Joni Mitchell Revisits Her Move From the ‘Hit Department’ to the ‘Art Department’ on Late Seventies Box Set
Following Joni Mitchell‘s return to Spotify, the singer-songwriter will release The Asylum Albums (1976-1980), out June 21 via Rhino.
The box set contains a remastering of Mitchell’s albums from the late Seventies: 1976’s Hejira (1976), 1977’s Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, 1979’s Mingus, and the 1980 live album Shadows and Light. You won’t find any unreleased recordings or outtakes here; Mitchell will include those on the official Archives Vol. 4, expected later this year.
Each record on The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) was remastered from flat analong master tapes by Bernie Grundman. Rhino will release them as a 5-CD set, a 6-LP edition limited to 5,000 copies, as well as digitally. You can hear the remastered take of “Coyote” — a fan favorite off Hejira — below.
The liner notes were written by Meryl Streep, who said, “It’s not just the artifact – music and lyrics – that Joni gives us. Her artistry leaves us, ourselves, changed. She has shifted things around inside us. And that’s how artists change the world.”
The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) marked Mitchell’s move from the “hit department” to the “art department.” She kicked off the era following her Hissing of Summer Lawns tour, when she retreated to her pal Neil Young‘s beach house. “I had an idea; I knew I wanted to travel,” she told Cameron Crowe in her 1979 Rolling Stone cover story. “I was sitting out at the beach at Neil’s place and I was thinking, ‘I want to travel, I don’t know where and I don’t know who with.’ Two friends of mine came to the door and said, ‘We’re driving across country.’ I said, ‘I’ve been waiting for you; I’m gone.‘”
The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) will be accompanied by Vol. 4. Mitchell has been pairing remastered box sets with each volume since she began the series in 2020, which kicked off with Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963-1967), a documentation of her folkie days. She followed that up in 2021 with Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968 To 1971) — the remastered release being The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) — and Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) in 2022, which was released alongside The Asylum Albums (1972-1975).
The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) LP Track List
Hejira
Side One
- “Coyote”
- “Amelia”
- “Furry Sings The Blues”
- “A Strange Boy”
- “Hejira
Side Two
- “Song For Sharon”
- “Black Crow”
- “Blue Motel Room”
- “Refuge Of The Road”
Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter
LP One
Side One
- “Overture – Cotton Avenue”
- “Talk To Me”
- “Jericho”
Side Two
- “Paprika Plains”
LP Two
Side One
- “Otis And Marlena”
- “The Tenth World”
- “Dreamland”
Side Two
- “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter”
- “Off Night Backstreet”
- “The Silky Veils Of Ardor”
Mingus
LP One
Side One
- “Happy Birthday 1975”
- “God Must Be A Boogie Man”
- “Funeral” (Rap)
- “A Chair In The Sky”
- “The Wolf That Lives In Lindsey”
Side Two
- “I’s A Muggin” (Rap)
- “Sweet Sucker Dance”
- “Coin In The Pocket” (Rap)
- “The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines”
- “Lucky” (Rap)
- “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”
Shadows and Light
LP One
Side One
- Introduction
- “In France They Kiss On Main Street”
- “Edith And The Kingpin”
- “Coyote”
- “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”
Side Two
- “The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines”
- “Amelia”
- Pat’s Solo
- “Hejira”
LP Two
Side One
- “Black Crow”
- Don’s Solo
- “Dreamland”
- “Free Man In Paris”
- Band Introduction
- “Furry Sings The Blues”
Side Two
- “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”
- “Shadows And Light”
- “God Must Be A Boogie Man”
- “Woodstock”