Miles of Aisles

Miles of Aisles
Live album by Joni Mitchell
Released	November 1974
Recorded	March 2 and 4; August 14–17, 1974
Venue	The Universal Amphitheatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Berkeley Community Center
Genre	Jazz, rock, pop
Length	78:01
Label	Asylum
Producer	Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell chronology
Court and Spark (1974) Miles of Aisles (1974) The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B−[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
MusicHound	[4]
Rolling Stone	(not rated)[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[6]
Uncut	8/10[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

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. The band accompany her on sides one and four; Mitchell performs solo on sides two and three.

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

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

• Joni Mitchell – vocals, guitar, piano, dulcimer, cover photograph and graphics

The L.A. Express

• Tom Scott – woodwind instruments, harmonica
• Robben Ford – electric guitar
• Larry Nash – piano
• Max Bennett – bass
• John Guerin – drums, percussion

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

Weekly charts Weekly 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

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Miles of Aisles Chart (1975) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[18] 88 US Billboard 200[19] 68

References

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.
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. • "Joni Mitchell concert to screen across Ireland". RTÉ. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. March 5, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2021. Mitchell performed on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage in 1972 and 1974, with the Los Angeles Times describing her 1972 concert as "Joni Mitchell in a Giant Living Room."
    • "1974 Tour of America". jonimitchell.com. Retrieved November 23, 2021. 1974.03.04 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
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.
18. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6489b". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
19. "Top US Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end 1975". BestSellingAlbums.org. Retrieved November 29, 2024.

External links

• Album liner notes