Joni Mitchell reached her commercial high point with Court and Spark, a remarkably deft fusion of folk, pop, and jazz which stands as her best-selling work to date.
While as unified and insightful as Blue, the album -- a concept record exploring the roles of honesty and trust in relationships, romantic and otherwise -- moves away from confessional songwriting into evocative character studies: the hit "Free Man in Paris," written about David Geffen, is a not-so-subtle dig at the machinations of the music industry, while "Raised on Robbery" offers an acutely funny look at the predatory environment of the singles bar scene.
Much of Court and Spark is devoted to wary love songs: both the title cut and "Help Me," the record's most successful single, carefully measure the risks of romance, while "People's Parties" and "The Same Situation" are fraught with worry and self-doubt (standing in direct opposition to the music, which is smart, smooth, and assured from the first note to the last).
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Court and SparkJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 02:46 | 6 MB | 13 MB |
| 2 | Help MeJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 3 | Free Man in ParisJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 03:03 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 4 | People's PartiesJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 02:15 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 5 | Same SituationJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 02:57 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 6 | Car on a HillJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 02:58 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 7 | Down to YouJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 05:37 | 12 MB | 24 MB |
| 8 | Just Like This TrainJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 04:23 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | Raised on RobberyJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 10 | Trouble ChildJoni Mitchell | Joni Mitchell | Play | 04:00 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | TwistedJon Hendricks, Dave Lambert, Annie Ross | Joni Mitchell | Play | 02:21 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 36 mins | 84 MB | |||||
| 36 mins | 208 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Bennett | Bass, Bass Instrument, Main Personnel |
| 2 | Dennis Budimir | Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Main Personnel |
| 3 | Larry Carlton | Guest Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Main Personnel |
| 4 | Cheech & Chong | Guest Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 5 | Chong | Vocals (Background) |
| 6 | Tommy Chong | Main Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 7 | David Crosby | Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Dennis Dudimir | Guitar (Electric) |
| 9 | Wilton Felder | Bass, Bass Instrument, Main Personnel |
| 10 | Victor Feldman | Keyboards, Percussion |
| 11 | José Feliciano | Guest Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Main Personnel |
| 12 | Chuck Findley | Main Personnel, Trumpet |
| 13 | Joe Gastwirt | Mastering |
| 14 | Bernie Grundman | Mastering |
| 15 | John Guerin | Drums, Main Personnel, Percussion |
| 16 | Jon Hendricks | Composer |
| 17 | Milt Holland | Chimes, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Percussion |
| 18 | Anthony Hudson | Art Direction |
| 19 | Jim Hughart | Bass, Bass Instrument, Main Personnel |
| 20 | Dave Lambert | Composer |
| 21 | Henry Lewy | Audio Engineer, Engineer |
| 22 | Cheech Marin | Main Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 23 | Joni Mitchell | Arranger, Artwork, Audio Production, Clavinet, Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Main Personnel, Piano, Primary Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 24 | Graham Nash | Guest Artist, Harmonica, Main Personnel, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 25 | Andy Paley | Mastering Supervisor |
| 26 | Wayne Perkins | Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Main Personnel |
| 27 | Robbie Robertson | Guest Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Main Personnel |
| 28 | Annie Ross | Composer |
| 29 | Joe Sample | Guest Artist, Keyboards, Main Personnel, Piano (Electric) |
| 30 | Tom Scott | Arranger, Guest Artist, Main Personnel, Reeds, Reeds (Multiple), Wind, Woodwind |
| 31 | Norman Seeff | Photography |
| 32 | Susan Webb | Main Personnel, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |