Joni Mitchell and James Taylor: The Royal Albert Hall 1970

[itsjustme2.0]

Joni Mitchell and James Taylor
At The Royal Albert Hall, Oct 28, 1970 [1CD]

The king and queen of new folk were an unlikely match of the sweet, smooth-talking Taylor and the giggly, elfish Mitchell. Together they visited London and were graciously hosted by the BBC’s John Peel whom you can hear introducing the pair. At the time of post-Dylan folk music, much interest was shown to introspective songwriting, hence Peel’s interest.

This performance exudes both warmth and charm with the pair playing on each other’s strengths and Joni taking lead vocals on James’ You Can Close Your Eyes while singing her own quirky songs The Priest, California and her early favourite The Circle Game.

There’s quite a lot of between song banter with the audience that makes this set so charming for its innocence and exuberance. Nobody was thinking about being an American idol then but rather just spreading their music.

As a bonus, five rehearsal tracks are included that were not broadcast on the BBC. This version is the Wolf ReMaster with the between song audience applause reduced slightly in volume.
- The Little Chicken

Track 01 That Song About The Midway - Joni
Track 02 The Gallery - Joni
Track 03 Rainy Day Man - James
Track 04 Steamroller - James
Track 05 The Priest - Joni
Track 06 Carey - Joni
Track 07 Carolina in My Mind - James
Track 08 California - Joni
Track 09 For Free - Joni
Track 10 The Circle Game - Joni
Track 11 You Can Close Your Eyes - Joni & James
Bonus tracks not broadcast. All by Joni Mitchell
Track 12 The Good Samaritan
Track 13 River
Track 14 My Old Man
Track 15 A Case Of You
Track 16 Carey [with unedited intro]

http://rapidshare.com/files/6071580/jtjm.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/6073532/jtjm.part2.rar.html

[MaxMan1986]

This one is a bit of a mystery to me. I have a DVD of James Taylor's appearance on BBC TV and I can tell you that the songs he sings solo on this recording are from the same recording as that DVD...exact same spoken intros, same improvised lyrics, etc. However, the DVD looks like it was recorded in a TV studio in front of a small audience, not in a venue the size of the Royal Albert Hall, and Joni doesn't appear in the DVD. The DVD also includes some songs that this CD doesn't. As for the Joni tracks and the ones with James and Joni on this CD, I don't know where they came from. I tried to do some further research and I found that there are several recordings similar to this one circulating. They are attributed to several different dates and venues, and they all have slightly different set lists.

My guesses:
1. James and Joni may have performed together at that TV studio but only James's parts were broadcast on TV, and somewhere along the line someone got mixed up about the venue
2. The BBC told a white lie and edited this together from more than one recording
3. A bootleger somewhere along the line put this together from more than one recording

Anyway, regardless of where it came from, thanks for the great boot!

[ruby101]

Whatever the controversy might be, thank you very much for the recording

[binky2]

Thanks for sharing this! Hopefully we'll find out one day exactly where this was recorded, but it won't interfere with my enjoyment in the mean time.

[mdmelec]

thanks for a really great set

[andiana64]

Unbelievable sound quality by two of best ever.

Grab it!!!

[rfdjake7]

Thank You very much, this sounds like a classic.

[Howra]

Thanks for sharing

[Farmergeddon]

Ta very much

[sanbri99]

The title of this bootleg is misleading. While Joni Mitchell did indeed perfrom at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 1970 the tracks on this bootleg were actually recorded by the BBC at the Paris Theatre shortly after her appearance at The Isle Of Wight Music Festival. The concert, including James Taylor's solo songs, was broadcast in December 1970 as John Peel's Sunday Concert on BBC's Radio One.
Track 11 recorded at the Isle Of Wight Music Festival August 26th-30th 1970

[wrekastowe]

Oh My God .. this sounds amazing .. I am a Huge Joni Fan -- Finally saw her Live in 1998 Front Row... Yeah she performed for me & my Girl .. we made a connection with her i'll never forget ... 25 piece Orchestra , Of course her voice is lower now ... BUT THANK U...i almost cried when Midway started...Looking for ANY JONI AROUND HERE!!

[srbdent]

thanks.

[malaugh]

I remember hearing the original broadcasts (showing my age here). The James Taylor BBC TV concert was part of a series called "in concert" James Taylor was one one week, and Joni Mitchell was on the next. Then there was a radio broadcast around the same time with Joni Mitchell and James Taylor together. I am not sure of these concerts were related, or recorded at the same time, but that's the way they were broadcast.

Thanks for the recording

[jimhiram]

Thanks