Miles of Aisles

Miles of Aisles
Live album by Joni Mitchell
Released	November 1974
Recorded	March 2 and 4, 1974; August 14–17, 1974 The Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles Music Center and Berkeley Community Center
Genre	Jazz, rock, pop
Length	78:01
Label	Asylum
Producer	Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell chronology
Court and Spark (1974) Miles of Aisles (1974) The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	B–
MusicHound
Rolling Stone	(not rated)
The Rolling Stone Album Guide

Miles of Aisles is the first live album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1974 on Asylum Records. It is her first live album, a double documenting her concerts in support of the Court and Spark album with her backing band for the tour, the L.A. Express. It reached #2 on the Billboard 200 and became one of her biggest-selling records, certified a gold record by the RIAA.

Content

This was Mitchell's first tour with backing musicians; prior to this she had generally performed solo, and had never organized a tour with a band. She hired an already existing group, the jazz fusion band L.A. Express, members of which had appeared on her previous studio album, Court and Spark, the biggest commercial success of her career. A track from this live album, "Big Yellow Taxi", was released as a single. Four years after the studio version had stalled at #67 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single, this live version reached #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, becoming Mitchell's fourth Top 40 hit single and third in a row.

The album contains many of her best-known songs, but only one track derived from her recent album and neither of its two hit singles, "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris". All tracks except two were recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, August 14 to 17, 1974. "Cactus Tree" was recorded at the Los Angeles Music Center on March 4, and "Real Good for Free" at the Berkeley Community Theater on March 2. The cover photo was taken at the Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkston, Michigan.

Track listing

All tracks written by Joni Mitchell.

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio"	4:09
2.	"Big Yellow Taxi"	3:09
3.	"Rainy Night House"	4:04
4.	"Woodstock"	4:29

Side two
No.	Title	Length
5.	"Cactus Tree"	5:01
6.	"Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire"	5:23
7.	"Woman of Heart and Mind"	3:40
8.	"A Case of You"	4:42
9.	"Blue"	2:49

Side three
No.	Title	Length
10.	"The Circle Game"	6:29
11.	"People's Parties"	2:42
12.	"All I Want"	3:21
13.	"Real Good for Free"	4:27
14.	"Both Sides Now"	4:14

Side four
No.	Title	Length
15.	"Carey"	3:30
16.	"The Last Time I Saw Richard"	3:35
17.	"Jericho"	3:26
18.	"Love or Money"	4:50

Personnel

• Joni Mitchell — vocals, guitar, piano, dulcimer, cover photograph and graphics

The L.A. Express

• Tom Scott — woodwind instruments, harmonica
• Robben Ford — electric guitar
• Larry Nash — piano
• Max Bennett — bass
• John Guerin — drums, percussion

Technical

• Henry Lewy - sound engineer, mixing
• Ken Caillat - assistant engineer
• Anthony Hudson - art direction

External links

• Album liner notes