Joni Mitchell – The Hissing Of Summer Lawns – Full painting
Introduction
This is the third article on this blog about a Joni Mitchell album. The first article was dedicated to the beautiful Blue. That article also goes deeper into Joni Mitchell’s career. If you’d like to know more, read Joni Mitchell makes a deep impression with Blue. The second article was dedicated to Court And Spark, also see Joni Mitchell incorporates jazz into her music for the first time, Court And Spark.
After Court And Spark
After the release of the highly successful and critically acclaimed Court And Spark, the following tour and its live recording Miles Of Aisles, Joni Mitchell was celebrated at the Grammy Awards in 1975 with no less than four nominations. She eventually won one Grammy, but it was clear that Mitchell was a highly regarded musician and vocalist.
Throughout 1975, Mitchell began work on her next album. She moved away from her autobiographical style of writing and shifted her perspective to that of an observer. The subjects were no less personal, but more reflective, and clearly rooted in the female experience of relationships, suburbia, boredom and the dynamics between men and women.
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
In November 1975 (the exact date is unknown), Joni Mitchell’s seventh studio album was released. The Hissing Of Summer Lawns continued where Court And Spark left off. The jazz influence became increasingly prominent, and Mitchell did not shy away from experimentation. In January 1976, In France They Kiss On Main Street was released as the only single from the album. The album reached number 4 on the U.S. album charts, the last time a Joni Mitchell record would enter the top 10.
Joni Mitchell wrote the liner notes for the album.
This record is a total work conceived graphically, musically, lyrically and accidentally – as a whole. The performances were guided by the given compositional structures and the audibly inspired beauty of every player. The whole unfolded like a mystery. It is not my intention to unravel that mystery for anyone, but rather to offer some additional clues:
“Centerpiece” is a Johnny Mandel-Jon Hendricks tune. John Guerin and I collaborated on “The Hissing Of Summer Lawns.” “The Boho Dance” is a Tom Wolfe-ism from the book, “The Painted Word.” The poem, “Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow” was born around 4 a.m. in a New York loft. Larry Poons seeded it and Bobby Neuwirth was midwife here, but the child filtered thru Genesis at Jackson Lake, Saskatchewan, is rebellious and mystical and insists that its conception was immaculate.
Henry – more than an engineer – Lewy and his assistant Ellis Sorkin, piloted these tapes to their destination; Henry and I mixed them; and Bernie Grundman mastered them at A&M studios in Hollywood.
I drew the cover and designed the package with research help and guidance from Glen Christensen, Electra/Asylum Art Director. The photo is Norman Seeff’s.
I would especially like to thank Myrt and Bill Anderson, North Battleford, New York, Saskatoon, Bel-Air, Burbank, Burundi, Orange County, the deep, deep heart of Dixie, Blue, National Geographic Magazine, Helpful Henry The Housewife’s Delight – and John Guerin for showing me the root of the chordand where 1 was.
Joni Mitchell, liner notes The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, 1975
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing Of Summer Lawns – Partial gatefold
Music and lyrics
Mitchell became more reflective in her lyrics, which still resulted in beautiful lines and observations.
Under neon signs
A girl was in bloom
And a woman was fading
In a suburban room…
Gail and Louise
In those push-up brassieres
Tight dresses and rhinestone rings
Drinking up the band’s beers
Young love was kissing under bridges
Kissing in cars kissing in cafes© In France They Kiss On Main Street, Joni Mitchell, 1975
Youth celebrates, older women fade away, a scene that evokes from the suburban sprawl. Young women, “They’ve been broken in churches and schools / And molded to middle class circumstance”. Not exactly cheerful, but a reality Mitchell addressed.
The Jungle Line sounds unlike anything Mitchell, or anyone else for that matter, had done at the time. It points far ahead to the future of music, to artists like Adam Ant (Prince Charming), Kate Bush (The Dreaming), Paul Simon (Graceland), and Björk (Debut). The drums consist of a sample of rhythms played by the Drummers of Burundi, looped beneath a Moog synthesizer that adds to the haunting atmosphere. Mitchell was the first artist ever to use sampling on a commercially released recording. The lyrics honor French painter Henri Rousseau, but also reflect on city life, the music industry, drug use and the connection between Africa and jazz, a unique piece of work.
After Edith And The Kingpin, which describes an affair between the Edith character and a mafia boss, comes the magnificent Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow, where top musicians and Mitchell elevate to great heights. Mitchell characterizes the lyrics as a poem, and rightfully so.
Truth goes up in vapors
The steeples lean
Winds of change patriarchs
Snug in your bible belt dreams
God goes up the chimney
Like childhood Santa Claus
The good slaves love the good book
A rebel loves a cause© Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow, Joni Mitchell, 1975
The next track, Shades Of Scarlett Conquering, tells the story of a woman who wants it all, but ends up as a trophy in an unhappy marriage. The Scarlett character is based on Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With The Wind.
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing Of Summer Lawns – Gatefold photo outtakes
The title track was written after visiting blind Puerto Rican musician José Feliciano and his new wife, a rather joyless scene based on the lyrics.
He bought her a diamond for her throat
He put her in a ranch house on a hill
She could see the valley barbecues
From her window sill
See the blue pools in the squinting sun
Hear the hissing of summer lawns…
He gave her his darkness to regret
And good reason to quit him
He gave her a roomful of Chippendale
That nobody sits in
Still she stays with a love of some kind
It’s the lady’s choice
The hissing of summer lawns© The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Joni Mitchell, 1975
The fact that Mitchell wrote the song about Feliciano came to light during 2012. Musically, it’s another highlight, smooth, restrained, but beautifully performed.
The Boho Dance reflects on artists who sacrifice their integrity for commercial success, something Mitchell herself could never be accused of: “The streets were never really mine / Not mine these glamour gowns”. Beautifully sung. Harry’s House / Centerpiece combines two songs, the latter not written by Mitchell. Again, Mitchell paints a bleak picture of relationships and marriage.
Yellow checkers for the kitchen
Climbing ivy for the bath
She is lost in House and Gardens
He’s caught up in Chief of Staff
He drifts off into the memory
Of the way she looked in school
With her body oiled and shining
At the public swimming pool…© Harry’s House / Centerpiece, Joni Mitchell, 1975
On Sweet Bird, the “I” returns, aging and the loss of beauty and power that comes with it.
Out on some borderline
Some mark of inbetween
I lay down golden in time
And woke up vanishing© Sweet Bird, Joni Mitchell, 1975
The album closes with Shadows And Light, featuring only Mitchell herself. She plays the ARP String Machine (which she called the ARP-Farfisa), a synthesizer, layered with multi-tracked vocals.
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing Of Summer Lawns – Ad
Reception
The Hissing Of Summer Lawns was poorly received by the press. Most of the superlatives had vanished, replaced by words like “narcissistic”, “pretentious”, “insubstantial” and “downright irritating”. It was reportedly so bad that Mitchell’s manager tried to hide the reviews from her.
The criticism deeply affected Mitchell. In 1979, she still spoke about it in an interview with Cameron Crowe for Rolling Stone magazine, who, according to Mitchell, had called her record “the worst album of 1975” (which wasn’t entirely true): “They were ready to nail me. I had stopped being confessional, and they didn’t like that.” Elsewhere in the world, the reception was far more positive. British publications Sounds and New Musical Express even named The Hissing Of Summer Lawns Album of the Year.
Among fellow artists, however, the album was, and remains, highly appreciated. Mitchell was genuinely moved when Prince said that he thought the album was beautiful, at a time when that was far from mainstream.
The last album I loved all the way through was The Hissing of Summer Lawns.
Prince, Rolling Stone magazine, September 12, 1985
Björk, Morrissey, George Michael, and Elvis Costello later all called it a masterpiece. Nowadays, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns is regarded as one of the highlights of Joni Mitchell’s career. How things can change.
National Geographic – Brazil 1975
Album cover
The drawing on the cover was created by Joni Mitchell. Part of it was based on a photograph published in National Geographic in February 1975, taken by W. Jesco von Puttkamer, who documented the endangered Indigenous tribes of Brazil. The photo depicts Indigenous people carrying an anaconda. Michell’s drawing also depicts a suburban skyline, with the blue house on the right said to represent Mitchell’s own home.
The cover serves as a metaphor for the relative safety of suburbia, beneath which lies unrest, unhappiness, loneliness and indifferent men, as revealed in the lyrics. Is the “hissing” in the title a reference to lawn sprinklers, or to the ‘snake’ hiding in suburbia?
The inner sleeve shows Mitchell swimming relaxedly in her pool, accompanied by the text “She could see the blue pools in the squinting sun and hear the hissing of summer lawns…”.
Joni Mitchell – Rock Women – Time 12/16/1974
Review
The year 1974 marked a peak in Joni Mitchell’s career. She even appeared on the cover of the prestigious Time magazine on December 16, 1974, as the representative of “rock women”. But Mitchell was not seeking fame, she sought artistic fulfillment. She had no intention of playing by the rules.
I can’t help but feel that it’s no coincidence so many critics were negative, because men aren’t exactly favorably portrayed in the lyrics. Most reviewers were men and, looking back, not exactly feminist in their views. Mitchell held up a mirror, which was probably not appreciated too well.
Regardless, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns doesn’t paint a rosy picture of marriage, relationships, aging or corporate life. A key phrase from Sweet Bird is “Calendars of our lives / Circled with compromise”, a sharp observation, five years later echoed by David Byrne in Once In A Lifetime, albeit in a different manner. However, the root question is the same: What remains acceptable, and when does surrendering your self cease to be a compromise?
For this article, I listened to The Hissing Of Summer Lawns several times, and I can’t (and don’t want to) stop. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate Joni Mitchell’s music more and more. The Hissing Of Summer Lawns has become a favorite, an “acquired taste” perhaps, and one I’m very glad to have.
Joni Mitchell at Gordon Lighfoot’s house 11/30/1975
Songs
All songs written by Joni Mitchell, unless stated otherwise.
- In France They Kiss On Main Street
- The Jungle Line
- Edith And The Kingpin
- Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow
- Shades Of Scarlett Conquering
- The Hissing Of Summer Lawns (Joni Mitchell, John Guerin)
- The Boho Dance
- Harry’s House / Centerpiece (Joni Mitchell / Jon Hendricks, Harry Edison)
- Sweet Bird
- Shadows And Light
In France They Kiss On Main Street was released as a single in January 1976.
Bob Dylan & Joni Mitchell – Rolling Thunder Revue – December 1975
Musicians
- Joni Mitchell – vocals, background vocals; guitar on In France They Kiss On Main Street, The Jungle Line, Edith And The Kingpin, Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow, Sweet Bird; Moog on The Jungle Line; piano on Shades Of Scarlett Conquering, Sweet Bird; keyboards on The Boho Dance; ARP-Farfisa on Shadows and Light
- Victor Feldman – piano on In France They Kiss On Main Street, Shades Of Scarlett Conquering; congas on Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow; vibes on Shades Of Scarlett Conquering; keyboards, percussion on The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
- Joe Sample – piano on Edith And The Kingpin; keyboards on Harry’s House / Centerpiece
- Larry Carlton – guitar on Edith And The Kingpin, Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow, Shades Of Scarlett Conquering, Sweet Bird
- Robben Ford – guitar on In France They Kiss On Main Street, Harry’s House / Centerpiece; dobro on Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow
- Jeff Baxter – guitar on In France They Kiss On Main Street
- James Taylor – background vocals on In France They Kiss On Main Street; guitar on The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
- David Crosby, Graham Nash – background vocals on In France They Kiss On Main Street
- Max Bennett – bass on In France They Kiss On Main Street, Shades Of Scarlett Conquering, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, The Boho Dance, Harry’s House / Centerpiece
- Wilton Felder – bass on Edith And The Kingpin, Don’t Interrupt The Sorrow
- John Guerin – drums, except on The Jungle Line, Shadows And Light; Moog on The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
- The Warrior Drums Of Burundi – drum and percussion samples on The Jungle Line
- Chuck Findley – horn on Edith And The Kingpin; trumpet on The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Harry’s House / Centerpiece; flugelhorn on The Boho Dance
- Bud Shank – saxophone, flute on Edith And The Kingpin, The Hissing Of Summer Lawns; bass flute on The Boho Dance
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing Of Summer Lawns Tour 1976
After The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
At the end of 1975, Joni Mitchell performed several shows as part of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue. In early 1976, Mitchell planned a tour to promote The Hissing Of Summer Lawns. A few shows in, she walked off stage in Maryland during the first song and canceled the rest of the tour. She wouldn’t tour again until 1979.
Mitchell retreated to Neil Young’s beach house to rest. Friends invited her on a road trip across America, which she later prolonged solo. During her travels, she wrote music that would lead to her next album, Hejira.
In closing
What do you think of The Hissing Of Summer Lawns? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Joni Mitchell experiments on The Hissing Of Summer Lawns. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
