Ladies of the Canyon [UD1S 180g 45RPM SuperVinyl 2LP Box Set]

LADIES OF THE CANYON MARKS THE BEGINNING OF JONI MITCHELL'S CREATIVE METAMORPHOSIS
PRESSED ON MOFI SUPERVINYL AND LIMITED TO 5,000 COPIES: ULTRADISC ONE-STEP 180G 45RPM 2LP SET PLAYS WITH AUDIOPHILE SOUND, FEATURES NEW LINER NOTES

1/4” / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe

Ladies of the Canyon can be viewed as Joni Mitchell's coming-out party. Having recently moved to Lookout Mountain in Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon area — her house is depicted in a watercolor painting she made for the record's cover — the Canadian icon turned to her immediate surroundings for inspiration the while taking the pulse of national affairs, corporate enterprise, celebrity, and her relationship with Graham Nash. The 1970 album finds the singer-songwriter morphing into the groundbreaker who would shed folk music's constructs and wade into pop, jazz, soul, and poetry with a combination of depth, sophistication, self-examination, and acumen no one had ever heard.

Morning Morgantown
For Free
Conversation
Ladies of the Canyon
Willy
The Arrangement
Rainy Day House
The Priest
Blue Boy
Big Yellow Taxi
Woodstock
The Circle Game
 

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed on MoFi SuperVinyl at Fidelity Record Pressing on MoFi SuperVinyl, featuring new liner notes, and strictly limited to 5,000 numbered copies, Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP box set delivers Ladies of the Canyon with bracing intimacy, detail, balance, and depth. Marking the first time the LP has received audiophile treatment, it's one of six iconic Mitchell records Mobile Fidelity is reissuing on definitive-sounding vinyl and SACD sets.

Playing with organic warmth, superb clarity, and ample spaciousness, this collectible UD1S edition benefits from the inherent properties of SuperVinyl — a virtually nonexistent noise floor, reference-caliber groove definition, and ultra-silent surfaces among them. Primarily recorded solo, with spare accompaniment on select tracks, Mitchell practically takes up residence in your listening room. Her voice, piano, and guitar image with spot-on precision and three-dimensionality; the music is focused, emotional, natural. Auxiliary instrumentation — cello, clarinet, baritone saxophone, Milt Holland's deft percussion — is seamless, cohesive, steady. Notes bloom and decay as they do on a live stage; relatedly, the soundstage extends far and wide, with carbon-black backgrounds adding to the uncanny realism.

The deluxe packaging of the Ladies of the Canyon UD1S set complements its distinguished status. Housed in a deluxe slipcase, both LPs come in special foil-stamped jackets with faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. This UD1S reissue is made for listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to engage themselves in everything involved with the album, including Michell's illustrative painting that serves as the cover art.

Deemed "powerful and brilliant" upon release by The New York Times, Ladies of the Canyon followed Mitchell's first Grammy-winning effort (Clouds) and marked the first of six consecutive masterworks she made en route to becoming the most celebrated singer-songwriter of both her generation, and, arguably, all time. It's the first record on which the then-26-year-old featured the piano, a creative decision of immeasurable significance; first to attain platinum status, which transformed Mitchell into more than a folk figure; first to see her taking more chances with her singing; and the last on which she comes across upbeat, largely unencumbered by the complex themes and personal ache that would occupy her for the foreseeable future.

Mitchell radiates confidence and courage, producing Ladies of the Canyon herself after realizing she didn't need the services of an outsider when she already knew what she wanted. She just required a competent and collaborative engineer, who she landed in Henry Lewy. Fittingly, on the record's affectionate title track, she celebrates community and a trio of women — all real, all from her Laurel Canyon neighborhood — who, individually, as a visual artist, free-spirited mother, and circus-raised imagineer, respectively, were all reflected in Mitchell herself. Akin to Trina, Annie, and Estrella, Mitchell also had an affinity for wearing beautiful clothes, hosting friends, baking sweets, and weaving "a pattern all her own."

That pattern most famously materializes on the album's closing trio of songs — their unconventional placement on the record likely another sly acknowledgement of Mitchell's disdain for commercialism, or at the very least, catering to its demands — each, then and now, a classic. Within months of releasing Ladies of the Canyon Mitchell would find herself at the center of the singer-songwriter movement — and preparing songs for another album whose impact is still felt today.