Late Night Music Club with Chaka Khan (and Joni Mitchell)
By Howie Klein Sunday Mar 23, 2008 11:00pmDon't look for this Joni Mitchell classic by Chaka Khan anywhere else. This one's a C&L exclusive (unless someone else leaked it before us). The original, of course, is from the 1976 groundbreaking eponymous album. The song-- and even more so, the album, are about a roadtrip Joni took from the East Coast to the West which she modestly likens to Mohammed's trip from Mecca to Medina. Joni's very close friend Chaka Khan covered it for a Joni Tribute album that was never released. Anyone have a favorite Joni song they'd like to hear the cover version of?
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This Flight Tonight by Nazareth
"Fiddle and the Drum" covered by A Perfect Circle.
God Must Be a Boogie Man. No idea if anyone's ever covered it - just one of the coolest songs ever written.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q4foLKDlcE
Nuff Said!
Job's Sad Song
Neil Diamond - Both Sides Now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_l6zeu6Y0Q
"All I Want" - covered by me if I ever get around to recording it...
I love Joni's work, and Chaka, so this was such a nice treat!
The Circle Game - Buffy Sainte-Marie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0608QlhCYiQ
Ugh. Horrible "video".
Man, I was so hot for Chaka Kahn when I was a kid. Nasty girl. Wooh.
So many faves .... Strange Boy, Barangrill, The Arrangement, Off Night Back Street, The Priest, Harry's House, Two Grey Rooms, Electricity, Song to a Seagull (the first song I learned on the guitar), The Windfall, just to name a few. But, I've never heard Chaka sing Hejira--and, that was quite tasty and delicious. Thank you!
Judy Collins - Chelsea Morning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPwUqp_h9Vc
C,S,N & Y / WOODSTOCK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beu0y57R9SE
Court & Spark!
I've never heard a cover of a Joni Mitchell song that I preferred to the original.
CHAKA KHAN / RUFUS - Somethin' Good -1974 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P23WCKgZGgo
CHAKA KHAN / STEVE WINWOOD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jAQt44KZ34
Free Man in Paris
'Course, it's hard to top Jaco, Pat, Michael, Lyle and Don for a backup band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXBba77U1_Y
Hey, lafingas, did you know that Stevie Wonder wrote that just for Chaka? True fact. He heard her singing in person for the first time and it knocked him out; he told her that he HAD to write a song for her...
Are you gonna make me complain about you posting covers AGAIN, Howie? Sheesh.
Speaking of covers, Chaka Khan has probably been covered & sampled just as much if not more than Joni Mitchell. I saw Chaka Khan in concert last summer and she blew me away! She looks fantastic too.
Classics from Rufus...
"Tell me Something Good" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P23WCKgZGgo
"Sweet Thang" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqzIArLPDDA&feature=related
And from her solo stuff...
"Through the Fire"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNLQ_hvWQh4&feature=related
"Ain't Nobody"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qARxmnOgLxE
Anyone have a favorite Joni song they’d like to hear the cover version of?
"a"?????? What are you? Nuts??? How about like a half dozen to start?
Big Yellow Taxi(of course)
Free Man in Paris
Raised on Robbery
Both Sides Now
Really Good For Free
People's Parties
The Circle Game
Woodstock
Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire
You Turn Me on I'm a Radio
And of course she didn't write it but her and Neal doing Helpless at The Bands Last Waltz is awesome!
Anyone have a favorite Joni song they’d like to hear the cover version of?
Urge for Going.
No links, but if you can find Chaka Khan's album with Keith Jarrett called "Echo's of an Era"...grab it. 1 Take standards of "Them There Eye's", Take the "A" Train, "All of Me".....unbelievably great. If you liked her with Rufus, this album is a classic.
oooohhhh some nice ones
Circle Game
Circle Game
18 Angel Of Mercy Says:
Hey, lafingas, did you know that Stevie Wonder wrote that just for Chaka? True fact. He heard her singing in person for the first time and it knocked him out; he told her that he HAD to write a song for her…
Yes I heard that someplace before, I think it was an interview in Musician Magazine, not sure.
Big Yellow Taxi - Isle of Wight '70
Both Sides Now - '66
skippy's got joni mitchell doing both sides now.
and three of our fav voice together: linda ronstadt, emmylou harris & dolly parton singing to know him is to love him.
There's not many people who do Joni better than Joni but I love this one: Madeleine Peyroux and K.D Lang: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOarRbgSd00
I'd be interested in hearing a good cover of "Help Me". It's such a lovely song with unique instrumentation, and in my opinion, really hits the 'mellow rock' feel of the early-mid 70's.
People here will hate it but Chelsea Clinton was named after Judy Collins cover of Chelsea Morning.
Thanks Joni!
P.S. Prince said that Court & Spark was the first album he liked all the way through. That's a true testament.
P.P.S.
Going To California by Led Zeppelin was inspired by Joni.
Joni did back-up vocals with James Taylor on Carlo King's version of her own song 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' from Tapestry.
California. Definitely.
http://www.truveo.com/Joni-Mitchell-California/id/744718348
Wow - that was beautiful. Thank you! I was converted to the Church of Joni back in '83 when I heard "Refuge of the Roads" on WRPI.
oh boy, that's pretty bad
That was a great version.
But i've never heard anyone doing a Joni Mitchell song better than Joni. :)
Tim Curry of Rocky Horror Picture Show fame did a brilliant cover of "Cold Blue Steel Sweet Fire". It's from the "Fearless" album and features the amazing guitar work of Dick Wagner. (By the way, most people may not know who Dick Wagner is by name, but they've heard his work.)
35, true dat. But inspiration is the truest form of flattery.
Also, let's not underestimate her later period. Night Ride Home and beyond were as good as we could expect a Woodtsock era icon to sound in today's times.
Sadly, the Rosanna Arquette documentary had caught Joni saying that she was so tired of the music industry's bullshit that whenever she hears her muse she ignores so she won't have to got through the industry process. Very, very sad.
Well, Tori Amos has done a handful of them over the years.
My personal favorite is "A Case Of You."
She did a very nostalgic version of "Circle Game" a couple of years ago, too.
No, i don't have links.
www.hereinmyhead.com is a good place to start.
Bad news from the Houston/Bellaire front (actually, his accident pretty much happened on the Bellaire/Houston border (Westpark)), a King of Tejano got into a bus accident (within a few miles of where I used to reside, actually) and is in critical condition, were hoping for the best -
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5641425.html
Diana Krall - A Case of You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGrsc5FeQDs
Dave Van Ronk, Urge For Going
In the words of Alfred E. Neumann
Chaka Khan
Bleechh!!
I'd love to see Coyote done by someone, not sure who, i just love Joni. if I ever had a kid she will be named Joni
She was bootylicious when she was younger, oh she got big. She can still sing though.
How about Roger McGuinn's cover of Dreamland?
Perhaps The Hissing of Summer Lawns or The Boho Dance.
I like Fairport Convention doing 'Chelsea Morning', kinda weird British psychedelic-folk pop with a very young Richard Thompson on lead guitar.
Would like to hear a cover of 'Coyote'.
jscape2000 @ 21:
Tony Rice does an amazing cover. So does Mary Black.
Re "Urge for Going," Tom Rush also covered it. It's probably the only cover of a Joni Mitchell song I like better than Joni's version.
One thing, though: She didn't "modestly liken" her trip "to Mohammed’s trip from Mecca to Medina." She called it a "hejira." While the term arose from Mohammed's journey, it actually refers to the idea of taking flight to something rather than away from something.
Joni Mitchell has covered herself. Listen to "Both Sides Now" from early in her career and then listen to the version on her album of standards from a few years ago, also called "Both Sides Now."
She is an amazing writer, musician, painter, artist. Thanks, Ms Mitchell, for all your gifts.
thank god it was never released
why did i have to hear that
chaka please stick to your funky rhthm and blues roots
and leave the pros alone.
talk about mixing oil and water
shhhhesh!!!!!
It's one o'clock and time for lunch.
Bum de dum de dum.
When the sun beats down,
and I lie on the bench.
I can always here them talk.
.
.
.
.Me , I'm Just A Lawmmower.............
you can tell me by the way I walk.
LarryE @ 49:
I love Tom Rush's version. Thanks to felonious and goat for pointing me towards some other artists to check out.
Phoebe Snow: A Case of You
"In France they kiss on Main Street" would be nice.
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