Joni Mitchell
Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her personal lyrics and unconventional compositions which grew to incorporate pop and jazz elements. Among her accolades are eleven Grammy Awards, and induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever", and AllMusic has stated, "Joni Mitchell may stand as the most important and influential female recording artist of the late 20th century." Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the greatest albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition. In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music". NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made By Women. Mitchell began exploring more jazz-influenced ideas on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris" and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to that of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975. Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with Rock And Roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. Starting in the mid-1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Tom Scott, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums and designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance". A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 19th and last album of original songs in 2007. She gave occasional interviews and made appearances to speak on various causes over the next two decades, though the rupture of a brain aneurysm in 2015 led to a long period of recovery and therapy. A series of retrospective compilations were released over the time period, culminating in the Joni Mitchell Archives, a project to publish much of the unreleased material from her long career. She returned to public appearances in 2021, accepting several awards in person, including a Kennedy Center Honor. Mitchell returned to live performance with an unannounced show at the June 2022 Newport Folk Festival and has made several other appearances since, including a headlining show in 2023.
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References
Title | Summary | |
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One Last Touch of Nilsson | ... put up a parking lot,'" as Joni Mitchell sang. "When ... | |
Case of You | ... Harry Nilsson | Songwriter: Joni Mitchell | Vocals: ... | |
Michelle Branch | ... to,' she said, before naming Joni Mitchell , The ... |
Connection Chains
- From Lassie to Joni Mitchell in 14 Steps
- From Randy Newman to Joni Mitchell in 14 Steps
- From Blackwood Music to Joni Mitchell in 14 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to Buy My Album in 13 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to Ted Vann in 13 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to EMI in 12 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to Frederick Oakeley in 12 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to January 22 in 12 Steps
- From Earl Palmer to Joni Mitchell in 12 Steps
- From Dinah Washington to Joni Mitchell in 12 Steps
- From Ringo Starr to Joni Mitchell in 12 Steps
- From Down By the Sea to Joni Mitchell in 12 Steps
- From Harry Nilsson to Joni Mitchell in 12 Steps
- From Harry Shlutz to Joni Mitchell in 12 Steps
- From Zombie Jamboree (Back to Back) to Joni Mitchell in 12 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to New York Roots Music Association in 12 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to Only You in 12 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to Back Off Boogaloo in 11 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to Caroline in 11 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to Danny Thomas in 11 Steps
- From Joni Mitchell to Easier For Me in 11 Steps
- From Lean On Me to Joni Mitchell in 11 Steps
- From Stand Up And Holler to Joni Mitchell in 11 Steps
- From Bongo Rock '73 to Joni Mitchell in 11 Steps
- From Drumming is My Madness to Joni Mitchell in 11 Steps
- From Harry Nilsson to Joni Mitchell in 11 Steps
Connections
- Case of You was written by Joni Mitchell
- Joni Mitchell wrote Case of You