Night Ride Home

Night Ride Home
Studio album by Joni Mitchell
Released	February 19, 1991
Recorded	1989-1990 A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA; One On One Studios; The Kiva
Genre	Adult Alternative, Folk jazz
Length	51:32
Label	Geffen
Producer	Joni Mitchell, Larry Klein
Joni Mitchell chronology
Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm (1988) Night Ride Home (1991) Turbulent Indigo (1994)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone
Los Angeles Times	[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]

Night Ride Home is the fourteenth album by Joni Mitchell, released in 1991. It was the last of four albums she recorded for Geffen Records.

Songs on the album include "Cherokee Louise" about a childhood friend who suffered sexual abuse, "The Windfall (Everything For Nothing)" about a maid who tried to sue Mitchell, and the retrospective single release "Come in from the Cold" about childhood and middle age. The title song "Night Ride Home" (originally titled "Fourth of July" and first performed during promotion for her previous album in 1988) was inspired by a moonlit night in Hawaii. [1] Though the album contained no charting singles, the track "Come in From the Cold" received airplay on AOR stations.

This was Mitchell's first album not to be distributed by the WEA family of labels. She had been signed to WEA's Asylum and Reprise labels in the past, and Warner Bros. Records had been the distributor for Geffen Records from 1980-90. That year, Geffen was sold to MCA Music (now Universal Music Group), as a result, the album was distributed by Uni Distribution Corp. (the distribution arm of MCA Music), which also took over the rest of the Geffen catalogue.

As of December 2007^[update], the album has sold 238,000 copies in the US to date.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

All songs, words and music by Joni Mitchell; except where indicated

1. "Night Ride Home" – 3:21
2. "Passion Play (When All The Slaves Are Free)" – 5:25
3. "Cherokee Louise" – 4:32
4. "The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)" – 5:15
5. "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" – 6:54 (based on a poem - The Second Coming - by W.B. Yeats)
6. "Come in from the Cold" – 7:31
7. "Nothing Can Be Done" – 4:53 (words by Joni Mitchell, music by Larry Klein)
8. "The Only Joy in Town" – 5:11
9. "Ray's Dad's Cadillac" – 4:33
10. "Two Grey Rooms" – 3:57

Personnel

• Joni Mitchell: vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion, Billatron on 6. oboe on 8, Omnichord on 8
• Jeremy Lubbock: conductor, arranger, string arrangement on 10
• Brenda Russell: background vocals on 9
• David Baerwald: background vocals on 7
• Michael Landau: guitar on 10
• Bill Dillon: guitar on 2,7; pedal steel guitar on 1
• Wayne Shorter: soprano saxophone on 3,9
• Larry Klein: bass; percussion on 1,2,3,5,6; guitar on 6; keyboards on 7
• Alex Acuña: percussion on 1,2,5,6,7,8
• Vinnie Colaiuta: drums on 4,5,6,10; snare drum on 3
• Karen Peris: background vocals on 3

References

1. ^ Chrispell, James (2011 [last update]). "Night Ride Home - Joni Mitchell | AllMusic". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r13222. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
2. ^ Willman, Chris (2011 [last update]). "ALBUM REVIEW : **** JONI MITCHELL 'Night Ride Home', Geffen - Los Angeles Times". articles.latimes.com. http://articles.latimes.com/1991-02-24/entertainment/ca-2363_1_night-ride-home. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
3. ^ Christgau, R. (2011 [last update]). "Robert Christgau: CG 90s: Key to Icons". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php. Retrieved 19 July 2011. "(Dud)" 

External links

• inspiration for "Two Grey Rooms" and nine other songs.