Joni Mitchell - BBC Sessions, Volume 5: Old Grey Whistle Test, Wembley Arena, London, Britain, 4-24-1983

The previous four volumes of Joni Mitchell at the BBC all date from the first half of the 1970s. As far as I can tell, the only time she performed for the BBC after that was this concert in 1983. It was for the BBC TV show "The Old Grey Whistle Test." I figured these are only selections from a longer concert, but I couldn't find the rest. I figure having some of it is better than nothing.

The 1980s were not a good musical decade for Mitchell. Like many musical greats who were big in the 1960s and/or 1970s, she tried to move with the musical trends of the times, but in retrospect, the 1980s production techniques on her albums haven't aged well and didn't really suit her music.

That said, she sounds great here. It actually doesn't have much to do with her 1980s music, because the BBC only selected two songs from her 1982 album "Wild Things Run Fast:" "Solid Love" and "Chinese Cafe - Unchained Melody." (And "Unchained Melody" is a classic ballad from the 1950s.) Otherwise, this concert sounds like it could have been from the mid-1970s. She played all the songs with a band, but it wasn't as jazzy as her late 1970s stuff.

The sound quality is excellent. At first, I thought the banter between songs was cut by the BBC. But I looked at a couple other concerts she did in 1983, and she barely had any banter in those concerts either, so I guess she just wasn't much for talking in concert that year.

This album is 54 minutes long.

01 Free Man in Paris (Joni Mitchell)
02 talk (Joni Mitchell)
03 Song for Sharon (Joni Mitchell)
04 God Must Be a Boogie Man (Joni Mitchell)
05 Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell)
06 A Case of You (Joni Mitchell)
07 Carey (Joni Mitchell)
08 Amelia (Joni Mitchell)
09 [You're So Square] Baby, I Don't Care (Joni Mitchell)
10 Solid Love (Joni Mitchell)
11 Chinese Cafe - Unchained Melody (Joni Mitchell)
12 Woodstock (Joni Mitchell)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15480061/JoniMchl_1983_BBSessionsVolum5OldGryWhistlTstWemblyArnaLondnBrtain__4-24-1983_atse.zip.html 

The cover photo comes from this exact concert.