Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm

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Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm
Studio album by
Joni Mitchell
ReleasedMarch 23, 1988
Recorded1986–1987
Studio
Genre
Length46:25
LabelGeffen
Producer
Joni Mitchell chronology
Dog Eat Dog
(1985) 		Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm
(1988) 		Night Ride Home
(1991)
Singles from Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm
  1. "My Secret Place"
    Released: July 1988

Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm is the 13th studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on March 23, 1988, by Geffen Records. Her third release on the label, the album features duets with a number of artists such as Peter Gabriel on "My Secret Place," Willie Nelson on "Cool Water," Don Henley on "Snakes and Ladders," and Billy Idol and Tom Petty on the track "Dancin' Clown." Henley also performs backing vocals on "Lakota," and Wendy and Lisa perform backing vocals on "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)."

Background and recording[edit]

In early 1986, Mitchell and Larry Klein visited Peter Gabriel's Ashcombe House recording studio near 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 Solomon, 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 hit version of the William Bell R&B ballad, "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.

While reminiscing about her friendship with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Mitchell recalled their unusual style of collaboration, explaining that since both she and he were painters, they possessed a "visual" understanding of music, where she could abstractly describe an emotion or a scene for him that he would translate in to his playing, an attribute she claimed was unique to him as a saxophone player. Before recording "A Bird That Whistles (Corrina, Corrina)", Mitchell gave Shorter the simple direction that he was "the bird on [the song]," and from there, "the first lick he made was so bird-like, it was perfect." He immediately requested the opportunity to record a second take after finishing his first, but Joni refused, being happy with what she just heard him play. She later said that in that moment Shorter had "slept through his own magic."

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[edit]

Contemporary commercialism is addressed in the songs "Number One", "Lakota" which deals with the destruction of Native American culture and the unusual "The Reoccurring 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 named Killer Kyle, who found it difficult to get the sound of helicopter blades out of his head. This song may be based on a scene from the film adaptation of The Looking Glass War.[2]

In the more straightforward love songs, Mitchell sings of intimacy in "My Secret Place", and young, rambunctious love in "Snakes and Ladders" and "Dancin' Clown".

Release[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
Hi-Fi News & Record ReviewA*:1[5]
Robert ChristgauC[6]
Rolling Stone[7]

The first official single from the album was "My Secret Place". Released in March 1988. The video was shot on grainy, atmospheric black-and-white film featuring Mitchell and Peter Gabriel, and got some airplay on VH-1, where it premiered in May 1988. The video was directed by Dutch photographer and film director Anton Corbijn, perhaps known best for his many music videos for Depeche Mode.

Billboard magazine's Steve Gett reviewed the 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. "Most of the stuff for the isn't-Joni-wonderful club is on side two", noted Fred Dellar in Hi-Fi News & Record Review. "There's a Willie Nelson-assisted version of the Sons of the Pioneers' hoary old 'Cold [sic] Water' that is so immaculately re-shaped it sounds like next year's thing."[5]

The album improved on the chart position of her previous album, 1985's Dog Eat Dog, peaking at number 23 in Canada, 45 on the US Billboard 200, and number 26 in the UK.

To promote the album, Mitchell also travelled to the UK in May and appeared on the Channel 4 music show Wired where she performed "Number One" and gave an exclusive world premiere of the song "Fourth of July", which would later be retitled "Night Ride Home" and be recorded as the title track for her next album. She also visited Australia and appeared on several television shows including The Midday Show with Ray Martin, Rock Arena, and the morning show Sunday where she again performed "Number One" and "Fourth of July".

Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female at the 1989 Grammy Awards, but lost to Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car".

Track listing[edit]

All lyrics are written by Joni Mitchell except "Cool Water" (lyrics by Bob Nolan with revised lyrics by Mitchell).

Side one
No.TitleMusicLength
1."My Secret Place"Joni Mitchell5:01
2."Number One"Mitchell3:46
3."Lakota"
6:25
4."The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)"
  • Mitchell
  • Klein
4:49
5."Dancin' Clown"Mitchell4:09
Side two
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Cool Water"Bob Nolan5:25
2."The Beat of Black Wings"Mitchell5:19
3."Snakes and Ladders"
  • Mitchell
  • Klein
5:37
4."The Reoccurring Dream"Mitchell3:02
5."A Bird That Whistles" (arrangement of the traditional work "Corrina, Corrina")Mitchell2:38

Personnel[edit]

Track numbering does not match the LP listing (above); it refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Australian Music Report)[8] 44
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] 23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10] 71
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11] 18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 37
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 26
US Billboard 200[14] 45

Certifications[edit]

Certifications for Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[15] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). "Joni Mitchell". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside. p. 547. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Archived from the original on July 31, 2011.
  2. ^ Comment on Joni Mitchell.com Retrieved on 1 August 2010
  3. ^ Ruhlmann, William. Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-29.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  5. ^ a b Hi-Fi News & Record Review, June 1988
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert. Joni Mitchell. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  7. ^ Rolling Stone 21 April 1988
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8951". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  10. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Joni Mitchell – Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  11. ^ "Charts.nz – Joni Mitchell – Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  12. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  14. ^ "Joni Mitchell Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Joni Mitchell – Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm". Music Canada. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
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