Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and the Torch Song Tradition. By Larry David Smith. pp. xviii + 313. (Praeger, Westport, Conn., 2004, £25.99. ISBN 0-275-97392-1.)

Abstract

This is the author’s third book dedicated to the careers of popular songwriters; the previous two covered the work of Pete Townshend, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. The book is structured as a dual life-and-works, with chapters on biography, artistic philosophy, oeuvre, and individual close readings for each musician. Smith contributes no new biographical research, being content to collate and repackage the extensive material already available in biographies and music journalism. The result offers an interesting comprehensiveness for those unfamiliar with the existing literature, but adds little of value. When Smith does venture an authorial comment, it generally suffers from an ill-judged tone, often cloying and overfamiliar, occasionally crackpot. Here, for instance, is a sample from his concluding paragraph in the chapter on Mitchell’s oeuvre: ‘Joni Mitchell’s Smithville [her hypothesized iconic community] is in Mesopotamia. It is the Garden of Eden—a place where every morning is a butterscotch morning...and every night is peaceful, comfortable, and horribly romantic.... Health foods, nature walks, skinny-dipping, and other wonderful, natural treats are readily available—and you may smoke in public, if you like.... People cooperate with each other, share responsibilities and duties, and pass along life’s wisdom in informal settings’ (p. 99).