The Hissing of Summer Lawns

The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Studio album by Joni Mitchell
Released November 1975
Recorded 1975 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles
Genre Folk jazz, avant-pop[1]
Length 42:34
Label Asylum
Producer Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell chronology
Miles of Aisles
(1974)Miles of Aisles1974		 The Hissing of Summer Lawns
(1975)		 Hejira
(1976)Hejira1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Robert ChristgauB[3]
Le Guide du CD[4]
MusicHound[5]
Pitchfork Media10/10[6]
Paul Roland[4]
Rolling Stone(mixed)[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Martin C. Strong8/10[4]
Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]

The Hissing of Summer Lawns is the seventh studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1975.

Songs

The first track, "In France They Kiss on Main Street", is a jazz-rock song about coming of age in a small town in the 1950s rock & roll era. (The song was released as the single from the album and reached number 66 on the Billboard charts.) "The Jungle Line" uses a field recording from Africa of the Drummers of Burundi (called 'warrior drums' in the credits), onto which are dubbed guitar, Moog synthesizer and the vocal line. The lyrics pay homage to the works of the French Post-Impressionist painter Henri Rousseau. Mitchell blends details of his works with imagery of modern city life, the music industry and the underground drug culture.

"Edith and the Kingpin" marks a return to jazz in a story of a gangster's new moll arriving in his home town. "Don't Interrupt the Sorrow" is an acoustic guitar–based song with stream-of-consciousness lyrics, focused on women standing up to male dominance and proclaiming their own existence as individuals. "Shades of Scarlett Conquering" is an orchestral-based piece about a modern southern belle basing her life and self-image on the stereotypes of the Scarlett O'Hara character from Gone with the Wind.

The second side begins with the title track, "The Hissing of Summer Lawns", which is about a woman who chooses to stay in a marriage where she is treated as part of her husband's portfolio. "The Boho Dance" comments on people who feel that artists betray their artistic integrity for commercial success, with an ironic glance at those who said this of Mitchell herself and parallels Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word.[9][7] "Harry's House/Centerpiece" concerns failing marriage as example of the loneliness of modern life and frames the jazz standard "Centerpiece" by Harry "Sweets" Edison and Jon Hendricks. "Sweet Bird" is a sparser acoustic track that is a slight return to Mitchell's so-called 'confessional' singer-songwriter style and addresses the loss of beauty power with ageing. Its lyrics indicate that it may also be a reference to Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth. The final track is "Shadows and Light", consisting of many overdubs of her voice and an ARP String Machine (credited as an ARP-Farfisa on the album sleeve).

The African theme of "The Jungle Line" also features on the album sleeve, with an image of dark-skinned people carrying a large snake (both were embossed on the original vinyl album cover). Both men and snake are superimposed on the Beverly Hills suburbs, with Mitchell's own house marked in blue (green for the UK issue) on the back cover.

Reception

The album initially received harsh criticism. In Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden wrote that the album's lyrics were impressive but the music was a failure. "If The Hissing of Summer Lawns offers substantial literature, it is set to insubstantial music... Four members of Tom Scott's L.A. Express are featured on Hissing, but their uninspired jazz-rock style completely opposes Mitchell's romantic style... The Hissing of Summer Lawns is ultimately a great collection of pop poems with a distracting soundtrack. Read it first. Then play it."[7]

However, the record's reputation has grown in stature over the years. Music writer Howard Sounes has called The Hissing of Summer Lawns Mitchell's masterpiece, "an LP to stand alongside Blood on the Tracks".[10] Prince, a lifelong fan of Mitchell, had loved the album, praising it in interviews.[11]

In 1977, at the 19th Grammy Awards, Mitchell was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the album.

The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12]

Track listing

All tracks written by Joni Mitchell, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."In France They Kiss on Main Street"3:19
2."The Jungle Line"4:25
3."Edith and the Kingpin"3:38
4."Don't Interrupt the Sorrow"4:05
5."Shades of Scarlett Conquering"4:59
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."The Hissing of Summer Lawns"Joni Mitchell, John Guerin3:01
7."The Boho Dance" 3:48
8."Harry's House; Centerpiece"Joni Mitchell; Jon Hendricks, Harry Edison6:48
9."Sweet Bird" 4:12
10."Shadows and Light" 4:19

Personnel

Technical
  • Henry Lewy – engineer
  • Ellis Sorkin – assistant engineer

References

  1. ↑ Grimstad, Paul. "What is Avant-Pop?". Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  2. ↑ Ankeny, Jason (2011). "The Hissing of Summer Lawns – Joni Mitchell | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2011). "Robert Christgau: CG: joni mitchell". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Joni Mitchell The Hissing of Summer Lawns". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 769. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  6. ↑ "Joni Mitchell: The Studio Albums 1968–1979 | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  7. 1 2 3 Holden, Stephen (2011). "Joni Mitchell: The Hissing Of Summer Lawns : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on January 24, 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  8. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). "Joni Mitchell". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside. pp. 547–48. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved 8 September 2009. Portions posted at "Joni Mitchell > Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ Mitchell, Joni. "Boho Dance - lyrics". Joni Mitchell. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  10. ↑ Sounes, Howard (2006). Seventies: The Sights, Sounds and Ideas of a Brilliant Decade. New York: Simon & Schuster Ltd. p. 244. ISBN 0743268598.
  11. ↑ Errett, Joshua (22 April 2016). "Prince loved Toronto and these 5 Toronto women". CBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Dimery, Robert (Editor) (2013). 1001: Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. London: Cassell Publishing. p. 323. ISBN 1844037355.
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