Unreleased Joni Mitchell DVDAs

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s6270

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2010
Messages
27
I read on another forum that a quad version of Blue was prepared, as were a number of 5.1 remixes of albums. Can anyone confirm/provide a reference? Thanks!
 
I can't find the article now, but there's a supplement about quadraphonic sound in a 1971 issue of Billboard magazine that includes an interview with one of Warners senior engineers at the time, Lee Herschberg. He said that he'd mixed Carey (and possibly some other selections from Blue) for quad, which I think has led people to believe over the years that there's a quad mix of the whole Blue album in the vault somewhere. It's certainly possible, but the album was never announced for quad or given a catalog number so it's equally possible that the mixes Herschberg did were just tests or demos to show the viability of the format internally to executives and artists at the label.

As far as the 5.1's, in the early 2000's there were a couple of upcoming release lists prepared by Warner Music that showed tons of upcoming titles that were never released. Included on those lists were Blue, Court & Spark, Hejira and Ladies Of The Canyon, which is the source. The lists seem to be pretty accurate because lots of the stuff on them came out years later (ie Talking Heads, Seal, etc.) so again it's entirely possible that that the 5.1 mixes are done, but there's been no confirmation of that either way. I would imagine that with Joni's current indeterminate medical condition it's probably night on impossible to get any of these released, but I'm entirely open to being proven wrong.
 
The recent episode Hostage Situation of HBO series Girls has Free Man In Paris in 5.1 (Dolby Digital) playing over the closing scene/credits. The song definitely sounds discrete, with guitars and backing vocals in the rear channels. The lead vocal is placed in all three front channels, so this might be the shelved 5.1 mix, but then again, I've never had a chance to listen to the quad version.

Here's what Audacity told me (normalized tracks) - LF/LR/C/LFE/LR/RR (the center has few seconds of dialogue/sound effects in the middle):
 
The recent episode Hostage Situation of HBO series Girls has Free Man In Paris in 5.1 (Dolby Digital) playing over the closing scene/credits. The song definitely sounds discrete, with guitars and backing vocals in the rear channels. The lead vocal is placed in all three front channels, so this might be the shelved 5.1 mix, but then again, I've never had a chance to listen to the quad version.

Here's what Audacity told me (normalized tracks) - LF/LR/C/LFE/LR/RR (the center has few seconds of dialogue/sound effects in the middle):

Funny you mention that. I DVRed the latest episode of Girls (Season 6/Episode 2) and when Joni Mitchell's Free Man in Paris was playing towards the end of the episode and over the closing credits, it was distinctly DISCRETE. Sounded wonderful even in FIOS' Dolby Digital 5.1.

Whets one's appetite for MORE Joni in 5.1.

I do believe Blue was remixed for 5.1 but shelved when Warners ceased DVD~A production. It was among the pre~announced DVD~A titles along with Neil Young's After the Gold Rush and some CSN&Y and Frank Sinatra's September of My Years.
 
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If any of her back catalog was done for 5.1 it is not in the Joni vault. May be in Warner's...
 
I can't find the article now, but there's a supplement about quadraphonic sound in a 1971 issue of Billboard magazine that includes an interview with one of Warners senior engineers at the time, Lee Herschberg. He said that he'd mixed Carey (and possibly some other selections from Blue) for quad, which I think has led people to believe over the years that there's a quad mix of the whole Blue album in the vault somewhere. It's certainly possible, but the album was never announced for quad or given a catalog number so it's equally possible that the mixes Herschberg did were just tests or demos to show the viability of the format internally to executives and artists at the label.

As far as the 5.1's, in the early 2000's there were a couple of upcoming release lists prepared by Warner Music that showed tons of upcoming titles that were never released. Included on those lists were Blue, Court & Spark, Hejira and Ladies Of The Canyon, which is the source. The lists seem to be pretty accurate because lots of the stuff on them came out years later (ie Talking Heads, Seal, etc.) so again it's entirely possible that that the 5.1 mixes are done, but there's been no confirmation of that either way. I would imagine that with Joni's current indeterminate medical condition it's probably night on impossible to get any of these released, but I'm entirely open to being proven wrong.


That's interesting, and noteworthy.
I was only aware of two that were announced for DVDA...."BLUE", and "LADIES OF THE CANYON ".



With any luck we'll see ALL four issued someday soon, likely Blu-ray.
 
ever see the liner notes on Court and Spark? It's loaded with music greats, and Cheech and Chong!
Great album! Best Joni ever made-too bad it's not 5/1. It did come out in the HDCD format.
 
Absolutely! I have a CD-4 of Court & Spark. It was also a Q8. I've owned that one on 2ch LP, CD-4, Nautilus 1/2 speed LP & German CD. I have Hissing of Summer Lawns on CD-4 & CD. It was also a Q8.

BTW: we rung in 2014 at the Chicago Theater w/Cheech & Chong & War. Tommy's wife Shelby also appeared with them. About 20 years ago, I partied and shot pool w/Lonnie and the boys at the now defunct Shades in Lincolnshire, IL.

Hmm, I seem to possess a conversion of this that is quad, in a dvd a format. Forgot I have it. Now I wonder if there was a quad mix.
 
Is it even possible now? Is there a digital storage back up of all these albums? That Infamous New York Times article from last year lists her tapes among all those that burned.
Not exactly sure what that equates to, exactly, but I'm sure that means vintage multitracks, vintage session tapes, vintage stereo mixdowns and any extant vintage Quad mixes.

So, unless those were all saved off-site in either tape copy or digital format, I would put money on them being all gone.

I wish I could find the interview where Richard Carpenter gets.... unusually perturbed when he talks about the fire. Had he decided to return the multitracks he had in his possession a week later, they'd still exist. But no, he had to be a good boy and return them on time....
 
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The recent episode Hostage Situation of HBO series Girls has Free Man In Paris in 5.1 (Dolby Digital) playing over the closing scene/credits. The song definitely sounds discrete, with guitars and backing vocals in the rear channels. The lead vocal is placed in all three front channels, so this might be the shelved 5.1 mix, but then again, I've never had a chance to listen to the quad version.

Here's what Audacity told me (normalized tracks) - LF/LR/C/LFE/LR/RR (the center has few seconds of dialogue/sound effects in the middle):

Did anyone ever try to extract this tune from the Season 6 BluRay?
 
Is it even possible now? Is there a digital storage back up of all these albums? That Infamous New York Time article from last year lists her tapes among all those that burned.
Not exactly sure what that equates to, exactly, but I'm sure that means vintage multitracks, vintage session tapes, vintage stereo mixdowns and any extant vintage Quad mixes.

So, unless those were all saved off-site in either tape copy or digital format, I would put money on them being all gone.

I wish I could find the interview where Richard Carpenter gets.... unusually perturbed when he talks about the fire. Had he decided to return the multitracks he had in his possession a week later, they'd still exist. But no, he had to be a good boy and return them on time....

I doubt we'd have to worry about any of Joni's quad masters having been destroyed in the Universal fire. All of her albums from the 60's & 70's were released under Warner Brothers distributed labels, Reprise & Asylum. She signed with a Universal label (Geffen) in 1982. She released four albums for Geffen between 1982 - 1991 and then returned to Reprise in 1994. So if any of her tapes perished in that fire, it most likely would have been those Geffen albums. This would still be a shame of course, I really like that period of her career. Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm is one of my favorite albums of hers. It would also be a really good candidate for a surround mix.
 
The lead vocal is placed in all three front channels, so this might be the shelved 5.1 mix, but then again, I've never had a chance to listen to the quad version.

The quad version has the drums mixed wide across the rears, kind of like on the Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds Of Fire.
 
I doubt we'd have to worry about any of Joni's quad masters having been destroyed in the Universal fire. All of her albums from the 60's & 70's were released under Warner Brothers distributed labels, Reprise & Asylum. She signed with a Universal label (Geffen) in 1982. She released four albums for Geffen between 1982 - 1991 and then returned to Reprise in 1994. So if any of her tapes perished in that fire, it most likely would have been those Geffen albums. This would still be a shame of course, I really like that period of her career. Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm is one of my favorite albums of hers. It would also be a really good candidate for a surround mix.

Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't too sure whether or not she'd bring her previous albums with her to her new record company (as sometimes is the case).
 
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