Joni Mitchell Court and Spark Rhino High Fidelity Vinyl Review: Kevin Gray’s AAA Remaster Delivers

Joni Mitchell’s 1974 smash hit Court and Spark has occupied a prominent place in the audiophile universe almost since the day it was released. A fantastic album from start to finish, it features iconic tracks such as “Free Man in Paris” and the Top 10 single “Help Me.”

The album earned four Grammy nominations and won Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for “Down to You.” It reached No. 2 in the United States and No. 1 in Mitchell’s native Canada, eventually achieving double-platinum sales of more than two million copies. Frequently included on lists of the greatest albums of all time, Court and Spark was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.

Back in the day, this spectacular recording was a go-to demo disc for audio enthusiasts and mass-market retailers showcasing the era’s popular high-end stereo components. The opening 30 seconds of “Help Me,” featuring John Guerin’s still-stunning, drumhead-bending tom-tom run, became a particularly popular test for new loudspeakers.

While Court and Spark has been reissued countless times over the years, audiophile-oriented vinyl editions have been surprisingly scarce. A search of Discogs suggests that, after the 1980 Nautilus Half-Speed Mastered “SuperDisc” edition, another major audiophile pressing did not appear until Mobile Fidelity’s 2024 Original Master Recording UltraDisc One-Step 180-gram, 45 RPM 2LP box set ($104.86 on Amazon) which I have yet to hear.

For those of us who love this album but would prefer a more affordable single-disc edition, the new Rhino High Fidelity pressing may be just the ticket. Available exclusively through Rhino’s website, it sells for $39.98.

Featuring all-analog mastering, with lacquers cut by the esteemed Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, the new edition was pressed at Germany’s Optimal Media, one of the world’s most respected vinyl manufacturing facilities.

So, how does it sound? In a word: fantastic. It is all in the details. Instrumental separation is more precise, while the wider soundstage feels natural rather than exaggerated.

On “Trouble Child,” the buzzing resonance of Joni’s acoustic guitar strings sounds bigger and rounder. Drummer John Guerin’s widely panned rimshots on Joni’s cover of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross’s “Twisted” are more distinct on this new Rhino edition, while her rich, double-tracked, open-tuned acoustic guitars on “People’s Parties” sound simply gorgeous.

This edition is far better than most stock original pressings, and for good reason. The mid-1970s oil crisis frequently resulted in noisier vinyl as manufacturers cut corners, with petroleum serving as a key raw material in vinyl production. Quality control on Warner, Elektra and Asylum releases could also be inconsistent, making annoyingly off-center pressings fairly common—as is the case with my current original copy.

The new Rhino edition also easily bests my Nautilus SuperDisc pressing, presenting the music with greater warmth and less compression. By comparison, the Nautilus sounds thin and overly bright.

My only quibble with the new edition is that Rhino did not recreate the soft matte finish, bas-relief-style raised lettering and textured presentation of Joni’s cover painting found on original copies. Instead, it opted for a glossy, laminated flat-art approach.

It is a minor detail, I realize, but one that will keep my original pressing in the collection alongside this new edition. The pristine Nautilus copy, however, can start packing. 

Again, you can get the Rhino High Fidelity edition of Court And Spark at Rhino’s website for $39.98 (click here).

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Music

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound Quality

★★★★★★★★★★ Pressing Quality

Mark Smotroff is a deep music enthusiast / collector who has also worked in entertainment oriented marketing communications for decades supporting the likes of DTS, Sega and many others. He reviews vinyl for Analog Planet and has written for Audiophile Review, Sound+Vision, Mix, EQ, etc.  You can learn more about him at LinkedIn.

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