Big Yellow Podcast

The first time I met writer and author Seth Rogovoy was in the spring of 2022 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we were both attending the grand opening weekend of the Bob Dylan Center. As luck would have it, we both separately had decided it was perfectly okay to walk to Leon Russell’s Church Studios on the outskirts of town for an event. No big deal for North-easterners like ourselves, but as it turns out, Tulsa is not the kind place in which you can walk to everything…long story short: we made the trek back together and saw some parts of Tulsa I’m not sure many others have.

Flash forward to 2024 and Seth has released a brand new book about a different musical icon, Within You, Without You: Listening to George Harrison. And guess what? There’s a Joni connection in the form of Tom Scott’s LA Express, the story of which Seth explains both in his book and in this episode of Big Yellow Podcast.

So here’s Seth and I, not wandering the streets of Tulsa but instead perusing the paths of George and Joni, who have more in common than you may think.

Thanks for listening x

* Allison

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

To begin, my apologies for the lesser-quality audio in this episode — I was forced to use my backup recording on account of only traveling with one laptop, the one that did not have the better audio on it…

But if you can hopefully look past that, you’ll find a lovely conversation I had with David Hajdu, the acclaimed author, writer, and self-proclaimed Joni fanatic. Here we talk about Joni’s place in the West Village, his own run-in with her at a jazz club in NYC and more.

If you haven’t read David’s excellent book, Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña, and Richard Fariña, I’d highly recommend. Here’s a link to it.

Thanks for listening x

* Allison

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

My guest today is someone I’ve spent time in court with several months ago.

I was with David Browne and fortunately neither one of us was in legal trouble. We were both there in a stuffy NYC criminal courtroom covering the then-ongoing trial involving Don Henley and some allegedly stolen Eagles lyrics, he for Rolling Stone and I for Ultimate Classic Rock. That case ended up being dropped…

But I digress! I actually met David in person for the first time before that at the Bitter End, one of the West Village’s few remaining music venues left over from its folk scene days. (Here is a picture of Joni playing at it in 1968.) We spoke a little bit at the time about a new book he was writing, and now here we are, discussing said book: Talkin’ Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital (out September 17).

David did warn me that Joni herself doesn’t play a large role in the book, but I would argue that she was still an integral figure in the Greenwich Village folk scene, even if she was only a part of it for a short time.

If you’re into music history pretty much of any kind, this will be a book you’ll want to get your hands on — excellently researched and chock full of detail.

Here’s David and I…

Thanks for listening x

* Allison

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Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

I am by no means a professional guitarist — I’ve dabbled since I was a kid, but my skills don’t really stretch much beyond basic chords.

However, to speak about Joni Mitchell’s music and not acknowledge her approach to guitar playing, and more specifically her famous way of utilizing unique tunings, would be an oversight.

In today’s brief episode, I explore this topic as a novice guitarist, one who has struggled to play many of Joni’s songs thanks to their eccentric tunings.

Thanks for listening x

* Allison

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

I first got to know Tyrell Lisson when he invited me on his own podcast, the excellently informed The Band: A History. It should go without saying that if you’re a fan of Canadian musicians — which you likely are since you’re subscribed to a program about Joni Mitchell — Tyrell’s show is definitely one you’ll want to check out.

Besides being an expert on the Band, whom Joni worked with a couple of times over the course of their respective careers, Tyrell is also a musician himself based in Toronto, making him something of a double expert.

Here’s our conversation about Joni and the Band…

Thanks for listening x

* Allison

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

Just a few months after winning her first Grammy, Joni Mitchell released 1970’s Ladies of the Canyon, which illustrated both her enchantment with her new, glamorous life in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, and her mild disillusionment with her growing fame. Oh, and she’s got a new boyfriend in the mix, a one Graham Nash…

Thanks for listening x

* Allison

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

If there’s one thing I love, it’s becoming friends with a Canadian.

I first got connected with singer-songwriter Emm Gryner when she sent me a copy of her book, The Healing Power of Singing: Raise Your Voice, Change Your Life. Over the next couple years, I got to know Emm a bit more — you might recognize her name from David Bowie’s band, which she was a part of in the 2000s, but she’s also got an incredible resume of solo material under her belt — and am so honored that she agreed to come on the show.

Here, Emm and I talk about the parallels between her own path to success in Canada and Joni’s, her singing techniques, and her experience bringing Joni’s music to the theatrical stage.

If you’d like to learn more about what Emm is up to these days, check out her website. (She’s currently working in yacht rock music!!)

Thanks for listening x

* Allison

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

Music was not Joni’s first love. Here’s what else she took up in her early days and mostly never let go of.

Thanks for listening x

Allison

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

A conversation with writer and author Annie Zaleski (Salon, The Guardian, NPR)

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe

On May 1, 1969, Joni Mitchell released her nearly entirely self-produced sophomore album, ‘Clouds.’ Here are the basics about it…

Thanks for listening x

* Allison

Get full access to Big Yellow Podcast at allisonrapp.substack.com/subscribe