Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell moved to New York City in 1967, and took up residence in the arty Chelsea district. She met Elliot Roberts in the fall and he began to manage her career, helping to open up the circuit for her in New York City.
While performing at a club in Florida, Joni met ex-Byrds member David Crosby, who was quite taken with her. David was a great help in convincing the record company to agree to let Joni record a solo acoustic album without all the folk-rock overdubs that were in vogue at the time.
His clout earned him a producer's credit in March 1968, when Reprise records released her debut album. She continued her steady touring to promote the LP, and that stimulus, in addition to the performers who were covering her songs and exposing her to bigger and bigger audiences as a major "songwriter," was causing a major buzz. At Elliot's suggestion, she moved to southern California late in 1967, and moved in with David, who became an enthusiastic promoter of Joni's and had her play at the homes of his Hollywood friends, where she got noticed by press and radio people, who in turn wrote and spoke of her talent.
She played the Troubadour in L.A., getting raves from the crowds and critics; she was also a big hit in London at the Royal Festival Hall in September, and at the Miami Pop Festival on the last weekend of 1968. Accompaning her at the fest was Hollies singer-songwriter Graham Nash, whom Joni had met through their mutual friend, David Crosby.
Also in December of '68, Judy Collins version of "Both Sides Now" peaked in the national music charts top ten, and brought Joni "lots of those little royalty pennies." This songwriting success helped create an eager anticipation for Joni's second LP, "Clouds", which was released in April '69. It contained Joni's own versions of songs already recorded and being performed by other artists; "Chelsea Morning,""Both Sides Now", and "Tin Angel."
Joni's concert at Carnegie Hall in February, and a later show in Berkeley, CA were recorded for a live album, but the project was shelved in favor of a third LP of original studio performances.
She made an appearance that summer on The Johnny Cash Show. The series was a U.S. summer replacement series that rated very highly on ABC-TV. Joni appeared 2 more times on Johnny's show, once more later in the first season, and once in 1971.
Joni toured as the opening act for her friends Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and while at the Atlantic City Pop Festival in August, she left the stage angrily due to the inattentiveness of the large crowd. She said she'd enjoyed the intimacy of the clubs and was now finding it difficult to concentrate and perform in front of huge crowds.
Joni was scheduled to perform at Woodstock on Sunday of that weekend of love, but when the traffic jams were seen by all of America on TV that Friday, her manager advised her not to go. He was concerned that she might have trouble getting back to the city in time for a major TV appearance on the Dick Cavett Show that Monday. Still, she did create the definitive chronicle of the festival with her song "Woodstock," which was a hit for C, S, & N the next year.
She did an equinox festival at Big Sur in September, and this was filmed and released as "Celebration At Big Sur" (Joni's first film appearance). She was also set to do her "Songs To Aging Children Come" in the film version of Arlo Guthrie's song epic, "Alice's Restaurant", but when the movie producers demanded a half share of the song's publishing rights just for the privilege of appearing in their major Hollywood feature film, she refused. The song was sung in the film anyway by a look-a-like hippie girl with long blonde hair and a ringing soprano.
Reprise released Joni's third album, "Ladies Of The Canyon" soon after. It was an instant smash on FM radio, and sold briskly thru the summer and fall, eventually becoming Joni's first gold album (500,000 copies).
Reviewers and listeners began to note the confessional qualities in Joni's songs, and conjecture "who's that about?."
Joni made a decision to stop touring for a year and just live and write and paint, but after a few months she was persuaded to perform at the last minute at the Isle of Wight Festival. Held in August, this festival became a financial and logistical disaster, and the audience there had strong anti-performer feelings. When a stoned-out guy that Joni knew from her months in Crete jumped on stage and took over her mic ranting about how "Desolation Row is this festival...", he had to be dragged off stage. The crowd saw him as one of their own and booed his eviction until Joni chastised them tearfully about acting like tourists and not giving the performers the respect they deserved.
Joni struggled with a way to remain creative while dealing with the pressures of a career with a required touring schedule. The songs she wrote during the months she took off for travel & life experience would appear on her next album, "BLUE."


1968 Song to a Seagull
1969 Clouds
1970 Ladies of the Canyon
1971 Blue
1972 For the Roses
1974 Court and Spark
1974 Miles of Aisles
1975 The Hissing of Summer Lawns
1976 Hejira
1977 Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
1979 Mingus
1980 Shadows and Light
1982 Wild Things Run Fast
1985 Dog Eat Dog
1988 Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm
1991 Night Ride Home
1994 Turbulent Indigo
1998 Taming the Tiger
2000 Both Sides Now
2002 Travelogue
2007 Shine

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