Joni Mitchell: Canadian Songbird 
Roberta Joan Mitchell was born on November 7, 1943, in Fort MacLeod, Alberta, Canada. She studied art briefly in Calgary and moved to Toronto in 1964. The following February she gave birth to her daughter, Kelly Dale Anderson. Reluctantly, she gave the child up for adoption some six months later, a subject memorialized in her 1971 album, “Blue” in the song, “Little Green.” (She would be reunited with her thirty-two years later.) Also in 1964, she married fellow singer, Chuck Mitchell, and they performed for a while in coffee houses and folk clubs. The couple divorced in 1967 and Joni moved to New York, where for a time, she planned a career in clothing design.
The success of some of her early compositions like “Both Sides Now,” came when Judy Collins recorded it in the late 1960s. This gave her the financial freedom to do what she loved to do most, singing and songwriting. She came into her own in the 1970s, producing a series of “confessional” albums. She was musically daring, and as such, bridged the gaps between folk, rock and jazz. An engaging live performer as well, most of her work was dominated by her concept of love, real or illusory.
Besides being an excellent creator of songs, Mitchell is also a fine singer and an innovative guitarist with a love of open tuning. She became known as a well-rounded rock artist with her sweeping hit, “Help Me” in 1974, which climbed to number 7 on the charts and brought her unparalleled commercial success. In 1975, “The Hissing of Summer Lawns” album displayed to an adoring public her interest in both jazz and world music. Her most sophisticated work to date, the album is a general commentary on American mores.
In the 1980s, Mitchell signed a contract with Geffen Records, and the first result was an album. “Wild Things Run Fast,” whose opening song, “Chinese Café,” remains one of her finest compositions. In 1982, she married bass player Larry Klein, but the marriage did not last. She began to pursue another dream of painting and exhibiting her canvasses. The 1990s brought her back to her many fans and although she is not as popular as she once was, she remains to this day an icon of her times and a brilliant and successful songwriter.
What are some of YOUR favorite Joni Mitchell tunes?
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“Judy Collins: A Voice Still Lovely”
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