Joni Mitchell—folk’s sharpest mind—stood apart even as a teen, favouring complex melodies over vanilla rock
Joni Mitchell’s hiatus from Spotify disrupted her legacy. I’m a fan, love a bit of folk. A bit of Vashti, Fiona Apple, a good bit of Julia Jacklin.
Yet, Joni, one of the GOATs of the genre, never really makes the queue. The two years with nothing but the strange live renditions of Big Yellow Taxi on Spotify, have left her entire catalog at arm’s reach from me.
My mother raised me to the sounds of Mary Black and Norah Jones. I’d heard of Joni, I mean, I’d watched Love Actually. I had even heard of her inspiring newer folk singer songwriters. Her legacy preceded her. But I never delved, never fully understood what the hype was about.
Joni is known as an entirely free-thinking and strong-willed musician. The folk ‘hippy’ culture supposedly bypassed her and in contrast to the sweet transient melodies of her music, Joni Mitchell is a tough character.
A complete cynic who doesn’t hesitate to share her opinion and throughout the years she has made it known. She’d comment on the likes of Janis Joplin, Grace Slick and even Madonna. Dismissing them in statements accusing them of “sleeping with their whole bands and falling down drunk.” Her emotional music, a saving grace from her outward harshness.
In 1979 Joni explained to Rolling Stone a recount of her life in the 1950’s where “Pop music was something else”. At only 15, Joni Mitchell was subject to only an hour of ‘pop music’ a day and the rest consisted of radio journalism and country music.
It was country music that she really disregarded. She said “to me it was simplistic. Even as a child I liked a more complex melody.” As genres evolved, she felt that rock ‘n’ roll had taken a turn and entered “a really dumb vanilla period.”
After years of dancing to rock artists like Chuck Berry, Ray Charles and Elvis Presley, the new rock ‘n’ roll movement escaped her. It was folk music that turned her ear, and “came in to fill the hole.”
In learning about the one and only Joni Mitchell, I am inclined to take a further listen into her discography, which was released on Spotify earlier this year.
Night in the City feels like the right place to start—for Joni, for me, and maybe for anyone else who’s ready to finally understand what the hype is all about.
