Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, whose highly personal and compelling songwriting first appeared in our culture during the tumultuous sixties, is an artist with consummate credentials in her craft. Her debut recording, in 1968, the self titled Joni Mitchell, not only established her as a performer to be reckoned with, but also as a songwriter whose songs would surely have much to say in the years that lay ahead.

Following a second album, Clouds, released a year later, she was a featured artist at the event that spelled out the guidelines of an era, "Woodstock," an appearance which resulted in a third album, Ladies of the Canyon, which featured two of her most important compositions, the anthemic "Woodstock," with a memorable later recording by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and "Big Yellow Taxi" an environmental tome whose message has lasted through the decades.

It has been said that Mitchell is "an artist who transcends style." What's been written about her, over the years, is categorized as Woman Musician, Folk Singer, Rock Star , etc. According to this source, category that seems relevant is "The melodies were graceful and strikingly original. The poems were haunting and sophisticated. The harmonies turned in unexpected ways. Guitar and piano accompaniments were lean and crafted. The vocal style was elegant. The joining of craft and feeling was seamless."

Although her first steps in songwriting and recording were taken more than 30 years ago, even then, during the sixties, her good taste, her style and her turn of a phrase were already mature and finely-tuned. She was one of the early vanguard of artist/songwriters who sang, almost exclusively their own song material as well as having others record it. Indeed, the songs of The Beatles and Bob Dylan, in the same manner, came to enjoy longer life because of the combination of their own as well as outside recordings.

With the advent of the phenomenon of 'Woodstock,' only a year after her first recording, Mitchell came into her own and rapidly became established as one of the most important and highly regarded songwriters of the era.

With that kind of recognition, multi recordings of her songs by other artists soon followed. "Big Yellow Taxi," became notable for records by Bob Dylan, Percy Faith and Amy Grant in addition to Mitchell's own version. "Both Sides Now," another of her earliest hits, became one of the most popular and biggest hit recordings in Judy Collins' long career. Other 1968 versions of the song were by Frank Sinatra and the rock singer, Dion. The following year, 1969, recordings by Dave Van Ronk, Chet Atkins, Bing Crosby, John Davidson, Claudine Longet and the Johnsons hit'the market to become part of the more than 300 recorded versions of "Both Sides Now." In the years that followed, Robert Goulet, Andy Williams, Glen Campbell, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson and Michael Feinstein also joined the select company.

The song, "River," became a popular vehicle for Don Henley, Betty Buckley, Rosanne Cash, the Indigo Girls and Heart, among others. Among the numerous Mitchell songs to enjoy multiple recordings over the years, are "All I Want," (The Supremes, Natalie Merchant); "Blue," (Paul Horn and Sarah McLachlan); "The Circle Game," (Buffy Saint Marie, Ian & Sylvia, Tom Rush, Ian Campbell); "For Free," (The Byrds, Crosby, Stills and Nash, James Taylor); and "A Case of You," (Tori Amos, Betty Buckley, Caroline LaVelle).

During 1995, Joni Mitchell became the honored recipient of Billboard's prestigious Century Award for "distinguished creative achievement," and in May of this year, she was inducted into the, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.