MUSIC READS
Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell David Yaffe Macmillan Canada
In Reckless Daughter, gleaned from dozens of in-person interviews with singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, David Yaffe explores the story behind the songs from her youth on the Canadian Prairies, her pre-vaccine bout with polio at age nine, her early marriage and the child she gave up for adoption, up through the quintessential albums and love affairs and all the way to the present.
Yaffe has had unprecedented access both to Mitchell and to those who know her, drawing on interviews with childhood friends and the cast of famous characters (Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Leonard Cohen, David Crosby, and more) with whom she has crossed paths and influenced.
A Newfoundlander In Canada: Always Going Somewhere, Always Coming Home Alan Doyle Doubleday Canada
Following on the success of his bestselling 2014 memoir, Where I Belong, Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle returns with his account of leaving Newfoundland and discovering Canada for the first time.
Turning his perspective outward from Petty Harbour toward mainland Canada, Doyle reflects on leaving the comforts of home and the familiarity of the island.
Often in a van, sometimes in a bus, occasionally in a car with broken wipers “using Bob’s belt and a rope found by Paddy’s Pond,” Doyle and his bandmates charted new territory and he constantly measured what he saw against what his forefathers had once called the Daemon Canada. Along the way, Doyle’s few established notions about Canada were often debunked and his own identity as a Newfoundlander constantly challenged.
No Remedy for Love Liona Boyd Dundurn Press
Liona Boyd has performed around the world, sold millions of albums, won five Juno Awards, serenaded numerous heads of state and, for eight years, dated then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
Continuing her story in a new memoir, Boyd recounts how she lost her ability to perform, details her divorce and chronicles the emotional roller-coaster ride that followed. After six years of searching for answers, reinventing her technique and learning to sing, she returned to Canada and a new career, creating five new albums as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Boyd recounts the joys she has found in composing and recording her own music and in interacting with her cast of international friends, including singer and actress Olivia Newton-John and her friend and pen pal of more than 30 years, Prince Philip.