Hejira

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Hejira · Joni Mitchell wrote the songs for this album while travelling in late 1975 and early 1976, among other things as a member of the Rolling Thunder Revue and during a drive across America. Jazz musicians can be heard on the record: Larry Carlton, John Guerin and above all Jaco Pastorius. After the basic tracks she met Pastorius, with whom she connected at once. She found the bass sounds of the sixties and early seventies dead and distant, and had him overdub his bass parts on four songs.

The album sounds like the journey itself: dense, sprawling songs, carried by her guitar and the fretless bass. The title is an Arabic word for departure, which she understood as running away with honour. Coyote, Amelia and Hejira became regulars in her concerts. The record sold less than its predecessors, but was well received and has since been regarded as a high point of her career.

Listening

Track list

1. 1Coyote5:01Apple Music ↗
2. 2Amelia6:02Apple Music ↗
3. 3Furry Sings the Blues5:08Apple Music ↗
4. 4A Strange Boy4:19Apple Music ↗
5. 5Hejira6:42Apple Music ↗
6. 6Song for Sharon8:40Apple Music ↗
7. 7Black Crow4:23Apple Music ↗
8. 8Blue Motel Room5:04Apple Music ↗
9. 9Refuge of the Roads6:41Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗