12. Joni MitchellCourt And Spark
The Portuguese percussion player Luis Jardim, one of my lifelong friends [and collaborators, playing drums on ABC’s ‘Lexicon Of Love’ and Grace Jones’ ‘Slave To The Rhythm’, among many other Horn productions] got me into this. "This record, Trevor, I love it, you’ll love it." I met Joni a few times briefly over the years, but I also met her on the New Year’s Eve that’s just gone. I went over to her house. My house in LA burnt down [in the Southern California forest fires in December 2017], and it turns out Joni’s house is a just a bit lower down on a different part of the slope. I got an invite to see her, so me and my girlfriend went over, and got to sit and talk to her. She was in reasonable shape too, sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine.
I couldn’t help myself. I said, "You’re the best lyricist ever. Bob Dylan’s number two, but you’re the best." She’s someone who can describe situations and paint clear pictures – no one else has come close. We got talking about the bass player on the original records, Max Bennett, and she remembered him and was talking about him. ‘People’s Parties’ – what a song. Her whole back catalogue is a fantastic thing.
