Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm is an album by Joni Mitchell, released in 1988. It was her third for Geffen Records. The album features various duets with guest artists such as Peter Gabriel on "My Secret Place", Willie Nelson on "Cool Water", Don Henley on "Snakes and Ladders", Billy Idol and Tom Petty on the track "Dancin' Clown", and Don Henley is heard on "Lakota" and "Snakes and Ladders". Wendy and Lisa also sing backup on "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)".
History
In early 1986, Joni went along with Larry Klein when he traveled to Peter Gabriel's studio in at Ashcombe House in Bath, England. Since Gabriel had mostly finished his album "So" by that time, he offered Mitchell and Klein the use of his studio if they wanted to record. They did, and the result was the track "My Secret Place" which was a duet between Mitchell and Gabriel. Mitchell told Musician magazine about this song: "It's a love beginning song. The song's about the threshold of intimacy. It's a shared thing so I wanted it to be like the Song of Soloman, where you can't tell what gender it is. It's the uniting spirit of two people at the beginning of a relationship".
In February 1987, Mitchell saw Billy Idol performing his song "To Be A Lover" on the Grammy Awards show. She felt he captured the original spirit of rock'n'roll along with a new spark of energy, and would be perfect for a cameo on her song "Dancin' Clown". Idol came over to Mitchell's studio one evening a few days after the Grammys and recorded his part, complete with yelps and howls. Mitchell told Macleans magazine about this pairing up: "It was for the contrast he provided. It's a great little cameo for him, and he brings real life to the part." Later, Tom Petty recorded his cameo on the same song.
About Chalk Mark, Mitchell told interviewer Kristine McKenna: "I've discovered that with your focus no longer on finding a mate, you get a heightened sense of community, and I've become a bit more political - not too political though".
Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm was released in March 1988, and the song "Snakes and Ladders" (featuring Don Henley) was issued as a pre-release single to radio stations in January 1988.
Themes
Contemporary commercialism is addressed in the songs "Number One", "Lakota" which deals with the destruction of Native American culture and the unusual "The Reoccuring Dream" was constructed from samples Mitchell collected by recording TV commercials on her VCR for 2 weeks. "Cool Water" (a Mitchell rewrite of the Bob Nolan original) also discusses water pollution.
War is explored in two very different stories: "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)" tells the tale of Mitchell's parents meeting during World War II after a surprisingly prophetic tea-leaf reading, while "The Beat of Black Wings" is about an embittered Vietnam vet she met during the late 1960s named Killer Kyle, who found it difficult to get the sound of helicopter blades out of his head.
In the more straight lovesongs, Mitchell sings of intimacy in "My Secret Place", and young, rambunctious love in "Snakes and Ladders" and the poorly received "Dancin' Clown". A music video was filmed for "Dancin' Clown", in which Mitchell dances with her cat in her kitchen.
Release
The first official single from the album was "My Secret Place". It was released in March 1988 and "bubbled under" for a few weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The video, a black & white film featuring Mitchell and Peter Gabriel, got some airplay on VH-1, where it premiered in May 1988.
Billboard magazine's Steve Gett reviewed the new album and awarded it an early rave. Other reviews were mostly very favorable, and the fact that there were cameos by many well-known musicians brought it a great deal of notice. The album easily bested Dog Eat Dog's chart position, peaking at #45 on the Billboard Top Album chart.
To promote the album, Mitchell also travelled to the UK and Australia in late May, appearing on a few TV shows including "The Midday Show with Ray Martin," "Rock Arena" and the morning show "Sunday" where she performed "Number One" and "Night Ride Home", which at that time was titled "Fourth of July".
Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female at the 1989 Grammy Awards, but lost to Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car".
Track listing
All tracks composed by Joni Mitchell; except where indicated
- "My Secret Place" – 5:01
- "Number One" – 3:46
- "Lakota" – 6:25 (Mitchell, Larry Klein)
- "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)" – 4:49 (Mitchell, Larry Klein)
- "Dancin' Clown" – 4:09
- "Cool Water" – 5:25 (Mitchell, Bob Nolan)
- "The Beat of Black Wings" – 5:19
- "Snakes and Ladders" – 5:37 (Mitchell, Larry Klein)
- "The Recurring Dream" – 3:02 (Mitchell, Larry Klein)
- "A Bird That Whistles (Corrina, Corrina)" – 2:38
Personnel
- Joni Mitchell - vocals, guitar, keyboards, programming
- Manu Katché - drums, percussion, background vocals
- Steven Lindsey - organ
- Larry Klein - keyboards, bass, congas, programming, background vocals
- Michael Landau - guitar, background vocals
- Steve Stevens - lead guitar
- Wayne Shorter - saxophone
- Thomas Dolby - marimbas
- Peter Gabriel - guest vocalist
- Ben Orr - background vocals
- Don Henley - guest vocalist
- Iron Eyes Cody - guest vocalist
- Wendy Melvoin - background vocals
- Lisa Coleman- guest vocalists
- Billy Idol - guest vocalist
- Tom Petty - guest vocalist
- Julie Last - background vocals
- Willie Nelson - guest vocalist
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