Joni Mitchell Gets Meryl Streep for Liner Notes in New 'Asylum Albums' Box Set

It includes remasters of 'Hejira,' 'Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter,' 'Mingus,' and 1979 live recording 'Shadows and Light'

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Apr 30, 2024

The legendary songsmith Joni Mitchell is reminiscing on her late-'70s era, which has now been remastered for a new box set coming to vinyl, CD and digital.

The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) arrives June 21 via Rhino, and compiles Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mingus, and the 1979 live album Shadow and Light. It follows last year's Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) and Joni Mitchell at Newport.

None other than Meryl Streep — who previously paid tribute to Mitchell when she was named MusiCares Person of the Year in 2022 — has contributed liner notes to the Asylum Albums (1976-1980) collection.

"It's not just the artifact — music and lyrics — that Joni gives us. Her artistry leaves us, ourselves, changed," Strep writes. "She has shifted things around inside us. And that's how artists change the world."

Remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog tapes, among these reissues is 1977's Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, which features Mitchell's injudicious alter ego, a Black pimp. In 2015, she reflected on her very-yikes decision to wear blackface on the album 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."

Hear the remastered version of Hejira opener "Coyote" below, and keep scrolling for the full box set tracklist.


The Asylum Albums (1976-1980):

Disc 1:

1. Coyote (2024 Remaster)
2. Amelia (2024 Remaster)
3. Furry Sings the Blues (2024 Remaster)
4. A Strange Boy (2024 Remaster)
5. Hejira (2024 Remaster)
6. Song for Sharon (2024 Remaster)
7. Black Crow (2024 Remaster)
8. Blue Motel Room (2024 Remaster)
9. Refuge of the Roads (2024 Remaster)

Disc 2:

1. Overture - Cotton Avenue (2024 Remaster)
2. Talk to Me (2024 Remaster)
3. Jericho (2024 Remaster)
4. Paprika Plains (2024 Remaster)
5. Otis and Marlena (2024 Remaster)
6. The Tenth World (2024 Remaster)
7. Dreamland (2024 Remaster)
8. Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (2024 Remaster)
9. Off Night Backstreet (2024 Remaster)
10. The Silky Veils of Ardor (2024 Remaster)

Disc 3:

1. Happy Birthday 1975 (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
2. God Must Be a Boogie Man (2024 Remaster)
3. Funeral (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
4. A Chair in the Sky (2024 Remaster)
5. The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey (2024 Remaster)
6. I's a Muggin' (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
7. Sweet Sucker Dance (2024 Remaster)
8. Coin in the Pocket (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
9. The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines (2024 Remaster)
10. Lucky (Rap) (2024 Remaster)
11. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (2024 Remaster)

Disc 4:

1. Introduction (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
2. In France They Kiss on Main Street (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
3. Edith and the Kingpin (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
4. Coyote (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
5. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
6. The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
7. Amelia (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
8. Pat's Solo (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
9. Hejira (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)

Disc 5:

1. Black Crow (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
2. Don's Solo (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
3. Dreamland (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
4. Free Man in Paris (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
5. Band Introduction (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
6. Furry Sings the Blues (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
7. Why Do Fools Fall in Love? (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
8. Shadows and Light (Live at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, September 9, 1979) (2024 Remaster)
9. 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)

Pre-order The Asylum Albums (1976-1980).

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