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Monday, October 11, 2021
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In October 1970, Joni Mitchell was joined onstage by her then-boyfriend, James Taylor. The pair performed the entire second half of the show together, with a setlist that included a song they'd recently written while Mitchell was visiting Taylor on the set of 1971 road movie, Two-Lane Blacktop, which he starred in: "You Can Close Your Eyes."
"This is a song that James wrote," Mitchell explained to the audience while Taylor tuned his guitar. "It's a lullaby. It's really beautiful."
"We did the show in London together," Mitchell told Cameron Crowe in the liner notes for the Joni MitchellArchives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968 To 1971)box set, released November 12, 2021, and includes that entire London concert (a BBC radio broadcast), among other previously unreleased music. "That's when we were dating. He really locked up to my dulcimer, playing great with his guitar. Those two instruments together sound great. It sounded like one instrument. Musically, we were a great couple."
Listen to Joni Mitchell and James Taylor's "You Can Close Your Eyes" below.
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Joni Mitchell - Official Playlist - Big Yellow Taxi, A Case Of You, Conversation, Both Sides Now
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An Intro to Joni
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Song of the Day, April 21: You Can Close Your Eyes by Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt included a cover of the song as the closing track of her finest album, Heart Like A Wheel. It’s a smart choice, and she makes the track her own. With a bittersweet delivery, she offers a sad farewell as she wraps up the disc. It’s a fine recording, nicely produced by Peter Asher and Andrew Gold, and a standout in her substantial catalog.
Enjoy this lovely song today.
BONUS: Enjoy this stirring version recorded by Taylor and Mitchell for the BBC.
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BBC recording is off upcoming collection Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968 To 1971)
‘Musically, We Were a Great Couple’: Hear Joni Mitchell, James Taylor Duet on ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’
As we approach the release of Joni Mitchell’s Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968 To 1971), the songwriter has dropped an archival duet with James Taylor, “You Can Close Your Eyes.”
Recorded on October 29, 1970, the performance opens with intimate onstage banter from the couple, who were dating at the time. “This is a song that James wrote,” Mitchell tells the audience. “It’s a lullaby. It’s really beautiful.” They harmonize on the track, with Mitchell’s octaves climbing high above Taylor’s.
“We did the show in London together,” Mitchell tells Cameron Crowe in the box set’s liner notes. “That’s when we were dating. He really locked up to my dulcimer, playing great with his guitar. Those two instruments together sound great. It sounded like one instrument. Musically, we were a great couple.”
“You Can Close Your Eyes” at the BBC follows a 1969 live take on “Chelsea Morning” at Carnegie Hall and a 1968 performance of “The Dawntreader” at Ontario’s Le Hibou Coffee House; the latter was recorded by Jimi Hendrix and thought to be lost for decades.
Archives Vol. 2 arrives on November 12th as a five-CD set or 10-LP collection.
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