Hear Joni Mitchell’s Previously Unreleased “Like Veils Said Lorraine” From Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) Box Set
Joni Mitchell recently played her first proper headlining show in decades, and now she’s getting ready to release a new box set. The third volume in Mitchell’s Archives series, the new box The Asylum Years: 1972-1975, covers the period that Mitchell recorded For The Roses, Court And Spark, and The Hissing Of Summer Lawns. Pretty good run! She’s already shared the original demo for her hit “Help Me,” and now she’s also shared a previously unreleased song.
Joni Mitchell recorded her song “Like Veils Said Lorraine” in late 1971 or early 1972, at A&M Studios. A couple of demos of the track appear on the new box set. The one that she’s shared is just Joni Mitchell at her piano, but it doesn’t really sound like a demo. It’s full and beautiful and intense. In the new box set’s liner notes, Mitchell tells Cameron Crowe about the song:
[“Like Veils Said Lorraine”] was a piece of dialogue that happened with the real-estate woman. I had almost found the land where I would build my little (stone-cabin) house. Lorraine was the real-estate woman who showed me properties. She had a Marlene Dietrich kind of look. She was a platinum blonde, and she was elegant. She had lived in China with her husband, so she was kind of worldly… and glamorous. It’s an account of our conversation. At some point, I switched to another realtor and found the property where I would live. It was a piece of an old lumber-jack town. It wasn’t on the market, but it called out to me. Houses are important to me, and I know how to pick them. I investigated it, and I found out who owned it. I paid what she wanted, and she thought she took me. I thought I got a deal [laughs]. So we were both happy.
Listen below.
Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) is out 10/6 on Rhino. Pre-order it here.