For the Roses explained

For the Roses
Type:studio
Artist:Joni Mitchell
Cover:Joni Mitchell - For the Roses.png
Released:November 1972
Recorded:1972
Studio:A&M (Hollywood)
Genre:
Length:40:20
Label:Asylum
Producer:Joni Mitchell
Prev Title:Blue
Prev Year:1971
Next Title:Court and Spark
Next Year:1974

For the Roses is the fifth studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. It was released in November 1972, between her two biggest commercial and critical successes—Blue and Court and Spark. In 2007 it was one of 25 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.[1]

For the Roses is perhaps best known for the hit single "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio", which Mitchell wrote sarcastically out of a record company request for a radio-friendly song. The single was a success, peaking at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Mitchell's first top 40 hit released under her own name (as a songwriter, several other performers had had hits with songs that she had written). "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire", a menacing and jazzy portrait of her then lover James Taylor's heroin addiction,[2] which was also released as a single, backed with "Blonde in the Bleachers"[3] and the Beethoven-inspired "Judgment of the Moon and Stars" were also popular.

Background

Some of the songs were inspired by Mitchell's 1970–1971 relationship with James Taylor. By March 1971, his fame exploded, causing friction. She was reportedly devastated when he broke off the relationship.[4] By November 1971, he had taken up with Carly Simon, whom he married a year later.

Songs

Cover art

While the final cover depicts a conventional picture of Mitchell in a forest setting, she originally intended for the cover to be one of her own ink-and-felt-pen drawings, titled For the Roses and featuring "a bunch of roses sticking out of a horse's ass" (the imagery of which related to her feelings on the music industry). When this was rejected by Asylum Records on the grounds that they wanted her face on the cover, Mitchell presented them with a full-rear nude photograph of herself standing on ocean rocks, and was only dissuaded after David Geffen pointed out that "she wouldn't like (an) 'Only $4.99' (sticker) slapped across her ass." The nude photograph was used for the inner gatefold of the album instead.[5]

Critical reception

For the Roses was met with critical acclaim. The New York Times said in 1973, "Each of Mitchell's songs on For the Roses is a gem glistening with her elegant way with language, her pointed splashes of irony and her perfect shaping of images. Never does Mitchell voice a thought or feeling commonly. She's a songwriter and singer of genius who can't help but make us feel we are not alone."[6] Writing for Rolling Stone, Stephen Davis applauded the singer's ability to explore a variety of emotional perspectives, sometimes in the course of one song: "Her great charm and wit, her intense vocal acting and phrasing abilities (the way she chooses to deal with a single word can change the feeling of an entire song) and the sheer power and gumption of her presence combine to bring it all off and make it shine."[7] Randall Davis from the Arcadia Tribune found it difficult to analyze but ultimately "a very nice album, pleasant to listen to and, as always with Joni, it is full of sensitive, meaningful lyrics placed against a background of light rock with folky rhythms."[8] In The Michigan Daily, Mike Harper called it the folk rock album of the year, "deeply personal and at times self-denyingly severe", saying "this album lacks the innocence of, say, Ladies of the Canyon but what it gains in womanly heart and wisdom is unmistakably greater: sincere but moreover real, For the Roses is emotionally fulfilling in the best sense of the word."[9]

For the Roses was named the seventh best album of 1972 in Robert Christgau's year-end list for Newsday.[10] In his review for Creem, he said the music lacked the liveliness of Blues "All I Want" and the lyrics' insularity diminished her voice, but he ultimately regarded the album as a "remarkable work" and the year's aesthetically boldest record. "Mitchell has integrated the strange shifts of her voice into an almost 'classical' sounding music", Christgau wrote, calling it "hypnotic when you give it a chance to work".[11] It was voted number 148 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[12]

In 2007, the Library of Congress added the album to its National Recording Registry. In an essay accompanying the selection, Cary O'Dell wrote that the record was "Mitchell's first overt foray into jazz, a genre that, for the next several years, would come to dominate her art."[13]

Personnel

Technical

Charts

Chart (1972–1973)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)19
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[14] 9

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The National Recording Registry 2007 : National Recording Preservation Board (Library of Congress) . Loc.gov . 13 May 2011 . 16 February 2012.
  2. News: Stevens . Jenny . 2020-02-17 . ‘I was a bad influence on the Beatles': James Taylor on Lennon, love and recovery . 2024-04-12 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  3. Web site: Singles: 7" & 12" Vinyl Releases, Promos & Radio Programs. Jonimitchell.com. 20 March 2022.
  4. Book: Bego. Mark. Joni Mitchell. 26 May 2005. Taylor Trade . 9781461662020. 7 May 2017.
  5. Web site: Joni Mitchell - for the Roses - paintings. Jonimitchell.com.
  6. News: The New Woman . . 11 February 1973 . 162 . 19 August 2020 .
  7. News: . 125 . 4 January 1973 . Stephen . Davis . Joni Mitchell For The Roses > Album Review . 26 July 2006 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20070312042815/http://rollingstone.com/artists/jonimitchell/albums/album/119437/review/5941475/for_the_roses . 12 March 2007 .
  8. News: Davis. Randall. 14 December 1972. Musical Notes. Arcadia Notes. 29 July 2019.
  9. News: Harper. Mike. 9 January 1973. Looking back at '72…records to remember. Michigan Daily. 29 July 2019.
  10. News: Christgau. Robert. 31 December 1972. Choice Bits From a 'Sorry' Year. Newsday. 7 March 2018.
  11. Christgau. Robert. March 1973. The Christgau Consumer Guide. Creem. 7 March 2017.
  12. Book: All Time Top 1000 Albums. Colin Larkin. Colin Larkin (writer). Virgin Books. 2000. 3rd. 0-7535-0493-6. 87.
  13. Web site: O'Dell. Cary. 2007. For the Roses. Library of Congress. 29 July 2019.
  14. Cash Box Top 100 Albums . Cash Box. February 10, 1973. 37. 16 July 2024.