Joni Mitchell @ 80

Today is Joni Mitchell's birthday and she is 80 years old. I was always a big fan of her music going back to the late 1960's and through her entire career. Today I put some Joni Mitchell albums on the stereo but this time I played her late 70's and 80's music. It sounded great although I hadn't listened to some of those albums in a long time.

I saw her perform for the first time in 1968. I think it was the 2nd Fret but it might have been one of the other downtown clubs. I saw her again later in the summer at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Then I saw her at the Atlantic City Pop Festival in August of 1969 and at one of her shows at the Main Point a few months earlier. The last time I saw her perform was with John in 1974 at the Academy of Music in Philly when she was touring with Tom Scott and the LA Express. That was when she was first getting started with her jazz influences.

There was an interesting situation at the Atlantic City Pop Festival show where Joni Mitchell sang only three or four songs instead of her scheduled set. She had a hissy fit and left the stage because she thought that not enough people were paying attention to her. She later refused to play any more festivals that summer and didn't do the Woodstock festival two weeks later but of course wrote a song about it as if she did participate. She was on the Dick Cavett show that weekend instead.

I’ve always been fascinated with her and after having seen her perform several times as a young woman I have collected all of her albums over the years. It’s been heartbreaking to see her declining health but encouraged by her slow recovery from her recent brain aneurysm. Parts of her story have come up in several books I’ve read in recent years. At his concert we attended not too long ago Graham Nash told some poignant stories about his time with her. At the time of her brain aneurysm there was a lot of press about her and then the promotion of her new biography Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell which I have a copy of on my book shelf.

It is interesting to listen to that tribute album of Joni Mitchell songs. There are some great interpretations of her music but not very many people can sound like Joni vocally. Some try. She has also always had some quirky chords and guitar tunings. She is a very unique musician. Happy Birthday Joni Mitchell.

Joni Mitchell albums in my collection:

• Song For A Seagull, 1968
• Clouds, 1969
• Ladies of the Canyon, 1970
• Blue, 1971
• For The Roses, 1972
• Court and Spark, 1974
• Miles of Aisles (Live), 1974
• The Hissing of Summer Lawns, 1975
• Hejira, 1976
• Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, 1977
• Mingus, 1979
• Shadows and Light (Live), 1980
• Wild Things Run Fast, 1982
• Dog Eat Dog, 1985
• Joni Mitchell, 1987
• Chalk Marks in the Rain, 1988
• Night Ride Home, 1991
• Turbulent Indigo, 1994
• Hits (Comp), 1996
• Misses (Comp), 1996
• Taming The Tiger, 1998
• Both Sides Now, 2000
• Travelogue, 2002
• The Beginning of Survival (Comp), 2004
• Dreamland (Comp), 2004
• Shine, 2007
• A Tribute To Joni Mitchell (Various Artists), 2007