The Hissing of Summer Lawns is the seventh studio album by Joni Mitchell. It was released in November 1975 on Asylum Records. The album continues the jazz-influenced sound of Mitchell's previous album Court and Spark while featuring more unconventional and experimental material than its predecessor. Additionally, the album saw Mitchell experiment with sampling and use of synthesizers such as the Moog and ARP. Contributors to the album include jazz-rock groups the L.A. Express and the Jazz Crusaders alongside appearances by David Crosby, Graham Nash, and James Taylor. Lyrically, many songs on the album focus on narratives revolving around womens' experiences such as standing up to patriarchal norms ("Don't Interrupt the Sorrow") or frustrations with suburban life (the title track, "Harry's House"). Like with many of Mitchell's albums, she created the cover art herself, in this case a painting depicting a group of men carrying a large snake superimposed over the Beverly Hills suburbs; Mitchell's own house can be seen shaded in light blue. While it did not spawn a major hit single like its predecessor, The Hissing of Summer Lawns was commercially successful, reaching number 4 in the US and becoming her final top 10 album to date. "In France They Kiss on Main Street" was released as the album's first and only single and peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100, her final song to make the chart for the next four years. The Hissing of Summer Lawns initially received harsh criticism, with reviewers finding the jazz stylings of the music to be a disservice to Mitchell's lyrics and comparing it negatively to Court and Spark. However, the album has seen a retrospective appraisal and has gone on to become one of her most acclaimed works. The album appeared at number 258 in Rolling Stones 2020 edition of its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and at number 217 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums in 2000. Background The slick jazz-pop sound Mitchell developed on Court and Spark (1974) would be pushed into more adventurous territory on The Hissing of Summer Lawns. On "The Jungle Line", Mitchell is credited with the first commercially released song to included a sampling, featuring a looped recording of percussion by African group The Drummers of Burundi. This interest in world music would presage the work of Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon in