{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox album | name = Miles of Aisles | type = live | artist = [[Joni Mitchell]] | cover = Joni MilesofAisles.jpg | alt = | released = November 1974 | recorded = March 2 and 4; August 14–17, 1974 | venue = The Universal Amphitheatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Berkeley Community Center | genre = * [[Jazz]] * [[Folk music|folk]] * [[Pop music|pop]] | length = 78:01 | label = [[Asylum Records|Asylum]] | producer = Joni Mitchell | prev_title = [[Court and Spark]] | prev_year = 1974 | next_title = [[The Hissing of Summer Lawns]] | next_year = 1975 }} {{Album ratings | rev1 = [[AllMusic]] | rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.allmusic.com/album/r13212 |title=Miles of Aisles – Joni Mitchell | AllMusic |first=William |last=Ruhlmann |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |year=2011 |accessdate=July 19, 2011}}</ref> | rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]'' | rev2score = B−<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: M|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=M&bk=70|accessdate=March 8, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref> | rev3 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]'' | rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|chapter=Mitchell, Joni|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|location=London|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}</ref> | rev4 = [[MusicHound]] | rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Graff |editor-first1=Gary |editor-last2=Durchholz |editor-first2=Daniel |year=1999 |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|location=Farmington Hills, MI|publisher=Visible Ink Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/769 769]|isbn=1-57859-061-2|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/769}}</ref> | rev5 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' | rev5score = (not rated)<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://rollingstone.com/artists/jonimitchell/albums/album/321712/review/5944852/miles_of_aisles |title=Joni Mitchell: Miles Of Aisles : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone |first=Stephen |last=Davis |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |year=2011 |accessdate=July 19, 2011 |url-status=unfit |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124143121/http://rollingstone.com/artists/jonimitchell/albums/album/321712/review/5944852/miles_of_aisles |archivedate=January 24, 2009 }}</ref> | rev6 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' | rev6score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Joni Mitchell |pages=547–548 |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-first=Christian |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |year=2004 |publisher=Fireside |location=London |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRgtYCC6OUwC&q=rolling%20stone%20joni%20mitchell%20blue&pg=PA547 |accessdate=September 8, 2009 }} Portions posted at {{cite web |publisher=rollingstone.com |title=Joni Mitchell > Album Guide |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/joni-mitchell/albumguide|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110731021221/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/joni-mitchell/albumguide|archivedate=July 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |accessdate=June 2, 2015 }}</ref> | rev7 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]'' | rev7score = 8/10<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=October 2022 |title=Buyer's Guide: The Asylum Years, 1972–1975 |magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |issue=305 |page=93}}</ref> }}
'''''Miles of Aisles''''' is the first live album by Canadian singer-songwriter [[Joni Mitchell]], released in 1974 on [[Asylum Records]]. It is a [[double album]] documenting her concerts in support of the ''[[Court and Spark]]'' album with her backing band for the tour, the [[L.A. Express]]. It reached No. 2 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] and became one of her biggest-selling records, certified a [[Music recording sales certification|gold record]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].<ref>{{cite web|access-date=December 26, 2025|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=miles+of+aisles#search_section|title=RIAA – Searchable Database: Miles of Aisles| website=[[Recording Industry Association of America]]}}</ref>
==Content== This was Mitchell's first tour with backing musicians; prior to this she had generally performed solo, and had never organized a tour with a band.<ref>[http://jonimitchell.com/chronology/complete.cfm Joni Mitchell website Chronology retrieved 13 August 2014] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419231536/http://jonimitchell.com/chronology/complete.cfm |date=April 19, 2014 }}</ref> She hired an already existing group, the [[jazz fusion]] band [[L.A. Express]], members of which had appeared on her previous studio album, ''Court and Spark'', the biggest commercial success of her career. The band accompany her on sides one and four; Mitchell performs solo on sides two and three.
A track from this live album, "[[Big Yellow Taxi]]", was released as a single. Four years after the studio version had stalled at No. 67 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] as a single, this live version reached No. 24 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] charts, becoming Mitchell's fourth [[Top 40]] hit single and third in a row.
The album contains many of her best-known songs up to that time, but only one track derived from her recent album and neither of its two hit singles, "[[Help Me (Joni Mitchell song)|Help Me]]" and "[[Free Man in Paris]]". It also includes two brand new songs "Love Or Money" and "Jericho" – the latter of which she would record a studio version of for her 1977 album ''[[Don Juan's Reckless Daughter]]''. There is no known studio version of "Love Or Money" which only ever seems to have been performed live. All tracks except two were recorded at the [[Universal Amphitheatre]] in Los Angeles, August 14 to 17, 1974. "Cactus Tree" was recorded at the [[Dorothy Chandler Pavilion]] in the [[Los Angeles Music Center]] on March 4,<ref> *{{cite news |title=Joni Mitchell concert to screen across Ireland |url=https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2019/0305/1034500-joni-mitchell-concert-to-screen-across-ireland/ |access-date=23 November 2021 |work=[[RTÉ]] |publisher=[[Raidió Teilifís Éireann]] |date=5 March 2019 |language=en |quote=Mitchell performed on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage in 1972 and 1974, with the Los Angeles Times describing her 1972 concert as "Joni Mitchell in a Giant Living Room."}} *{{cite web |title=1974 Tour of America |url=https://jonimitchell.com/chronology/tour.cfm?id=3 |website=jonimitchell.com |access-date=23 November 2021 |quote=1974.03.04 Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Los Angeles, CA}}</ref> and "Real Good for Free" at the [[Berkeley Community Theater]] on March 2. The cover photo was taken at the [[DTE Energy Music Theater|Pine Knob Music Theater]] in [[Clarkston, Michigan]].<ref name="joni9-12-2011">{{cite web|url=https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=2418|title=A Conversation with Max Bennett|last=Blackburn|first=Dave|publisher=jonimitchell.com|date=September 12, 2011|accessdate=September 3, 2014}}</ref>
''[[Record World]]'' said of the single release of "Jericho" that it is "a solid musical successor to '[[Big Yellow Taxi]].'"<ref name=rw>{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=April 12, 1975|accessdate=2023-03-10|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/75/RW-1975-04-12.pdf}}</ref>
==Track listing== All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell.
'''Side one''' # "[[You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio]]" – 4:09 # "[[Big Yellow Taxi]]" – 3:09 # "Rainy Night House" – 4:04 # "[[Woodstock (song)|Woodstock]]" – 4:29
'''Side two''' # "Cactus Tree" – 5:01 # "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" – 5:23 # "Woman of Heart and Mind" – 3:40 # "[[A Case of You (song)|A Case of You]]" – 4:42 # "[[Blue (Joni Mitchell song)|Blue]]" – 2:49
'''Side three''' # "[[The Circle Game (song)|The Circle Game]]" – 6:29 # "People's Parties" – 2:42 # "All I Want" – 3:21 # "Real Good for Free" – 4:27 # "[[Both Sides, Now|Both Sides Now]]" – 4:14
;Side four # "[[Carey (song)|Carey]]" – 3:30 # "[[The Last Time I Saw Richard]]" – 3:35 # "Jericho" – 3:26 # "Love or Money" – 4:50
==Personnel== * [[Joni Mitchell]] – vocals, guitar, piano, [[Appalachian dulcimer|dulcimer]], cover photograph and graphics
'''The L.A. Express''' * [[Tom Scott (saxophonist)|Tom Scott]] – woodwind instruments, harmonica * [[Robben Ford]] – electric guitar * [[Larry Nash]] – piano * [[Max Bennett (musician)|Max Bennett]] – bass * [[John Guerin]] – drums, percussion
'''Technical''' *[[Henry Lewy]] – sound engineer, mixing *Ken Caillat – Live Tracking engineer (for Wally Heiders) *Anthony Hudson – art direction *Mobile Recording: Wally Heider Recording, Ken Caillat *with Jack Crymes, Biff Dawes
==Charts== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} ===Weekly charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |+ Weekly chart performance for ''Miles of Aisles'' ! scope="col"| Chart (1974–1975) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- ! scope="row"| Australian Albums ([[Kent Music Report]])<ref>{{cite Kent}}</ref> | 46 |- {{album chart|Canada|13|chartid=3939a|rowheader=true|access-date=April 7, 2021}} |- {{album chart|UK2|34|date=19750202|rowheader=true|access-date=April 7, 2021}} |- {{album chart|Billboard200|2|artist=Joni Mitchell|rowheader=true|access-date=April 7, 2021}} |- ! scope="row"| US ''[[Cash Box]]'' Top 100 Albums<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1975/CB-1975-02-01.pdf|title=Cash Box Top 100 Albums |work=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]|date=February 1, 1975|page=49|access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref> |align="center"| 2 |} {{col-2}}
===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |+ Year-end chart performance for ''Miles of Aisles'' !Chart (1975) !Position |- {{album chart|Canada|88|chartid=6489b|rowheader=true|access-date=29 November 2024|refname=CA_YE}} |- ! scope="row"| US ''Billboard'' 200<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bestsellingalbums.org/year-end/Billboard_Top_Albums_1975|title=Top US Billboard 200 Albums - Year-end 1975|website=BestSellingAlbums.org|access-date=29 November 2024}}</ref> |align="center"|68 |} {{col-end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20091205002833/https://aln2.albumlinernotes.com/Miles_of_Aisles.html Album liner notes]
{{Joni Mitchell}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Joni Mitchell live albums]] [[Category:1974 live albums]] [[Category:Asylum Records live albums]]