At the end of the 1960’s we see departures in both Joni Mitchell’s and Stevie Wonder’s styles. Works like “Both Sides Now” and “My Cherie Amour” offer deference to the traditional pop formulas of the time while forging new ground. In Joni Mitchell’s case, we hear a desire to produce music that serves her lyricism and encourages reflection and community for her audience. Similarly, with Stevie Wonder we hear a budding exploration of instrumentation that would provide a musical experience that unifies and excites listeners.
Joni Mitchell’s first album Songs to a Seagull (1968) offers a look into her combining of folk elements with a new harmonic language. Mitchell’s lyricism played to the expectation of listeners in the 1960’s, addressing complicated personal feelings and contemplation that arose during the anti-war period (Flanagan). However, Mitchell strove to depart from the obtrusive I-IV-V harmonic progressions of popular music that created a bland “satisfying” sound (O’Brien). Instead, Mitchell wanted to create soundscapes that framed the lyricism and allowed songs within the album to flow together like the malleability of human thought. As Mitchell notes, “My music is not designed to grab instantly. It’s designed to wear for a lifetime, to hold up like a fine cloth” (O’Brien).
Mitchell was able to accomplish this goal of providing a backdrop of sound to her lyrics through several compositional techniques. One source comments on her “harmonic innovation,” with modality and use of pedal tones that takes an emphasis away from a strong leading tone and dominant-tonic relationship (Whitesell). Additionally, we hear a sparse instrumental accompaniment, typically acoustic guitar that provides resonance to the lyrics without directing the flow of the music, like Bob Dylan’s style. Finally, Mitchell’s use of irregular phrase lengths and an unclear pulse or backbeat make the music even more subordinate to the lyrics. Even Mitchell’s use of secondary dominants and non-diatonic chords occur for syllabic emphasis without weighing down on the listener’s ear in shear noise. This harmonic diversity and flexibility in pulse allows the music to be uniquely tailored to fit her lyrics with subtlety and precision, more so than a typical phrase and harmonic structure.
Mitchell’s song “Both Sides Now” from the album Clouds (1969) offers a compromise between folk and pop elements. In her recording, Mitchell uses a clear four bar phrase structure presented in verse and chorus sections, as well as primarily using tonic, subdominant and dominant chords. However, the music remains understated, with a moderate dynamic in the guitar accompaniment and use of a pedal tone that softens the movement between chords. The result is that we have a unified sound that emanates from the guitar and allows the listener to focus on the lyricism.
One might argue that Mitchell’s musical and performance background influenced her use of softer textures. She trained in classical piano briefly as well as self-learning the guitar, thus gleaning both an understanding of music theory and expression of freedom in playing (Flanagan). Additionally, her performances included gigging for small local crowds before joining a union and receiving funding from David Crosby to start recording, though still being afforded privacy in the studio (O’Brien). Her introverted musical study and solo gigging and recording may have contributed to a softer musical texture, especially noticeable when compared to Judy Collins’ rendition of “Both Sides Now” from 1967. We hear in Collins’ recording a more highly produced multi-instrumental arrangement with larger sound and clear root position chords progressions. These characteristics were common in the pop formula, particularly from Motown groups like The Supremes and The Temptations. One can draw closer parallels from Mitchell to the work of Carole King, as although King wrote lyrics and harmony to be orchestrated and performed by pop groups, many of King’s personal arrangements are sparser in instrumentation, deferring to the lyricism, such as “It’s Too Late” (1971).
While Mitchell’s cover art for Clouds is impressionistic in style and color mixing and reminiscent of cover art like Hendrix’s Are You Experienced (1967), Mitchell does not yet plunge into the experimentation of instrumentation and synthesizing characteristic of the psychedelic and funk periods.
If Mitchell’s music remained subtler in texture, in contrast, Stevie Wonder’s music reflects a synthesis of genres that made the enjoyment of the song more dependent on the music’s prominence. One source recalls that Wonder “grew up within the industry” (Valentine). As such, Wonder was looking forward to having the freedom to individually produce records and use his skills in playing and composing to build upon the traditional pop formula, though not disposing of this successful framework completely. Like “Both Sides Now,” Wonder’s hit single “My Cherie Amour” (1969) primarily uses I-IV-V chords in presentation of verse and chorus sections. This standard pop format may be attributed to collaboration with Motown producers Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby. Their aim was to mass produce a “polished, purposeful sound” that would allow the music to stand alone (Vincent). Nevertheless, we begin to hear Stevie Wonder’s liberties in use chromaticism and more adventurous orchestration that would pave the way for his flourishing voice in the 1970’s.
In contrast to Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” Wonder allows his music to have stronger rhythmic drive and prominence of non-diatonic sonorities, though we also see conservatism in his album art, with a smiling profile in a formal shirt, reflective of the corporate management of his image. It is not until the 1970’s where we see Wonder crafting an individual image, such as the album art for Talking Book (1972) and exploring of a funk style, unleashing more creativity and spirituality (Hermes).
Wonder was particularly inspired through collaboration with Bob Margouleff and Malcom Cecil and the discovery of the Moog synthesizer (Hermes). As such, “My Cherie Amour” offers a foreshadowing of the “driving, throbbing melodic riff and the daring, complex orchestration” characteristic of Wonder’s 1970’s funk style, offering a plethora of new sound and creating exciting listening experiences from the sound itself (Flanagan).
Both Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder use their talents as performers and composers to draw their audience’s ear to either lyricism or the music ensemble. Listeners can assess their success in channeling this energy to achieve their artistic goals, whether working as solo producers or within larger corporate power structures.
Works Cited
Flanagan, Bill. Written In My Soul. New York: Contemporary Books. 1987.
Hermes, Will. “Stevie Wonder: Album Guide” Rolling Stones. Web. Accessed 11 December 2018.
O’Brien, Lucy M. “Joni Mitchell,” Encyclopedia Britannica. 3 November 2018. Web. Accessed 11 December 2018.
Whitesell, Lloyd. “Harmonic Palette in Early Joni Mitchell.” Popular Music, 21.2 (2002)
Valentine, Penny. “Stevie Wonder: Stevie’s Moog Music.” Sounds. January 22, 1972
Vincent, Rickey. Funk: The Music, The People, and The Rhythm of The One. New York: Macmillan, Apr 15, 1996