In November 2023
Rhino
released
Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975)
.
The Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980)
is its direct sequel, offering hours of unreleased live and studio material over 98 tracks in the form of outtakes, alternate takes, and live performances, alongside a striking bevy of jazz and rock players including
Larry Carlton
,
Wayne Shorter
Herbie Hancock
Pat Metheny
Jaco Pastorius
, and
Don Alias
. It is presented across six compact discs with gorgeous artwork and rare photos, a 36-page booklet with a laudatory appreciation from
Meryl Streep
, and a continuation of
Mitchell
's conversation with
Cameron Crowe
from earlier volumes. The vinyl set contains four LPs, curated by
from her personal favorites.
The first disc opens with 11 tracks from
Bob Dylan
's Rolling Thunder tour from 1975 and 1976, courtesy of his archives. The highlight is undoubtedly a three-verse version of "Coyote" (its recorded version had four). The disc concludes with selections from
's own U.S. tour in 1976 in Wisconsin (this version of "Help Me" is sublime) and multiple selections performed in Boston and New York. On disc two, the "Coyote" that she introduces and plays in Boston four months later is complete. Other highlights include the loose yet lovely "Just Like This Train" as well as the folksy "Furry Sings the Blues" and "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow."
Disc three is bookended by demos of
Hejira
's songs as well as alternate mixes of "Refuge of the Roads" and "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter." Live versions of "Black Crow" and "Song for Sharon" from the Rolling Thunder Review tour in May 1976 are inserted in between. The fourth disc offers outtakes and early versions of tunes from
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
and
Mingus
as well as
's performances at the Bread & Roses Festival. It closes with four early versions of
tracks including "God Must Be a Boogie Man" and "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines."
Discs five and six are mostly live tracks, though the former opens with a seven-minute studio piano rendition of "Sue and the Holy River," followed by live performances at 1979's Coalition Rally Against Nuclear Power on the National Mall. It also contains two tour rehearsal tracks and nine live performances from Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens.
The final disc's first 13 tracks from Philadelphia -- as well as both of the East Coast shows on the fifth disc -- showcase most of the musicians listed above in stellar democratic form; they ultimately made up her final
Asylum
album outing,
Shadows and Light
. The box closes with versions of "Woodstock" and "A Chair in the Sky" from Philadelphia and Berkeley. These six discs certainly illuminate the studio albums they appear on, but their evolutionary processes in studio and on-stage make this set an essential companion to the previous volume. ~ Thom Jurek