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Charted: December 6, 1975

Rating: 4.350 (average of 6 ratings)

Genre: folk

Quotable: --

Album Tracks:

  1. In France They Kiss on Main Street
  2. The Jungle Line
  3. Edith and the Kingpin
  4. Don’t Interrupt the Sorrow
  5. Shades of Scarlett Conquering
  6. The Hissing of Summer Lawns
  7. The Boho Dance
  8. Harry’s House – Centerpiece
  9. Sweet Bird
  10. Shadows and Light

Total Running Time: 42:26

Sales:

sales in U.S. only ½ million
sales in U.K. only - estimated --
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated ½ million

Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 4
peak on U.K. album chart 14

Singles/Hit Songs:

  • In France They Kiss on Main Street (2/7/76) #66 US, #32 AC

Notes: --

Awards:

Rated one of the top 1000 albums of all time by Dave’s Music Database. Click to learn more.

Hissing of Summer Lawns
Joni Mitchell
Review:
“Joni Mitchell evolved from the smooth jazz-pop of Court and Spark to the radical Hissing of Summer Lawns, an adventurous work that remains among her most difficult records. After opening with the graceful In France They Kiss on Main Street, the album veers sharply into The Jungle Line, an odd, Moog-driven piece backed by the rhythms of the warrior drums of Burundi – a move into multiculturalism that beat the likes of Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, and Sting to the punch by a decade” (Ankeny).

“While not as prescient, songs like Edith and the Kingpin and Harry’s House – Centerpiece are no less complex or idiosyncratic, employing minor-key melodies and richly detailed lyrics to arrive at a strange and beautiful fusion of jazz and shimmering avant pop” (Ankeny).

Review Source(s):

Last updated April 8, 2008.