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With The Persuasions, JAYOTIS WASHINGTON accompanied Joni the first time she toured Hejira songs in 1979. He tells Nigel Williamson of thunderstorms, doo-wop and hit singles: “We put our best foot forward”
ThePersuasions on stage with Joni, Forest Hills, New York, August 1979
HEN we were asked to support Joni Mitchell on tour,
“Wwe’d heard some of her songs without even knowing it was her or much about her. Then our manager at the time told us that she’d said she wanted to meet us. We went to meet her somewhere in lower Manhattan, I think. He introduced us to her, and she said started to sing ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’. Then she said she wanted us to back her up singing it in her show.
“I don’t know why she chose that song but it was a perfect choice for us because we all knew it well – we grew up with Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers when we were kids in the 1950s. We sang it with her on stage every night on tour and she was great. Then after the live album of the tour came out [Shadows And Light], they went and released ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’ as a 45. That was quite a compliment – Joni Mitchell and The Persuasions together on a hit single. Ain’t that something?