Night Ride Home
1991 studio album by Joni Mitchell
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Night Ride Home is the fourteenth album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1991. It was the last of four albums she recorded for Geffen Records.
March 5, 1991 (US)[1]
One on One (North Hollywood, California)
The Kiva (Encino, California)
| Night Ride Home | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 18, 1991 (UK) March 5, 1991 (US)[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1989–1990 | |||
| Studio | A&M (Hollywood, California) One on One (North Hollywood, California) The Kiva (Encino, California) | |||
| Genre | Adult alternative, folk, contemporary folk, singer-songwriter | |||
| Length | 51:43 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Producer | Joni Mitchell, Larry Klein | |||
| Joni Mitchell chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Night Ride Home | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | [4] |
| Los Angeles Times | [5] |
| Rolling Stone | [6] |
Songs on the album include "Cherokee Louise" about a childhood friend who suffered sexual abuse, "The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)" about a maid who tried to sue Mitchell, and the retrospective single release "Come in from the Cold" about childhood and middle age. The title song "Night Ride Home" (originally titled "Fourth of July" and first performed during promotion for her previous album in 1988) was inspired by a moonlit night in Hawaii.[7] Though the album contained no charting singles, it received critical acclaim, and the track "Come in from the Cold" received airplay on AOR stations.
This was Mitchell's first album not to be distributed by the WEA family of labels. She had been signed to WEA's Asylum and Reprise labels in the past, and Warner Bros. Records had been the distributor for Geffen Records from 1980 to 1990. That year, Geffen was sold to MCA Music (now Universal Music Group), as a result, the album was distributed by Uni Distribution Corp. (the distribution arm of MCA Music), which also took over the rest of the Geffen catalogue.
A home video release, Come In from the Cold, was released the same year and features promo videos for five tracks from the album along with an interview with Mitchell discussing the inspiration behind them.
As of December 2007[update], the album had sold 238,000 copies in the US.[8]
Track listing
All music written by Joni Mitchell except "Nothing Can Be Done" by Larry Klein; all lyrics written by Mitchell except "Slouching Towards Bethlehem", based on "The Second Coming" by W. B. Yeats.
- "Night Ride Home" – 3:22
- "Passion Play (When All the Slaves Are Free)" – 5:25
- "Cherokee Louise" – 4:32
- "The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)" – 5:16
- "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" (based on a poem by W.B. Yeats) – 6:55
- "Come in from the Cold" – 7:31
- "Nothing Can Be Done" – 4:54
- "The Only Joy in Town" – 5:12
- "Ray's Dad's Cadillac" – 4:33
- "Two Grey Rooms" – 3:58
Personnel
- Joni Mitchell – vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion, Birotron on 6, oboe on 8, Omnichord on 8
- Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone on 3, 9
- Bill Dillon – guitar on 2, 7; pedal steel guitar on 1
- Michael Landau – guitar on 10
- Larry Klein – bass; percussion on 1, 2, 3, 5, 6; guitar on 6; keyboards on 7
- Vinnie Colaiuta – drums on 4, 5, 6, 7, 10; snare drum on 3
- Alex Acuña – percussion on 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8
- Karen Peris – backing vocals on 3
- Brenda Russell – backing vocals on 9
- David Baerwald – backing vocals on 7
- Jeremy Lubbock – conductor, arranger, string arrangement on 10
Charts
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[9] | 55 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] | 30 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] | 75 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] | 40 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] | 43 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[14] | 25 |
| US Billboard 200[15] | 41 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[16] | 29 |
| European Albums (Eurotipsheet)[17] | 69 |