Joni Mitchell’s 1976-80 era has been remastered for a new box set, in vinyl, CD, and digital editions. The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) compiles Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, Mingus, and the live album Shadows and Light, and comes with liner notes from none other than Meryl Streep, who paid tribute to the singer-songwriter as part of a MusiCares’ Person of the Year tribute in 2022. Below, listen to “Coyote (2024 Remaster),” from the Hejira redux, and check out the box set’s cover art, excerpted from one of Mitchell’s paintings. The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) is out June 21 via Rhino.
In the liner notes, Streep writes, “It’s not just the artifact—music and lyrics—that Joni gives us. Her artistry leaves us, ourselves, changed. She has shifted things around inside us. And that’s how artists change the world.” Audio engineer Bernie Grundman remastered the albums from the flat analog masters, a press release notes.
Among the reissues is Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter, featuring Mitchell’s misguided alter ego, a Black pimp, which she has said she employed because she had a “Black man’s soul.” In 2015, she reflected on the decision to wear blackface on the cover, telling New York magazine, “When I see Black men sitting, I have a tendency to go—like I nod like I’m a brother. I really feel an affinity because I have experienced being a Black guy on several occasions.”
Read “Joni Mitchell: Her Art and Life in 33 Songs” and “Revisiting Joni Mitchell’s ‘Lead Balloon,’ a Kiss-Off to Jann Wenner and Rock Misogyny.”
The Asylum Albums (1976-1980):
01 Coyote (2024 Remaster)
02 Amelia (2024 Remaster)
03 Furry Sings the Blues (2024 Remaster)
04 A Strange Boy (2024 Remaster)
05 Hejira (2024 Remaster)
06 Song for Sharon (2024 Remaster)
07 Black Crow (2024 Remaster)
08 Blue Motel Room (2024 Remaster)
09 Refuge of the Roads (2024 Remaster)
01 Overture – Cotton Avenue (2024 Remaster)
02 Talk to Me (2024 Remaster)
03 Jericho (2024 Remaster)
04 Paprika Plains (2024 Remaster)
05 Otis and Marlena (2024 Remaster)
06 The Tenth World (2024 Remaster)
07 Dreamland (2024 Remaster)
08 Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter (2024 Remaster)
09 Off Night Backstreet (2024 Remaster)
10 The Silky Veils of Ardor (2024 Remaster)
01 Happy Birthday 1975 (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
02 God Must Be a Boogie Man (2024 Remaster)
03 Funeral (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
04 A Chair in the Sky (2024 Remaster)
05 The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey (2024 Remaster)
06 I’s a Muggin’ (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
07 Sweet Sucker Dance (2024 Remaster)
08 Coin in the Pocket (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
09 The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines (2024 Remaster)
10 Lucky (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
11 Goodby Pork Pie Hat (2024 Remaster)
01 Introduction (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
02 In France They Kiss on Main Street (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
03 Edith and the Kingpin (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
04 Coyote (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
05 Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
06 The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
07 Amelia (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
08 Pat’s Solo (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
09 Hejira (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
01 Black Crow (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
02 Don’s Solo (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
03 Dreamland (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
04 Free Man in Paris (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
05 Band Introduction (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
06 Furry Sings the Blues (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
07 Why Do Fools Fall in Love? (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
08 Shadows and Light (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
09 God Must Be a Boogie Man (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
10 Woodstock (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
