Both Sides Now

by Joni Mitchell

Overview

Clouds and rain and rainbows come and go. Two caterpillars watch, and travel through the pages. In the end, they become butterflies. Their adventure illustrates Joni Mitchell's famous song about clouds--and about life.

Internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell evokes a sense of childlike wonder with the words of her classic song "Both Sides Now": "I've looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow..."

Alan Baker's delightful illustrations transform her words into the beguiling tale of two caterpillars about to become butterflies. This metamorphosis fascinates children and gains new beauty through this very special collaboration.

Joni Mitchell's popularity and musical influence span three decades. Her first album, simply entitled Joni Mitchell, established her in 1968 as one of the preeminent talents of her generation. Many of Ms. Mitchell's songs have become classics, among them "Both Sides Now," "The Circle Game," "Chelsea Morning," and "Big Yellow Taxi."

Alan Baker is one of Britain's most distinguished children's book illustrators. He is best known for his Benjamin books.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/28/2000
Label:	Reprise / Warner Bros.
UPC:	0093624762027
Rank:	40447

Tracks

1. You're My Thrill
2. At Last
3. Comes Love
4. You've Changed
5. Answer Me, My Love
6. A Case of You
7. Don't Go to Strangers
8. Sometimes I'm Happy
9. Don't Worry 'Bout Me
10. Stormy Weather
11. I Wish I Were in Love Again
12. Both Sides, Now

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Joni Mitchell   Primary Artist
Peter Erskine   Guest Artist,Drums
Mark Isham   Guest Artist,Soloist,Trumpet
Wayne Shorter   Guest Artist,Soloist,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Soprano)
Herbie Hancock   Guest Artist,Piano,Soloist
Nigel Black   Horn
Vince Mendoza   Conductor
Derek Watkins   Trumpet
Stan Sulzmann   Flute,Clarinet
Philip Todd   Flute,Clarinet,Flute (Alto)
Cathy Thompson   Violin
Julian Leaper   Violin
Warren Zielinski   Violin
Roger Garland   Violin
Jamie Talbot   Flute,Clarinet,Sax (Alto),Flute (Alto)
Richard Edwards   Trombone
Anthony Pleeth   Celli,Cello
Gerard Presencer   Trumpet
Mary Scully   Bass
Richard Watkins   Horn
Simon Fischer   Violin
Mike Brittain   Bass
Jonathan Strange   Violin
Vaughan Armon   Violin
Dermot Crehan   Violin
Peter Davies   Trombone
Andrew Crowley   Trumpet
Richard Skinner   Bassoon,Contrabassoon
Tony Lewis   Celli,Cello
Peter Lale   Viola
Martin Loveday   Celli,Cello
Rita Manning   Violin
Skaila Kanga   Harp
Paul Kegg   Celli,Cello
Helen Keen   Flute
Everton Nelson   Violin
Patrick Kiernan   Violin
Richard Henry   Trombone (Bass)
Dave Arch   Piano
Iain Dixon   Clarinet,Clarinet (Bass)
Chuck Berghofer   Bass
Larry Klein   Musical Director
Steve Sidwell   Trumpet
Rachel Bolt   Viola
David Stewart   Trombone,Trombone (Bass)
Wilfred Gibson   Violin
Catherine Bradshaw   Viola
Phillip Eastop   Horn
Ivo Jan van der Werff   Viola
Michael Thompson   Horn
J. Neil Sidwell   Trombone
Godfrey Salmon   Violin
Antonia Fuchs   Violin
Gavin McNaughton   Bassoon
Hugh Seenan   Horn
Susan Bohling   Oboe,Cor Anglais
Rebecca Hirsch   Violin
Perry Montague-Mason   Violin
John Anderson   Oboe
Maciej Rakowski   Violin
David Woodcock   Violin
James McLeod   Violin
Christopher Tombling   Violin
Benedict Cruft   Violin
Julie Andrews   Bassoon
Paul Gardham   Horn
Bill Benham   Viola
John Anderson Concert Orchestra   Oboe
Katie Wilkinson Khoroshunin   Viola
Katherine Shave   Violin
Anthony Pike   Bass,Clarinet
Peter Oxer   Violin
John Pigneguy   Horn
Owen Slade   Tuba
John Barclay   Trumpet
Bruce White   Viola
Donald McVay   Viola
Michael McMenemy   Violin
Frank Schaefer   Cello
Gavyn Wright   Violin
Pete Beachill   Trombone
Chris Laurence   Bass
David Daniels   Celli,Cello
Jackie Shave   Violin
Nick Bucknall   Clarinet
Andy Findon   Flute
Frank Ricotti   Percussion
Helen Liebmann   Celli,Cello

Technical Credits

Rube Bloom   Composer
Carl Fischer   Composer
Vince Mendoza   Arranger
Geoff Foster   Engineer
Charles Tobias   Composer
Lorenz Hart   Composer
Lew Brown   Composer
John Tyree   Assistant Engineer
Joni Mitchell   Composer,Producer,Paintings,Art Direction
Mack Gordon   Composer
Jay Gorney   Composer
Richard Rodgers   Composer
Sam H. Stept   Composer
Gordon Jenkins   Arranger
Harry Warren   Composer
Robbie Cavolina   Art Direction
Allen Sides   Mixing,Engineer
David Mann   Composer
Harold Arlen   Composer
Bernie Grundman   Mastering
Bill Carey   Composer
Larry Klein   Producer,Liner Notes
Clifford Grey   Composer
Ben Georgiades   Assistant Engineer
Dana Pilson   Production Coordination
Sam Stept   Composer
Redd Evans   Composer
Isobel Griffiths   Orchestra Contractor
Gerhard Winkler   Composer
Dave Mann   Composer
Arthur Kent   Composer
Vincent Youmans   Composer
Carl Sigman   Composer
Ted Koehler   Composer
Sidney Clare   Composer
Irving Caesar   Composer
Fred Rauch   Composer

Editorial Reviews

Mitchell's quintessentially '60s song makes an uneasy transition to print in this one-note picture book. Musically, it has lost none of its ethereal attractiveness, but as a picture book it just doesn't hold water. Like those of most popular songs, the lyrics don't provide the kind of strong narrative drive needed to catch and hold a child's attention. Baker, a British illustrator best known for his Benjamin books, does his best to inject a visual storyline (the courtship of two caterpillars who become butterflies) into the song's ambiguous message of love and the meaning of life, but his efforts are fruitless. The artwork, though colorful, is flat, and given the mercurial lyrics, the book emerges doubly handicapped, likely to leave young readers either puzzled or indifferent. A more entertaining alternative might be to purchase some of Mitchell's recordings and introduce kids to the real thing instead. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 1 Up-- Mitchell's lyrics are sophisticated and bemusing, a shrug at life's bewildering disappointments right to the last bittersweet line, ``I really don't know life at all.'' It's hardly appropriate for the picture book audience. The accompanying illustrations follow caterpillars that eventually become butterflies, but not before many pages of overblown, busy, distracting scenes that have little or no connection to the lyrics. The tale of love between two cutesy caterpillars is trite and uninspired. --Phyllis G. Sidorsky, National Cathedral School, Washington, DC -

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