Joni Mitchell I always considered myself a painter first. When I was 20, that’s what I wanted to be. I sort of got into music as a lark, with [my first husband] Chuck Mitchell. I never thought I’d make any money from music
Having taught herself how to play the guitar, Joni Mitchell’s monumental career began with regular busking on the streets of Toronto and performing small gigs around town before eventually signing to Reprise Records. This kick-started a slew of successful albums, most notably the release of Blue in 1971 that Rolling Stone cites as the 30th greatest album ever made – the highest placing album by a female – demonstrating just how significant her presence in the music world was (and still is) in a time where female singer-songwriters were few and far between. Over the span of her career, Joni Mitchell’s success and lyrical talent has transcended genres, with subtle hints of jazz, rock and pop carefully weaving themselves amongst her folk roots.
Sounds to a Seagull
Song to a Seagull (also known as Joni Mitchell) is the debut studio album.
Did Joni Mitchell paint cover of song to the seagull?
The Album sleeve is original work by Joni Mitchell. Note the space left for the photograph section on the back cover. It was donated by Joni to a Democratic presidential campaign fundraiser in 1968.
Produced by David Crosby the album was recorded in 1967 at Sunset Sound and released on March 23, 1968 by Reprise Records. includes tracks
I had a KIng
Night in the City
The Pirate of Penance
Clouds
Clouds is the second album , released on May 1, 1969, After releasing her debut album, . She produced most of the album and painted a self-portrait for its cover artwork. (The red flower is a prairie lily the provincial flower of Saskatchewan) Clouds has subtle, unconventional harmonies and songs about lovers, among other themes.
The album charted at number 22 in Canada and number 31 in the United States. Clouds was generally well received by music critics.
Ladies of the Canyon
Ladies of the Canyon is the third studio album released in 1970. It peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. The title makes reference to Laurel Canyon, a centre of popular music culture in Los Angeles during the 1960s.
The album includes several of Mitchell's most noted songs, such as " Big Yellow Taxi ", "Woodstock" and "The Circle Game"
Blue
Blue is the fourth studio album released on June 22, 1971, Written and produced entirely by Mitchell, it was recorded in 1971 at A&M Studios .
Created just after her breakup with Graham Nash and during an intense relationship with James Taylor Blue explores various facets of relationships from infatuation on "A Case of You" to insecurity on "This Flight Tonight". The songs feature simple accompaniments on piano, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer The album peaked at number 3 on the UK number 9 in Canada and number 15 on the Billboard
Today, Blue is generally regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time; the cohesion of Mitchell's songwriting, compositions and voice are frequent areas of praise. In January 2000,
The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music.
In 2020, Blue was rated the third greatest album of all time in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums the highest entry by a female artist.
For the Roses
For the Roses is the fifth studio album . It was released in November 1972, between her two biggest commercial and critical successes—Blue and Court & Spark .
For the Roses is perhaps best known for the hit single "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio", which Mitchell wrote sarcastically out of a record company request for a radio-friendly song. The single was a success, peaking at number 25 on the Billboard chart, becoming Mitchell's first top 40 hit released under her own name (as a songwriter, several other performers had had hits with songs that she had written). "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire", a menacing and jazzy portrait of her then lover James Taylor's heroin addiction, which was also released as a single, backed with "Blonde in the Bleachers" and the Beethoven-inspired "Judgment of the Moon and Stars" were also popular.
Court & Spark
Court and Spark is the sixth studio album. It was an immediate commercial and critical success—and remains her most successful album. Released in January 1974, it has been described as pop but also infuses Mitchell's folk rock style, which she had developed through her previous five albums, with jazz inflections.
It reached No. 2 in the US and No. 1 in Canada and eventually received a double platinum certification by the RIAA, the highest of Mitchell's career. It also reached the Top 20 in the UK In 2020, it was ranked at number 110 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The Hissing of the Summer Lawns
The album initially received harsh criticism. In Rolling Stone, saying that the album's lyrics were impressive but the music was a failure. "If The Hissing of Summer Lawns offers substantial literature, it is set to insubstantial music... Four members of Tom Scott's L.A. Express are featured on Hissing, but their uninspired jazz-rock style completely opposes Mitchell's romantic style... The Hissing of Summer Lawns is ultimately a great collection of pop poems with a distracting soundtrack. Read it first. Then play it.
However, the record's reputation has grown in stature over the years. Music writer Howard Sounes has called The Hissing of Summer Lawns Mitchell's masterpiece, "an LP to stand alongside Blood on the Tracks". Prince a lifelong fan of Mitchell, had loved the album, praising it in interviews.
In 1977, Mitchell was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performancee for the album.
Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 258 in the 2020 edition of its 500 greatest albums of all time
Hejire
Hejira is the eighth studio album The songs on the album were written during a series of road trips in 1975 and 1976, and reflect events that occurred during those trips, including several romantic relationships she had at the time.
Characterized by lyrically dense, sprawling songs, as well as the overdubbed fretless bass playing of Jaco Pastorius (whom Mitchell had just met), Hejira continued the musician's journey beyond her pop records towards the freer, jazz-inspired music she would implement on later recordings.
Some of the songs were written while Mitchell traveled as a member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, and she performed the album tracks "Coyote" and "Furry Sings the Blues" with The Band at their final concert (later released as Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz).
The album did not sell as well as its predecessors, peaking at No. 22 in her native Canada. It reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart in the United States, where it was certified gold by the RIAA, and No. 11 in the UK, where it attained a silver certification. Critically, the album was generally well received, and in the years since its release,
Hejira has been considered one of the high marks of her career.
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her ninth album, it is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz fusion sound of Mitchell's Hejira from the year before. Mitchell has stated that, close to completing her contract with Asylum Records, she allowed this album to be looser than anything she had done previously.
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter was released in December 1977 to mixed reviews. It reached No. 25 on the Billboard charts and attained gold record status within three months.
Mingus
Mingus is the tenth studio album and a collaboration with composer and jazz musician Charles Mingus. Recorded in the months before his death, it would be Mingus's final musical project; the album is wholly dedicated to him. Mingus was released on June 13, 1979
The album is quite experimental, featuring minimalist jazz, over-plucked, buzzing acoustic guitars, and even wolves howling through "The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey". All of the lyrics are by Mitchell, while the music for four of the songs was composed by Mingus, three being new tunes, a fourth being his tribute to saxophonist Lester Young from his 1959 classic Mingus Ah Um, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", for which Mitchell wrote a set of lyrics.
As with the release preceding, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mitchell hired personnel from jazz fusion group Weather Report, notably bassist Jaco Pastorius to play on the sessions. Mingus would also mark the first reunion of saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Herbie Hancock in the studio since recording together on Shorter's seminal Native Dancer album, featuring Milton Nascimento, released in September 1974.
The album is spliced with excerpts, which are labelled "(Rap)", from recordings provided by Sue Graham Mingus, including a scat singing interplay between Joni and Mingus, and Charles and Sue arguing over his age at a birthday party. In "Funeral", Mingus and others discuss how long he will live and what his funeral will be like. He refers to the Vedanta Society and asserts that he is going to live longer than Duke Ellington, who died in 1974, aged 75, by saying, "I'm going to cut Duke!". "God Must Be a Boogie Man"—having taken shape two days after his death—was the only song Mingus was unable to hear. Mitchell suggests in the liner notes that Mingus would have found it hilarious. The song was re-recorded with orchestral accompaniment on Joni's 2002 album Travelogue.