The 500 - #113 - Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album #:113
Album Title: Court and Spark
Artist: Joni Mitchell
Genre: Soft Rock, Jazz, Jazz Rock
Recorded: A&M Studios, Los Angeles, California

Released: January, 1974
My age at release: 8
How familiar was I with it before this week: A couple of songs
Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #110, rising 3 places

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Down To You

Recently, on March 29, 2026, the 55th Annual Juno Awards were broadcast from the TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. The night opened with a "surprise" appearance by my favourite band, Rush. I put the word surprise in quotations because their appearance had been rumoured for several days on many of the Rush message forums I visit. Still, I was delighted to hear the opening guitar riff to Finding My Way from the band's 1974 debut record blast through my home theatre system.

It was also the debut of the band’s new drummer, 42‑year‑old Anika Nilles, stepping into one of the most daunting roles in rock music. Nilles was not there to replace the inimitable Neil Peart, who died in January, 2020, after a battle with brain cancer. Rush has always been too honest for that kind of fiction. Instead, her presence behind the drums made something else possible. It allowed guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist/singer Geddy Lee to continue making music together, a partnership that began when they met in junior high school in 1968. This June, that partnership will carry the septuagenarians, Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold on a 48‑city tour spanning 16 countries. I have tickets to see them in Toronto in August, capping a lifetime of loyal fandom that began when I was 13.

The Juno Awards also chose their 2026 showcase to honour another Canadian music legend, singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell, who was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mitchell, born in Alberta and raised in Saskatchewan, had not appeared at the Junos since 1981, when she was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. She was introduced at the 2026 Juno Awards in March by Prime Minister Mark Carney, who framed her not just as an artist but as a national treasure, saying her music “didn’t just provide the soundtrack to our lives... (it) shifted culture, inspired generations and redefined what songwriting could be."

Much of the coverage emphasized that the night’s event wasn’t about nostalgia or comeback mythology. Instead, Mitchell was likened to  an artist whose work has aged like fine wine because it was created to last,  rather than be trendy. Songs with a message that is just as prescient today as they were when they were written.

Mitchell in her younger years.

Court and Spark is one of two records by Mitchell that appear on The 500 list. The other, Blue, released three years earlier in 1971 appears at position #30. Critics at the time, including Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, described Court and Spark as a move away from radical self‑exposure toward clarity and functional songwriting, noting its “winning directness” and smoothness as deliberate maturity, not compromise. On Court and Spark, Joni no longer documents emotion as it happens, like she does on Blue. It is as if she is now inside relationships, careers, cities, expectations, writing like someone who understands how those systems actually function.

Album cover for Blue.

Mitchell has always been praised as an extraordinarily gifted musician. Her voice is transcendent and by the time we get to Court and Spark has lowered slightly to take on a warm, relaxed and almost conversational timbre. She is also an exceptional student of music who frequently used alternative guitar tunings to help her write. The distinct tunings were not just technical flourishes; they were compositional features, with each one providing a unique, emotional palette for her voice.

The 2026 Juno Awards closed with a musical tribute to the iconic songstress, with fellow Canadian  singers Sarah McLachlan and Allison Russell performing a brief medley of songs, including A Case Of You and Both Sides Now, before being joined by Mitchell in rendering Big Yellow Taxi.

Mitchell performs briefly at Juno Awards, 2026.

Mitchell, who suffered a nearly fatal brain aneurysm and stroke in 2015, had a tough time performing. She needed help onto the stage to join the younger singers.

It was tough to see this legendary entertainer seem so frail. However, it warmed my heart to see the joy she took in performing. It was the same spark I saw on the faces of Lifeson and Lee when they opened the event a few hours earlier. I find it gratifying they they are  touring one more time, doing what they love. They are a reminder to all of us to cherish the art that dwells inside us and keep it alive for as long as we can.

The 500 - #153 - The Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #153
Album Title: The Low End Theory

Artist: A Tribe Called Quest

Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Jazz Rap, Boom Bap, Alternative Rap

Recorded: Battery, Green Street and Soundtrack Studios, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Released: September, 1991

My age at release: 26
How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #43, rising 110 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Scenario

In 2016, I was grinding through an elliptical workout at the gym, distracting myself with a podcast. That week it was an episode of the longform, interview/conversation program WTF with Marc Maron. Maron’s guest was  Canadian music legend Neil Young, who appears on The 500 list seven times -- as a solo artist and with two groups (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Buffalo Springfield).

Responding to Maron, Young talked about his time as a teen in Winnipeg, which he described as being “in the middle of everything that’s missing.” That cheeky poetic line stuck with me for weeks because of its beautiful ambiguity, artfully critical, yet deeply affectionate.

Winnipeg sits in the middle of the country, practically isolated from other cultural and economic hubs. Its location matches Young’s description, evoking a sense of emptiness in the stark landscape of the Canadian Prairies. Appropriately enough, his thoughtful, sometimes melancholy, lyrics appear to have been the source of his inspiration. For the creative individual, solace can serve as a laboratory in seeking those things that are "missing" and bringing them to life.

Maron and Young pose for a picture after their June. 2016 interview.

A few months after that WTF interview, I probed deeper into the music of A Tribe Called Quest. Someone had recommended their latest release, We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, and it temporarily replaced podcasts as my audio distraction during workouts. In fact, it became a bit of an obsession for about three weeks -- dominating my playlist the same way a record on this list can.

We Got It From Here…, released within a week of the election of Donald Trump to his first presidential term, is a politically charged album that tackles a wide spectrum of social and institutional issues, with sharp lyricism and cultural insight. However, despite its heavy themes, the album also offers hope, emphasizing the power of community, and the importance of intergenerational activism in the fight for justice through art.

I had heard tracks from the group before, including Scenario, Oh My God and, my favourite, Can I Kick It? But, this was the first time I checked out  their discography. For years, I appreciated hip hop from a distance. I recognized its cultural impact, admired its lyrical dexterity, but never felt fully connected. Something was missing.

A Tribe Called Quest (l-r) Jarobi White, Q-Tip,

Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Phife Dawg (2011).

As I read up on the pioneering group, that Neil Young quote flooded back. Their music lifted me to a new level of appreciation of hip hop through its layers of richness that I had needed to make me a full-fledged convert.

Listening to Tribe felt like finding the centre of a map I didn’t realize I’d been drawing. Their music didn’t just fill a gap, it defined the space and time, making me realize my understanding of hip hop had been incomplete.

In short, Tribe’s music, its rhythm, intelligence, activist spirit, clever sampling and jazz-influenced sound, was the bridge to appreciating hip hop. Indeed, I would perhaps have been an ardent fan in the ‘90s had I heard  the group’s first two records, (People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm and The Low End Theory). However, I wonder if I was ready for this understanding at that time. Perhaps, Tribe arrived in my life exactly when I was available to receive their message.

People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm,
the debut record from A Tribe Called Quest (1990).

The Low End Theory was Tribe’s second album after the group formed in 1985 in Queens, New York. The players comprised Q-Tip (Kamaal Fareed), Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor), Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White. They met through school and community ties in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

Originally, Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad performed as a duo called Crush Connection, later changing their name to Quest. In 1988, during a friendly game of cards, fellow musician, Afrika Baby Bam (Nathaniel Hall), of the Jungle Brothers suggested expanding the name to A Tribe Called Quest.

This name stuck, cleverly capturing their identity. Alongside Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, Queen Latifah, and others, they helped form the influential Native Tongues Collective (NTC), a loose crew of artists known for thoughtful lyrics, Afrocentric themes, and innovative, jazz-infused productions. Additionally, NTC considered itself an artistic movement that rejected the trend toward violent or materialistic rap. Instead, they promoted positivity, individualism and social awareness while embracing collaboration over competition.

Africa Baby Bam (centre) flanked by the other members of
Jungle Brothers -- Mike Gee(left) and DJ Sammy B.

After a modest debut with People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, A Tribe Called Quest returned a year later with a bold leap forward: The Low End Theory. Released in 1991, the album broke fresh ground by blending stripped-down hip-hop beats with samples from jazz’s bebop and hard bop eras, an unusual and inventive fusion at the time.

Produced by group members Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, the record focused on the essentials of drums, bass, and vocals. This minimalist approach set it apart from the densely layered productions typical of early ’90s rap. One of the album’s defining features was a guest performance by Ron Carter, a Grammy-winning jazz bassist renowned for his work with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Roberta Flack and Aretha Franklin. His appearance symbolically and sonically bridged the worlds of classic jazz and contemporary hip-hop.

Ron Carter, still holding down the groove at 88.

Hailed by some as “The Sgt. Pepper of Hip-Hop”, a nod to the revolutionary Beatles album ranked #1 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums list, The Low End Theory is more than just a record. It’s regarded as a cultural blueprint that reshaped hip-hop. So much so that in 2010, the album was added to the U.S. Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, solidifying its status as a work of enduring artistic and historical significance. With its stripped-back production, jazz-infused beats, and seamless lyrical interplay, The Low End Theory challenged conventions. It showed how rap could tackle social issues with intelligence, wit, and humor...all while eschewing most profanity.

We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service was the final record for Tribe. The group disbanded following the death of founding member Phife Dawg in March 2016, due to complications from diabetes. Much of the album was recorded before his passing, and his presence is felt throughout the project. The group saw the album as a way to honor his legacy and contributions. It was also a way to bring a 30-year collaborative project to a meaningful end.

Tribe was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024. In their induction speech, comedian Dave Chappelle shared the following:

“Years ago, in a tough time in my life, I read a Chinese proverb that changed my life. It said, ‘The best meal you can cook is made with ingredients that you already have.’ That proverb reminds me of hip-hop. And it reminds me, in particular, of Tribe.”

Tribe were a revolutionary, groundbreaking group whose sound found me, "In the middle of everything that was missing", and, like a good meal, helped nourish my growing appreciation of the art of hip hop.

The 500 - #222 - New Orleans Piano - Professor Longhair

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #222
Album Title: New Orleans Piano
Artist: Professor Longhair
Genre: Blues, New Orleans R&B
Recorded: New Orleans, November, 1949, and  November, 1953

Released: 1972
My age at release: 6
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all

Is it on the 2020 list? No
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Tipitina

A signature dish in Louisiana is a stew called gumbo. It is a meat or shellfish broth mixed with celery, bell peppers and onions -- often dubbed the "holy trinity of Cajun cuisine". Gumbo is complemented by a thickener. Most recipes call for okra, aka "lady's fingers", an edible green seed pod plant originally from East Africa but now cultivated in warm temperate or tropical regions. Other Gumbo dishes feature filé powder, a spicy herb seasoning from the North American Sassafras tree. The dish can be made more hearty with the addition of rice, shellfish, Andouille sausage, ham or chicken. Some versions contain duck, rabbit or even alligator and squirrel.

Gumbo is, in many ways, the perfect metaphor for Louisiana -- a beautiful, saucy, spicy mix of cultures and flavours. There are influences from West Africa, France (by way of the Nova Scotia Acadians), Portugal, Spain, Sicily and the Indigenous populations of the surrounding area (the Chitimacha. Coushatta, Choctaw and Tunica-Biloxi peoples). Louisiana, and New Orleans, in particular, is a melting pot of zesty influences from all these cultures. It can be found in their food, language, architecture and, of course, their music. New Orleans is often considered to be the birthplace of many uniquely American musical genres, including ragtime (Jelly Roll Morton), jazz (Louis Armstrong), Dixieland (King Oliver) and rhythm and blues (Fats Domino).

New Orleans native, the legendary Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong.

Professor Longhair, aka: "Fess" (birthname Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd) was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, in 1918, a small town near the Alabama border. His distinctive style of piano playing came from his childhood when he learned to play on an instrument with missing keys. His style, a type of New Orleans Blues, was influenced by the jazz music he was hearing alongside a variety of Caribbean sounds, such as rumba, mambo and calypso.

Professor Longhair (c: 1950s).

In his book, The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, music journalist Tony Russell wrote "the vivacious, rumba-rhythmed piano blues and choked singing typical of Fess were too weird to sell millions of records." However, he served as an inspiration and father figure to the legendary Louisiana artists who followed him, including Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John -- who has two records on The 500 list (#404 and #143).

Malcom John Rebennack Jr. -- aka: Dr. John.

In March, 2010, my wife surprised me with a trip to New Orleans. We enjoyed a five-day adventure walking the lively streets of The Big Easy, enjoying the music, culture, history and cuisine of the legendary Crescent City. We ate po-boy sandwiches and jambalaya. One morning it was freshly baked beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde and in the afternoon, a traditional New Orleans Muffaletta Sandwich from the Central Grocery and Deli.

My wife, Angela, about to tuck into a Muffaletta Sandwich.

Without a doubt, the best night of music happened when we left the touristy French Quarter and Bourbon Street region (overrun by NCAA basketball fans who were there for the March Madness tournament). We took a long cab ride to the Vaughan Lounge in the Bywater neighbourhood on the east side of town. Every Thursday, since the 1990s, well-known jazz trumpeter Kermit Ruffins hosts his BBQ there. The New Orleans native spends the day at an outdoor grill, preparing the food. Then, as the sun goes down, he and his band, The Barbecue Swingers, take the stage. The show is an open jam with many talented locals joining the small stage for an improvisational session of riotously fun jazz and blues.

Exterior of The Vaughan Lounge.

During the intermission, everything comes to a stop and the BBQ is served. A long table is set-up at the back of the restaurant and everyone -- musicians, serving staff, cooks, bartenders and patrons -- fill their plates with white bread and scoops from giant metal pots containing rice, red beans and that day's barbecued meat. It is a wonderful, communal and culinary experience. After about a half hour, a piano is heard and, within minutes, Kermit and the band are jamming again.

Kermit Ruffins outside the Vaughan.

New Orleans is a city worth revisiting. It is a touchstone of many satisfying attractions –  music, food, history, art and culture. Next time, I will add the music venue Tipitina to our itinerary. It is at the corner of Napoleon Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street in the Uptown district. The name was inspired by a song of the same name from Professor Longhair, his biggest hit and the second track on this week's album, New Orleans Piano. Constructed in 1912, it has been a gambling house, gymnasium, brothel, juice bar and restaurant. It is also a location where numerous live records have been recorded by many musicians of whom I am a fan, including The Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Jane's Addiction, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Radiators, Phish and, of course, Professor Longhair. He recorded Ball The Wall: Live at Tipitina's, fewer than two years before his death in 1980. It was a seemingly fond farewell to a mecca rich in southern heritage. Hopefully, we will return to New Orleans in the coming years. It will give us another chance to enjoy their traditional gumbo -- real and metaphoric.

The 500 - #240 - Can't Buy A Thrill - Steely Dan

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #240
Album Title: Can't Buy A Thrill
Artist: Steely Dan
Genre: Jazz Rock, Soft Rock, Pop, Folk Rock
Recorded: The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles, USA

Released: November, 1972
My age at release: 7
How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #168, up 72 places from 240 since 2012
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Do It Again

Steely Dan's Can't Buy A Thrill album cover

Can't Buy A Thrill was the debut record by American Jazz Rock band Steely Dan and became the second of three records by the group to make The 500 list. In January, 2021, my friend Heather guest-blogged about about one of them – album #386, Pretzel Logic. She plans to return in about two years to write about the stronger performing album, Aja, at #145.

Steely Dan's Aja album cover, #145 on The 500

Last April, my wife and I got a chance to see Pretzel Logic, a Canadian tribute band who perform the music of Steely Dan. With us was Heather and  her husband. Also sitting in the front row were two other guest bloggers, Gary Fowler who wrote about Funky Kingston by Toots and The Maytals (#380) and Doug Hampson who wrote about Siren from Roxy Music (#374). It was a memorable 500 Blog reunion.

The band Pretzel Logic is a nine-piece group from Toronto who faithfully recreate the complex songs from Steely Dan’s ninerecord catalogue. The massively talented musicians capture the rich harmonies, saxophone and trumpet solos, intricate keyboard and guitar melodies with seemingly effortless precision. I was riveted. If you get a chance to see them...go!

Pretzel Logic performing in April, 2023 at Eastside Bar & Grill

As I prepared to write this post, I chuckled a little about my introduction to the band. It was in the summer of 1974 when the song Ricky Don't Lose That Number was an omnipresent hit on the radio. My parents had sent me on a wonderful, one-week vacation at a summer camp called Canterbury Hills Camp, nestled in the beautiful forest of the Niagara Escarpment near Ancaster Heights, Ontario. I spent seven glorious days swimming, canoeing, making crafts, learning archery and singing songs around a campfire.

Although we hiked and camped in a tent one evening, I spent most nights in bunkhouses. Despite the fact that it was a camp run by the Anglican Church, I had a bunkmate who told me the dirtiest jokes and shared the most offside stories I had ever heard. I can't remember his name, but I do remember one thing he said when Ricky Don't Lose That Number played on a nearby radio.

"Steely Dan was named after a dildo," he chortled. I had no idea what he meant, but I laughed anyway. It would be some time before I learned what a "dildo" was and I have no idea how a nine-year old had this information (I suspect he had older brothers) I learned, much later, that he was correct. Steely Dan had taken their name from a fictional, steam-powered dildo mentioned in the William S. Burroughs novel, Naked Lunch.

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

Can't Buy A Thrill is a wonderful record full of familiar hits, including Do It Again and Reelin' In The Years. It also features the hit single (in Canada anyway) Dirty Work. I've heard Dirty Work hundreds of times without paying close attention to the lyrics. I suspected it was more about the killer saxophone solo by studio musician Jerome Richardson. However, after listening to the companion episode of The 500 Podcast, I was surprised to learn that it is a song of self-loathing, written from the perspective of a man who is cheating with another man's wife. A remarkable bit of lyrical writing for two men in their early twenties.

It delights me when new information helps me reframe something  I have enjoyed listening to for many years and yet have misunderstood. Discoveries like this are gems. As I work my way through the next 240 records on The 500, I hope to uncover more. It is a learning thing. For now I will never listen to Dirty Work in the same way again. In the meantime,  I look forward to hearing Pretzel Logic perform the song the next time they’re in  London.