--UNOFFICIAL-- BotB: Singers & Songwriters: Round 2 Joni Mitchell vs Joan Baez

[a21schizoidman]

JONI MITCHELL

Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943) is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter.[1]

Mitchell's singing began in small nightclubs and busking on the streets of Toronto and in her native Western Canada. She subsequently became associated with the burgeoning folk music scene of the mid-1960s in New York City. Mitchell achieved fame in the late 1960s and was considered a key part of the Southern California folk rock scene. Throughout the 1970s, she explored and combined the pop and jazz genres. Mitchell has amassed a body of work that is highly respected by both critics and fellow musicians[2], with the influential All Music Guide going as far as stating that, "When the dust settles, Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century".[3]

Mitchell is also an accomplished visual artist. She has, through photography or painting, created the artwork for each of her albums and, in 2000, in an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail, described herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance". A blunt critic of the music industry, Mitchell had stopped recording over the last several years, focusing mainly on her visual art, but in 2007 released Shine, her first album of new songs in nine years.

Big Yellow Taxi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSe0DOeopOA

Both Sides Now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrEqIpi6sg

The Circle Game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XOV34vsjfg

Chelsea Morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHPFT...eature=related


vs

JOAN BAEZ

Joan Chandos Baez (born in Staten Island, NYC, USA, on January 9, 1941, to Mexican and British parents) is an American folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style. She is a soprano with a three-octave vocal range[1] and a distinctively rapid vibrato. Many of her songs are topical and deal with social issues.

She is best known for her hit "Diamonds & Rust" and her covers of Phil Ochs' "There But For Fortune" and The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (a top-five single on the U.S. charts in 1971), and to a lesser extent,"We Shall Overcome," "Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word" and "Farewell Angelina", as well as, "Sweet Sir Galahad," and "Joe Hill" (songs she performed at the 1969 Woodstock festival). She is also well known due to her early and long-lasting relationship with Bob Dylan and her even longer-lasting passion for activism, notably in the areas of nonviolence, civil and human rights and, in more recent years, the environment. She has performed publicly for nearly 50 years, released over 30 albums and recorded songs in at least eight languages. She is considered a folk singer although her music has strayed from folk considerably after the 1960s, encompassing everything from rock and pop to country and gospel. Although a songwriter herself, especially in the mid-1970s, Baez is most often regarded as an interpreter of other people's work, covering songs by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Jackson Browne, Paul Simon, The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and myriad others. In more recent years, she has found success interpreting songs of diverse songwriters such as Steve Earle, Natalie Merchant and Ryan Adams.

Diamonds & Rust:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMHSbcd_qI

Sweet Sir Galahad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWwF8WlIqlY

Prison Trilogy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffRYzRGmwHE

Honest Lullaby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmGPq2FO4ck

[OldFogey]

Joan's singing really bugs me -- the abrupt register break where she goes from chest voice to head voice drives me batty. A beautiful voice and when she sings in just one or the other she sounds great, but technique in singing is all about the register break and Joan cheats. She's an underrated songwriter, but we're comparing her to one of the all-time greats. Had a class with the songwriting teacher from Berklee one time, and he used more examples from Joni than from anyone else, including Dylan. Joan's voice is better, and Joni sometimes does the same thing with her register break but overall she's a more versatile and skilled singer.

No contest for me -- Joni.

[Hungryfreak]

I'm going with Joni on this one.

There might be some genetic bias, though, seeing as my mom practically worships her, haha.