Joni From the Canyon

When I first heard Joni Mitchell I was a sixteen year old high school student working at the local library.  We had a copy of Joni's Dog Eat Dog it was not her best work by any means, but it did introduce me to her beautiful voice.  I wanted to hear more, but sadly that was the only album the library had.  I tried to hear her music on the radio, but they did not play her tunes.  When they did play her songs they played or over played her tunes it was the CSN&Y version her tune "Woodstock."  

A year passed and I went to a family members house for dinner.  The family member told me that with the age of CD's they did not need their records.  I knew they had abhor 200.  I grabbed them all. In the pile was Joni Mitchell, not one, but a few.  I did not know where to start, but the family member mentioned that an album called Ladies of the Canyon (which was included) was the best place to start.  It was the album that I immediately fell in love with.  It still is my favorite of all the Joni albums.

What struck me about the album was the cover.  She painted and drew the cover.  It was striking and so beautiful. I looked inside and it was awesome seeing all her lyrics.  It was then I realized I can sing duets with her.  Each song on the album was striking and sweeping with lush words and great visuals.  I was more amazed how her simple song "Woodstock" was. It was not like the CSN&Y version.  It was the awesome sound of a Wurlitzer electric piano that I loved.  Her description of Woodstock through her eyes and the multi tracked vocals made it so amazing to hear.

Each song got better and better, it was just so fun to hear a new, fresh, voice that just blew my mind with every listen.  I must have played that album over and over for months.  It was different and to my music critic parents, they loved it.  Finally something musical that transcended a generation. It was for me a wide eyed experience to hear this awesome music.  I was also happy that I had parents approved music to listen to, not that I cared, but at least they thought the music I liked had good taste.

I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, where are you going
And this he told me
I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm
I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band
I'm going to camp out on the land
I'm going to try an' get my soul free
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose the smog
And I feel to be a cog in something turning
Well maybe it is just the time of year
Or maybe it's the time of man
I don't know who l am
But you know life is for learning
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation
We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

If your into female artists then Joni is the one for you.  I'm sure you already know that.  All here music is pretty awesome. There are some struggles through her catalog like her Geffen albums but all in all her catalog has some very good music.  She has been a major influence on the music I listen to. As my friend said to me, she is a national treasure.  She certainly is and the best place to start is Ladies of the Canyon.