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Miles of Aisles

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Miles of Aisles
Live album by
Joni Mitchell
ReleasedNovember 1974
RecordedMarch 2 and 4; August 14–17, 1974
VenueThe Universal Amphitheatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Berkeley Community Center
GenreJazz, rock, pop
Length78:01
LabelAsylum
ProducerJoni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell chronology
Court and Spark
(1974) 		Miles of Aisles
(1974) 		The Hissing of Summer Lawns
(1975)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB−[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
MusicHound[4]
Rolling Stone(not rated)[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]
Uncut8/10[7]

Miles of Aisles is the first live album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1974 on Asylum Records. It is a double album documenting her concerts in support of the Court and Spark album with her backing band for the tour, the L.A. Express. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and became one of her biggest-selling records, certified a gold record by the RIAA.[8]

Content

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This was Mitchell's first tour with backing musicians; prior to this she had generally performed solo, and had never organized a tour with a band.[9] She hired an already existing group, the jazz fusion band L.A. Express, members of which had appeared on her previous studio album, Court and Spark, the biggest commercial success of her career. A track from this live album, "Big Yellow Taxi", was released as a single. Four years after the studio version had stalled at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single, this live version reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, becoming Mitchell's fourth Top 40 hit single and third in a row.

The album contains many of her best-known songs up to that time, but only one track derived from her recent album and neither of its two hit singles, "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris". It also includes two brand new songs "Love Or Money" and "Jericho" – the latter of which she would record a studio version of for her 1977 album Don Juan's Reckless Daughter. There is no known studio version of "Love Or Money" which only ever seems to have been performed live. All tracks except two were recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, August 14 to 17, 1974. "Cactus Tree" was recorded at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on March 4,[10] and "Real Good for Free" at the Berkeley Community Theater on March 2. The cover photo was taken at the Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan.[11]

Record World said of the single release of "Jericho" that it is "a solid musical successor to 'Big Yellow Taxi.'"[12]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell.

Side one

  1. "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" – 4:09
  2. "Big Yellow Taxi" – 3:09
  3. "Rainy Night House" – 4:04
  4. "Woodstock" – 4:29

Side two

  1. "Cactus Tree" – 5:01
  2. "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" – 5:23
  3. "Woman of Heart and Mind" – 3:40
  4. "A Case of You" – 4:42
  5. "Blue" – 2:49

Side three

  1. "The Circle Game" – 6:29
  2. "People's Parties" – 2:42
  3. "All I Want" – 3:21
  4. "Real Good for Free" – 4:27
  5. "Both Sides Now" – 4:14
Side four
  1. "Carey" – 3:30
  2. "The Last Time I Saw Richard" – 3:35
  3. "Jericho" – 3:26
  4. "Love or Money" – 4:50

Personnel

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The L.A. Express

Technical

  • Henry Lewy – sound engineer, mixing
  • Ken Caillat – Live Tracking engineer (for Wally Heiders)
  • Anthony Hudson – art direction
  • Mobile Recording: Wally Heider Recording, Ken Caillat
  • with Jack Crymes, Biff Dawes

Charts

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Chart performance for Miles of Aisles
Chart (1974–1975) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[13] 46
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[14] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 34
US Billboard 200[16] 2
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[17] 2

References

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  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William (2011). "Miles of Aisles – Joni Mitchell | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Mitchell, Joni". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  4. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 769. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  5. ^ Davis, Stephen (2011). "Joni Mitchell: Miles Of Aisles : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2011.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). "Joni Mitchell". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside. pp. 547–548. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved September 8, 2009. Portions posted at "Joni Mitchell > Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  7. ^ "Buyer's Guide: The Asylum Years, 1972–1975". Uncut. No. 305. October 2022. p. 93.
  8. ^ RIAA database retrieved 13 August 2014
  9. ^ Joni Mitchell website Chronology retrieved 13 August 2014 Archived April 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^
  11. ^ Blackburn, Dave (September 12, 2011). "A Conversation with Max Bennett". jonimitchell.com. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  12. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. April 12, 1975. p. 1. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  13. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3939a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  16. ^ "Joni Mitchell Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  17. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. February 1, 1975. p. 49. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
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