Joni Mitchell ~ River Live

Blue album cover Joni Mitchell
Sand Dollar in the hand close up with black coral background underwater by Analia Ferrario from Unsplash
Song to A Seagull Album cover Joni

MademoiselleNobs1973

One of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever listened to. Rare live recording at the Royal Albert Hall, 1970.

Joni Mitchell with black sombrero and guitar

When you listen to Joni Mitchell, do you hear a nuanced vocal, innovative open chord copied later by an admirer like Prince, or something even more? Perhaps you hear an artist who has written some of the most original, first-person narrative stories that Rock/pop music has ever produced? Could Joni Mitchell be a visual artist in every sense of the description? Joni is a seminal influence on many singer/songwriters producing works today. Here are a few of my favorite tracks.

Paul Langan

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Joni Mitchell from Discogs

 

Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter born November 7, 1943, in Fort Macleod, Alberta. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock And Roll Hall of Fame (Performer) in 1997 (See Siquomb Publishing Corp.).

Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Western Canada and then busking on the streets of Toronto. In the mid-1960s she left for New York City and its folk music scene, recording her debut album in 1968 and achieving fame first as a songwriter (“Urge for Going”, “Chelsea Morning”, “Both Sides, Now”, “Woodstock”) and then as a singer in her own right. Blue, her starkly personal 1971 album, was voted #30 in Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list of 2003. Mitchell also had pop hits such as “Big Yellow Taxi”, “Free Man in Paris”, and “Help Me”, the last two from 1974’s best-selling Court and Spark. In 1965, she married Chuck Mitchell (2) until they divorced in 1968.

Mitchell’s distinctive harmonic guitar style, and piano arrangements all grew more complex through the 1970s as she was deeply influenced by jazz, melding it with pop, folk, and rock on experimental albums like 1976’s Hejira. She worked closely with jazz greats including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, and on a 1979 record released after his death, Charles Mingus. From the 1980s on, Mitchell reduced her recording and touring schedule but turned again toward pop, making greater use of synthesizers and direct political protest in her lyrics, which often tackled social and environmental themes alongside romantic and emotional ones.

Mitchell is also a visual artist. She created the artwork for each of her albums, and in 2000 described herself as a “painter derailed by circumstance.” Mitchell stopped recording over the last several years, focusing more attention on painting, but in 2007 she released Shine, her first album of new songs in nine years.

In 2020, Mitchell started Joni Mitchell Archives, a series of releases containing previously unreleased material from her vaults and box sets of the studio albums.

 

Roberta Joan Anderson

1974_Joni_Mitchell

 

In this special episode of Rocket Hour, Elton John sits with legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell for a rare and personal interview. The two reminisce on the stories behind some of Joni’s classic tracks and some of the personal favorites she’s selected from other artists. Joni reflects on the music and the stories behind each song. She also touches on her experience performing at the Newport Folk Festival with Brandi Carlile, how the music industry has evolved, her evolution as an artist, and her vocal shift from a soprano to an alto.

00:53 – “Carey” 5:32 – “Amelia” 7:36 – “Charleston Alley” by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross 9:39 – “Sex Kills” 11:28 – Newport Folk Festival 13:14 – “Both Sides Now” 16:06 – “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry 17:07 – ‘Shine’ 19:33 – “Les Trois Cloches” by Edith Piaf 22:30 – “A Case of You”

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Joni by Joni Michell artist, self portrait

Joni Mitchell – Blue

 

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. Artist: Joni Mitchell. Album: Blue. Year: 1970 Credits: Joni Mitchell (Piano and Vocals) I know there is another version of this song on YouTube. Still, since the audio quality isn’t very good, I uploaded it again. Remember always to buy the music that you enjoy!!

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Blue
Songs are like tattoos
You know I’ve been to sea before
Crown and anchor me
Or let me sail away
Hey Blue
And there is a song for you
Ink on a pin
Underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in
Well there’re so many sinking
Now you’ve got to keep thinking
You can make it thru these waves
Acid, booze, and ass
Needles, guns, and grass
Lots of laughs
Lots of laughs
Everybody’s saying that hell’s the hippest way to go well
I don’t think so, but I’m
Gonna take a look around it though Blue
I love you
Blue
Here is a shell for you
Inside you’ll hear a sigh
A foggy lullaby
There is your song from me
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Joni Mitchell
Blue lyrics © Reservoir Media Management Inc
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Joni MItchell 1973

Joni MIthcell Legacy
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Joni Mitchell ~ Woodstock…..(BBC Live – 1970)

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, “where are you going?”
And this he told me:
“I’m going on down to Yasgur’s farm
I’m going to join in a rock ‘n’ roll band
I’m going to camp out on the land
I’m going to try an’ get my soul free.”

We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

“Then can I walk beside you?
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning
Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe it’s the time of man
I don’t know who I am
But you know life is for learning.”

We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation

We are stardust
Billion-year-old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil’s bargain
And we’ve got to get ourselves
back to the garden

© 1969 Crazy Crow Music (Renewed)

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That Song About the Midway

 

This composition, “That Song About the Midway”, is allegedly a song about David Crosby that Joni played live to all at Peter Tork’s home (moments after Joni finished the composition), as a farewell to boyfriend David.  This denouement ushered in the Graham Nash, true Joni love period.  David Crosby said that Graham was the best of us for Joni-(James Taylor, Jackson Brown, David Crosby).

Provided to YouTube by Reprise That Song About the Midway · Joni Mitchell Clouds ℗ 1969 Warner Records Inc. Unknown: Henry Lewy Arranger: Joni Mitchell Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals: Joni Mitchell Producer: Joni Mitchell Unknown: Lee Herschberg Guitar: Stephen Stills Bass Guitar: Stephen Stills Writer: Joni Mitchell

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Joni Mitchell – Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody

 

Album: Wild Things Run Fast – 1982 – Label: Geffen
Music
SONG
Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody
ARTIST
Joni Mitchell
ALBUM
Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody
WRITERS
Joni Mitchell
LICENSES

Joni Mitchell – Unchained Melody – Chinese Cafe

Mission Beach, San Diego, United States Published on October 3, 2016 Canon, EOS 6D Free to use under the Unsplash License Palm tree boulevard

Joni Mitchell – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Film

1997

Music in this video

 

 

 

 

All-Star Tribute to Joni Mitchell – Lifetime Award Concert TNT (4-16-2000)

In a fitting tribute to Joni Mitchell, the TNT network presented an all-star celebration at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on April 6, 2000. Many legendary performers sang Mitchell’s songs, including James Taylor, Elton John, Wynonna Judd, Bryan Adams, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Krall, and Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention fame. The emcee was Ashley Judd. Mitchell herself ended the evening with a rendition of “Both Sides Now” with a full 70-piece orchestra. (description from Wikipedia) This concert has never been re-broadcast nor released in any form for sale. I do not own the copyrights to any of the material contained herein and present this event for fair use and historical purposes.

Michael Jackson

Youtube Channel

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Joni Mitchell Shine image

Joni Mitchell on Bob Dylan

 

In advance of the Joni Mitchell Luminato Tribute Concert, the legendary singer and artist sat down with Q host Jian Ghomeshi at her house in Los Angeles.

Jun 11, 2013


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Music in this video

Song
Black Crow
Artist
Joni Mitchell
Album
Hejira
Writers
Joni Mitchell
Licensed to YouTube by
WMG (on behalf of Elektra 0591); Sony ATV Publishing, LatinAutor – SonyATV, CMRRA, LatinAutorPerf, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, ASCAP, SOLAR Music Rights Management, and 5 Music Rights Societies

Joni Mitchell – Black Crow with Jaco Pastorias (bass) and Pat Metheney (Lead guitar), Michael Brecker (sax),Don Elias (drums) Lyle Mays (keys) .

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 Song

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Joni Mitchell – Black Crow

 

Black Crow – Joni Mitchell “Hejira”

Asylum 1976

Enjoy!

Lyrics:

by Joni Mitchell Printer-friendly version of this lyric

There’s a crow flying
Black and ragged
Tree to tree
He’s black as the highway that’s leading me
Now he’s diving down
To pick up on something shiny
I feel like that black crow
Flying
In a blue sky

I took a ferry to the highway
Then I drove to a pontoon plane
I took a plane to a taxi
And a taxi to a train
I’ve been traveling so long
How’m I ever going to know my home
When I see it again
I’m like a black crow flying
In a blue blue sky

In search of love and music
My whole life has been
Illumination
Corruption
And diving diving diving diving
Diving down to pick up on every shiny thing
Just like that black crow flying
In a blue sky

I looked at the morning
After being up all night
I looked at my haggard face in the bathroom light
I looked out the window
And I saw that ragged soul take flight
I saw a back crow flying
In a blue sky
Oh I’m like a black crow flying
In a blue sky

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Black Crow in flight high desert Alex povolyashko
Joni Mitchell Her special place self portrait
oni MItchell Self Portrait

Joni Mitchell – Hejira (1976) Full Album

1. 0:00 – Coyote 2. 05:01 – Amelia 3. 11:02 – Furry Sings The Blues 4. 16:09 – A Strange Boy 5. 20:28 – Hejira 6. 27:09 – Song For Sharon 7. 35:47 – Black Crow 8. 40:10 – Blue Motel Room 9. 45:14 – Refuge Of The Roads

 

Joni MItchell self Portrait
Joni MItchell 1975 Watercolor
003-Joni-Mitchell by Henry Diltz
The Telegraph A haunting image that reveals the soul of Joni Mitchell
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I Had a King

Provided to YouTube by Rhino

I Had a King · Joni Mitchell

Song to a Seagull

℗ 1968 WEA International

Engineer: Art Cryst
Producer: David Crosby
Guitar, Piano, Vocals: Joni Mitchell
Masterer: Lee Herschberg
Bass: Stephen Stills
Writer: Joni Mitchell

michael-fousert-blue highway through desert scape valley between pasture SW USA land-unsplash

Now we arrive at Songs to a Seagull. 1968. A ripe creative Aquarian period. This song was clearly written about the decimation of marriage to Chuck Mitchell-the lowlight. My personal Joni favorites involve the exploration of the human condition in first-person narratives (loss, love, living the universal human experience-the difficulty of a life lived).

Paul Langan

Zenith Beach, Shoal Bay, Australia Published on December 17, 2017 DJI, FC330 Free to use under the Unsplash License Ocean

Joni Mitchell – Jericho

 

Album: Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter – 1977

 

 

Joni MItchell Paprika Plains period

Joni Mitchell – Paprika Plains

Album: Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter – 1977 – Label: Asylum

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Spring Flowers Ithaca NY 14850 Taylor Place By Paul Langan
Joni Mitchell Laurel Canyon Window
This is the quadraphonic version of Joni Mitchell’s classic “Edith and the Kingpin.” This was issued in 1975, one of the last years quadraphonic albums were available. The differences are many but most prominent is the clarity of Joni’s voice and backing vocals.

 

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Edith and the Kingpin

Provided to YouTube by Nonesuch Edith and the Kingpin · Elvis Costello A Tribute to Joni Mitchell ℗ 2007 Nonesuch Records, Inc. Flute: Andy Findon Vibes: Anthony Kerr Assistant Engineer: Anthony Ruotolo Recorded by: Benedict Fenner Bass Clarinet: Chris Caldwell Producer, Vocals: Elvis Costello French Horn: Hugh Seenan Flugelhorn, Trumpet: John Barclay Mixer: Kevin Killen French Horn: Paul Pritchard Drums: Pete Thomas Saxophone: Peter Whyman Bass: Roy Babbington Arranger: Elvis Costello Writer: Joni Mitchell

 

 

written by Joni Mitchell & John Guerin | produced by Joni Mitchell | from the album The Hissing Of Summer Lawns (1975) | filmed/directed/edited by Joni Mitchell | additional audio/video post-production/editing by sonicboy19 | He bought her a diamond for her throat He put her in a ranch house on a hill She could see the valley barbecues From her window sill See the blue pools in the squinting sun Hear the hissing of summer lawns He put up a barbed wire fence To keep out the unknown And on every metal thorn Just a little blood of his own She patrols that fence of his To a latin drum And the hissing of summer lawns Darkness Wonder makes it easy Darkness With a joyful mask Darkness Tube’s gone, darkness, darkness, darkness No color no contrast A diamond dog Carrying a cup and a cane Looking through a double glass Looking at too much pride and too much shame There’s a black fly buzzing There’s a heat wave burning in her master’s voice The hissing of summer lawns He gave her his darkness to regret And good reason to quit him He gave her a room full of Chippendale That nobody sits in Still she stays with a love of some kind It’s the lady’s choice The hissing of summer lawns © 1975; Crazy Crow Music

Consumer Reports score 91

CR’s Take

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Los Angeles, Los angeles, États-Unis Published on November 20, 2018 ILCE-7M3 Free to use under the Unsplash License Lost in Los Angeles

Court and Spark

 

Provided to YouTube by Rhino Court and Spark ·Joni Mitchell Court and Spark ℗ 1974 Asylum Records Mastering Engineer: Bernie Grundman Engineer: Henry Lewy Piano: Joe Sample Drums, Percussion: John Guerin Piano, Vocals: Joni Mitchell Producer: Joni Mitchell Electric Guitar: Larry Carlton Bass Guitar: Max Bennett Chimes: Milt Holland Oboe: Tom Scott Writer: Joni Mitchell

1974_Joni_Mitchell

The first Joni album I attentively listened to was Court and Spark. Humans have routinely been introduced to seminal creative artists achronologically.  Each recording finds you where you are at and sometimes leads you back to the earlier formative work.  Court and Spark is a master teacher for a young impressionable Aquarian.  We were impressed and to this day find Court and Spark sonically optimal, impressionistically mixed, just the right alchemical hybrid of Joni open chord pop, jazz, and folk.

Paul Langan

Down to You

 · Joni Mitchell Court and Spark ℗ 1974 Asylum Records Mastering Engineer: Bernie Grundman Backing Vocals: David Crosby Engineer: Henry Lewy Piano: Joe Sample Drums, Percussion: John Guerin String Arranger: Joni Mitchell Clavinet, Piano, Vocals: Joni Mitchell Producer: Joni Mitchell Electric Guitar: Larry Carlton Bass Guitar: Max Bennett Chimes: Milt Holland Backing Vocals: Susan Webb Oboe: Tom Scott Writer: Joni Mitchell

 

1974 LA

Joni Mitchell – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Del Album “Mingus”, 1979. Joni Mitchell – guitar, vocals Jaco Pastorius – bass, horn arrangement on “The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines” Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone Herbie Hancock – electric piano Peter Erskine – drums Don Alias – congas Emil Richards – percussion

 

Joni Mitchel & Jaco Pastorius – God Must Be a Boogie Man

from Mingus 1979
Music in this video
Song
God Must Be a Boogie Man
Artist
Joni Mitchell
Album
God Must Be a Boogie Man
Licensed to YouTube by
WMG (on behalf of Elektra 0591); UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, SOLAR Music Rights Management, CMRRA, LatinAutor – SonyATV, Sony ATV Publishing, LatinAutorPerf, ASCAP, and 3 Music Rights Societies
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Mingus on bass

Joni Mitchell – The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines

The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines

Joni Mitchell, Jaco Pastorius, Don Alias, Michael Brecker

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Joni Mitchell – The Magdalene Laundries (Live Toronto 1994)

 

written by Joni Mitchell | produced by Joni Mitchell & Larry Klein | from the album Turbulent Indigo (1994) | live from Intimate & Interactive (1994) | additional audio mixing by sonicboy19 | lyrics: I was an unmarried girl I’d just turned twenty-seven When they sent me to the sisters For the way men looked at me Branded as a jezebel I knew I was not bound for Heaven I’d be cast in shame Into the Magdalene laundries Most girls come here pregnant Some by their own fathers Bridget got that belly By her parish priest We’re trying to get things white as snow All of us woe-begotten-daughters In the steaming stains Of the Magdalene laundries Prostitutes and destitute And temptresses like me Fallen women Sentenced into dreamless drudgery Why do they call this heartless place Our Lady of Charity? Oh, charity! These bloodless brides of Jesus If they had just once glimpsed their groom Then they’d know and they’d drop the stones Concealed behind their rosaries They wilt the grass they walk upon They leech the light out of a room They’d like to drive us down the drain At the Magdalene laundries Peg O’Connell died today She was a cheeky girl A flirt They just stuffed her in a hole! Surely to God, you’d think at least some bells should ring! One day I’m going to die here too And they’ll plant me in the dirt Like some lame bulb That never blooms come any spring Not any spring No, not any spring © 1994; Crazy Crow Music

 

written & produced by Joni Mitchell | from the album Court And Spark (1974) | live from The Late Show (Nov/4/1996) |

 

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Joni Mitchell – Just Like This Train (Live In-Studio 1996)

 

written & produced by Joni Mitchell | from the album Court And Spark (1974) | live from The Late Show (Nov/4/1996) | I’m always running behind the time Just like this train Shaking into town With the brakes complaining I used to count lovers like railroad cars I counted them on my side Lately I don’t count on nothing I just let things slide The station master’s shuffling cards Boxcars are banging in the yards Jealous lovin’ll make you crazy If you can’t find your goodness ‘Cause you lost your heart I went looking for a cause Or a strong cat without claws Or any reason to resume And I found this empty seat In this crowded waiting room Everybody waiting Old man sleeping on his bags Women with that teased up kind of hair Kids with the jitters in their legs And those wide, wide open stares And the kids got cokes and chocolate bars There’s a thin man smoking a fat cigar Jealous lovin’ll make you crazy If you can’t find your goodness ‘Cause you’ve lost your heart Well I’ve got this berth and this pull down blind I’ve got this fold up sink And these rocks and these cactus going by And a bottle of German wine to drink Settle down into the clickety-clack With the clouds and the stars to read Dreaming of the pleasure I’m going to have Watching your hairline recede My vain darling Watching your hair and clouds and stars I’m rocking away in a sleeping car This jealous lovin’s bound to make me crazy I can’t find my goodness I lost my heart Oh sour grapes Because I lost my heart © 1973; Crazy Crow Music

Joni MItchell 1975 Watercolor
Joni MItchell self Portrait

Joni Mitchell – Painting with Words and Music

 

I’m uploading this one so I can never lose it, and as I couldn’t find it full here, I thought it would be nice to share it.

It was recorded in 1998 at Warner’s Lot in Los Angeles.
Musicians: Brian Blade, Mark Isham, Greg Leisz.
Music in this video

Song
Tiger Bones
Artist
Joni Mitchell
Album
Tiger Bones
Writers
Joni Mitchell
Licensed to YouTube by
WMG (on behalf of Warner Rhino Off Roster-Audio); Sony ATV Publishing, ASCAP, LatinAutorPerf, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, Reservoir Media (Publishing), SOLAR Music Rights Management, LatinAutor – SonyATV, and 6 Music Rights Societies 

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