Night Ride Home

This article is about the Joni Mitchell album. For the 1999 film of the same name, see Night Ride Home (film).

Night Ride Home is the 14th album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1991. It was the last of four albums she recorded for Geffen Records.

Night Ride Home
Studio album by Joni Mitchell
Released	February 19, 1991
Recorded	1989–1990
Studio	A&M (Hollywood, California) One on One (North Hollywood, California) The Kiva (Encino, California)
Genre	Adult alternative
Length	51:43
Label	Geffen
Producer	Joni Mitchell, Larry Klein
Joni Mitchell chronology
Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm (1988) Night Ride Home (1991) Turbulent Indigo (1994)
Singles from Night Ride Home
"Night Ride Home" Released: February 1991 (UK) "Come in from the Cold" Released: June 24, 1991

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]

Songs on the album include "Cherokee Louise" about a childhood friend who suffered sexual abuse, "The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)" about a maid who tried to sue Mitchell, and the retrospective single release "Come in from the Cold" about childhood and middle age. The title song "Night Ride Home" (originally titled "Fourth of July" and first performed during promotion for her previous album in 1988) was inspired by a moonlit night in Hawaii.^[6] Though the album contained no charting singles, it received critical acclaim, and the track "Come in from the Cold" received airplay on AOR stations.

This was Mitchell's first album not to be distributed by the WEA family of labels. She had been signed to WEA's Asylum and Reprise labels in the past, and Warner Bros. Records had been the distributor for Geffen Records from 1980 to 1990. That year, Geffen was sold to MCA Music (now Universal Music Group), as a result, the album was distributed by Uni Distribution Corp. (the distribution arm of MCA Music), which also took over the rest of the Geffen catalogue.

A home video release, Come In from the Cold, was released the same year and features promo videos for five tracks from the album along with an interview with Mitchell discussing the inspiration behind them.

As of December 2007^[update], the album had sold 238,000 copies in the US.^[7]

Track listing

All music written by Joni Mitchell except "Nothing Can Be Done" by Larry Klein; all lyrics written by Mitchell except "Slouching Towards Bethlehem", based on "The Second Coming" by W. B. Yeats.

1. "Night Ride Home" – 3:22
2. "Passion Play (When All the Slaves Are Free)" – 5:25
3. "Cherokee Louise" – 4:32
4. "The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)" – 5:16
5. "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" (based on a poem by W.B. Yeats) – 6:55
6. "Come in from the Cold" – 7:31
7. "Nothing Can Be Done" – 4:54
8. "The Only Joy in Town" – 5:12
9. "Ray's Dad's Cadillac" – 4:33
10. "Two Grey Rooms" – 3:58

Personnel

• Joni Mitchell – vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion, Birotron on 6, oboe on 8, Omnichord on 8
• Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone on 3, 9
• Bill Dillon – guitar on 2, 7; pedal steel guitar on 1
• Michael Landau – guitar on 10
• Larry Klein – bass; percussion on 1, 2, 3, 5, 6; guitar on 6; keyboards on 7
• Vinnie Colaiuta – drums on 4, 5, 6, 7, 10; snare drum on 3
• Alex Acuña – percussion on 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8
• Karen Peris – backing vocals on 3
• Brenda Russell – backing vocals on 9
• David Baerwald – backing vocals on 7
• Jeremy Lubbock – conductor, arranger, string arrangement on 10

Charts

Chart performance for Night Ride Home

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8]	55
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9]	30
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10]	75
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11]	40
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12]	43
UK Albums (OCC)[13]	25
US Billboard 200[14]	41
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[15]	29
European Albums (Eurotipsheet)[16]	69

References

1. Chrispell, James (2011). "Night Ride Home – Joni Mitchell | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
2. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Mitchell, Joni". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
3. Sanders, L. (1991). "Night Ride Home". ew.com. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
4. Willman, Chris (2011). "ALBUM REVIEW : **** JONI MITCHELL 'Night Ride Home', Geffen – Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
5. "Joni Mitchell". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
6. Hilburn, Robert (December 7, 1996). "Joni Mitchell looks at both sides now: her hits -- and misses". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2004. Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via South Coast Today.
7. Caulfield, Keith (December 21, 2007). "Ask Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
9. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1509". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – Joni Mitchell – Night Ride Home" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
11. "Charts.nz – Joni Mitchell – Night Ride Home". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
12. "Swedishcharts.com – Joni Mitchell – Night Ride Home". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
13. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
14. "Joni Mitchell Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
15. "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. April 20, 1991. p. 16. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
16. "European Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 8, no. 13. March 30, 1991. p. 29. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.

External links

• Discogs listing