words into the bridge made me nervous, concerned that someone was chasing her. Then there was that whole thing about dancing with lady with a hole in her stocking that made no sense to me.
Now, of course, I recognize the rush of romance in that bridge and the seemingly minor detail of a lady with a hole in her stocking is just that sort of random imagery, a poetic sophistication that kept Joni from pop stardom. Not playing by the rules has left her with the a "musician's musician" tag that, while honorable, gets tiresome, as the lady herself has noted. Still, it must be nice to be an icon. Even if you have to wait for the world to catch up with you.
"Help Me" is available on "Court and Spark" and the humorously titled "Hits".
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