A1 All I Want  3:33 
A2 My Old Man  3:35 
A3 Little Green  3:28 
A4 Carey  3:03            play
A5 Blue  3:04             play
B1 California  3:51 
B2 This Flight Tonight  2:52 
B3 River  4:05 
B4 A Case of You  4:23 
B5 The Last Time I Saw Richard  4:16

James Taylor Jr.- Guitar
Sneaky Pete Kleinow- Guitar, Pedal Steel, Guitar (Steel)
Russ Kunkel- Drums
Joni Mitchell- Guitar, Piano, Composer, Keyboards, Vocals
Stephen Stills- Bass, Guitar, Guitar (Bass)
James Taylor- Guitar, Vocals

Sad, spare, and beautiful, Blue is the quintessential confessional singer/songwriter album. Forthright and poetic, Joni Mitchell's songs are raw nerves, tales of love and loss (two words with relative meaning here) etched with stunning complexity; even tracks like "All I Want," "My Old Man," and "Carey" -- the brightest, most hopeful moments on the record -- are darkened by bittersweet moments of sorrow and loneliness. At the same time that songs like "Little Green" (about a child given up for adoption) and the title cut (a hymn to salvation supposedly penned for James Taylor) raise the stakes of confessional folk-pop to new levels of honesty and openness, Mitchell's music moves beyond the constraints of acoustic folk into more intricate and diverse territory, setting the stage for the experimentation of her later work. Unrivaled in its intensity and insight, Blue remains a watershed. --Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide.

Joni Mitchell would go on from this '71 recording to make more popular, more ambitious, and more challenging albums, but she's never made a better one. Working with minimal accompaniment (Stephen Stills and James Taylor are two of the four sidemen), the Canadian thrush summoned an involving song cycle of romance found and lost. Though Blue is an uncommonly intimate representation, it's also astonishingly open and gracious. Songs such as "All I Want," "Carey," "California," and "A Case of You" work equally well as poetry and pop music. --Steve Stolder.

`Blue' is Joni Mitchell's fourth album, first released in June, 1971, after the seminal and deservedly famous previous album, `Ladies of the Canyon'. Listening to `Blue' now, after 35 years, I am surprised that there is not a single memorable song on the whole album, compared to the five or more major anthems of the generation on the previous recording. And yet, everything which is so strong and so good about Joni Mitchell's songwriting is on this album, in spades. Contrary to the title's inclination, most of the album seems to be more about times and places than it is about colors or moods. The single strongest aspect of Mitchell's songwriting is her ability to evoke a mood by a great use of little details. Listening to the song `Carey' makes you look forward to spending some time at a place called the Mermaid café on some beach on the Riviera with the warm winds blowing in from Africa, as I contemplate going to Amsterdam or Rome. Blue should not be the first Joni Mitchell album you should buy, but it should be near the top of your list. The album also gives you the sense that you may want to bypass all the `Best of' collections and stick to simply collecting all the original releases, as you really don't want to miss any of Ms. Mitchell's great little three minute dramas. --B. Marold.

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1. Court And Spark 
2. Help Me 
3. Free Man In Paris 
4. People's Parties 
5. Same Situation 
6. Car On A Hill 
7. Down To You 
8. Just Like This Train 
9. Raised On Robbery 
10. Trouble Child 
11. Twisted

    Joni Mitchell – vocals, including background; acoustic guitar; piano; clavinet on "Down to You", cover painting
    John Guerin – drums, percussion
    Wilton Felder – bass on "People's Parties" and "Free Man in Paris"
    Max Bennett – bass (on all tracks except "Free Man in Paris", "People's Parties" and "Trouble Child")
    Jim Hughart – bass on "Trouble Child"
    Milt Holland – chimes on "Court and Spark"
    Tom Scott – woodwinds, reeds
    Chuck Findley – trumpet on "Twisted" and "Trouble Child"
    Joe Sample – electric piano, clavinet on "Raised on Robbery"
    David Crosby – background vocals on "Free Man in Paris" and "Down to You"
    Graham Nash – background vocals on "Free Man in Paris"
    Susan Webb – background vocals on "Down to You"
    Larry Carlton – electric guitar (on all tracks except "Car on a Hill", "Raised on Robbery" and "Trouble Child")
    Wayne Perkins – electric guitar on "Car on a Hill"
    Dennis Budimir – electric guitar on "Trouble Child"
    Robbie Robertson – electric guitar on "Raised on Robbery"
    José Feliciano – electric guitar on "Free Man in Paris"
    Cheech Marin – background voice on "Twisted"
    Tommy Chong – background voice on "Twisted"

Joni Mitchell reached her commercial high point with Court and Spark, a remarkably deft fusion of folk, pop, and jazz which stands as her best-selling work to date. While as unified and insightful as Blue, the album -- a concept record exploring the roles of honesty and trust in relationships, romantic and otherwise -- moves away from confessional songwriting into evocative character studies: the hit "Free Man in Paris," written about David Geffen, is a not-so-subtle dig at the machinations of the music industry, while "Raised on Robbery" offers an acutely funny look at the predatory environment of the singles bar scene. Much of Court and Spark is devoted to wary love songs: both the title cut and "Help Me," the record's most successful single, carefully measure the risks of romance, while "People's Parties" and "The Same Situation" are fraught with worry and self-doubt (standing in direct opposition to the music, which is smart, smooth, and assured from the first note to the last). ---Jason Ankeny, AllMusic Review

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01. Overture - Cotton Avenue - 6:41
02. Talk To Me - 3:43
03. Jericho - 3:21
04. Paprika Plains - 16:19
05. Otis And Marlena - 3:58
06. The Tenth World - 6:56
07. Dreamland - 4:37
08. Don Juan's Reckless Daughter - 6:37
09. Off Night Backstreet - 3:20
10. The Silky Veils of Ardor - 4:01

Personnel:
- Joni Mitchell - vocals, guitar (01-03,08,10), piano (04), acoustic guitar (05), backing vocals (04), 
- Jaco Pastorius - bass (01-04,08,09), bongos (06), cowbells (07)
- John Guerin - drums (01,03,05,09)
- Don Alias - bongos (03), congas/claves & backing vocals (06), snaredrum & sandpaper blocks (07)
- Wayne Shorter - soprano saxophone (03,04)
- Michael Gibbs - conductor of orchestra (04,09)
- Larry Carlton - electric guitar (05)
- Michel Colombier - piano (05)
- Alejandro Acuña - congas/cowbell & backing vocals (06), shaker (07), ankle bells (08)
- Airto Moreira - surdo (06,07)
- Manolo Badrena - congas/coffee cans & lead vocals (06), congas (07), credited in spirit (08)
- El Buryd - the split tongued spirit (08)
- Chaka Khan - backing vocals (06,07)
- Bobbye Hall - credited in spirit (08)
- Glenn Frey - backing vocals (09)
- J.D. Souther - backing vocals (09)

A big chunk of the pop audience Joni Mitchell had earned with Court and Spark in 1974 deserted her in 1975 and 1976 when the follow-ups, The Hissing of Summer Lawns and Hejira, proved more difficult works. With the pretentious double album Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mitchell lost many of the loyal fans who'd stuck with her from the beginning, but who, upon hearing her here as she spread her obscure poetic observations and thin melodies across whole sides of the album, found her disengaged from the close, personal observations that filled her best songs. This was Mitchell's last album to go gold. ---William Ruhlmann, Rovi

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1 Sunny Sunday		2:37 	
2 Sex Kills	3:56 	
3 How Do You Stop	4:09 	
4 Turbulent Indigo 	3:34 	
5 Last Chance Lost 	3:14 	
6 The Magdalene Laundries 	4:02 	
7 Not To Blame		4:18 	
8 Borderline	4:48 	
9 Yvette In English	5:16 	
10 The Sire Of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song) 	7:08 	

Musicians:
    Joni Mitchell - vocals, guitar, bass
    Jim Keltner - drums (1)
    Larry Klein -  bass, organ, percussion
    Michael Landau - guitar electric (2, 3)
    Greg Leisz - guitar pedal steel (7, 8)
    Seal - vocals (3)
    Wayne Shorter - sax soprano ( 1, 4, 7, 8)
    Carlos Vega - drums ( 3, 4, 7)
    Stewart Smith - guitar (3)
    Bill Dillon - synth (9)
    Charles Valentino, Kris Kello – backing vocals (9)

Joni Mitchell returned to the relatively spare style of albums like Hejira and her early folk collections on Turbulent Indigo, emphasizing her acoustic guitar strumming and singing on a series of songs that detail the political and social discontent she had previously explored on Dog Eat Dog and Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm. In the brief opener, "Sunny Sunday," a woman tries to shoot out a streetlight with a pistol and misses every night, a metaphor for the individual's futile struggle against civilization, and Mitchell repeats much the same message in songs like "Sex Kills," a generalized criticism of everything from lawyers to the hole in the ozone layer; "Turbulent Indigo," which describes the inability of people to understand artists; "Last Chance Lost," which treats romantic disappointment; and "Not to Blame," about spousal abuse. The low-key music and restrained vocals stand in contrast to the lyrics -- over and over, Mitchell's imagery refers to guns and violence. Turbulent Indigo provides a disturbing view of modern life made all the more compelling by its calm presentation. ---William Ruhlmann, Rovi

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1.    Coyote
2.    Amelia
3.    Furry Sings the Blues
4.    A Strange Boy
5.    Hejira
6.    Song for Sharon
7.    Black Crow
8.    Blue Motel Room
9.    Refuge of the Roads

Musicians:
    Joni Mitchell - vocals, guitar
    Larry Carlton - guitar
    Abe Most - clarinet (5)
    Neil Young -  harmonica (3)
    Chuck Findley - vientos (3)
    Tom Scott - vientos (3)
    Victor Feldman - vibraphone (2)
    Jaco Pastorius - bass (1,5,7,9)
    Max Bennett – bass (3,6)
    Chuck Domanico - bass (8)
    John Guerin - drums
    Bobbye Hall -  percussion

Joni Mitchell's Hejira is the last in an astonishingly long run of top-notch studio albums dating back to her debut. Some vestiges of her old style remain here; "Song for Sharon" utilizes the static, pithy vocal harmonies from Ladies of the Canyon's "Woodstock," "Refuge of the Roads" features woodwind touches reminiscent of those in "Barangrill" from For the Roses, and "Coyote" is a fast guitar-strummed number that has precedents as far back as Clouds' "Chelsea Morning." But by and large, this release is the most overtly jazz-oriented of her career up to this point -- hip and cool, but never smug or icy. "Blue Motel Room" in particular is a prototypic slow jazz-club combo number, appropriately smooth, smoky, and languorous. "Coyote," "Black Crow," and the title track are by contrast energetically restless fast-tempo selections. The rest of the songs here cleverly explore variants on mid- to slow-tempo approaches. None of these cuts are traditionally tuneful in the manner of Mitchell's older folk efforts; the effect here is one of subtle rolls and ridges on a green meadow rather than the outgoing beauty of a flower garden. Mitchell's verses, many concerned with character portraits, are among the most polished of her career; the most striking of these studies are that of the decrepit Delta crooner of "Furry Sings the Blues" and the ambivalent speaker of "Song to Sharon," who has difficulty choosing between commitment and freedom. Arrangements are sparse, yet surprisingly varied, the most striking of which is the kaleidoscopically pointillistic one used on "Amelia." Performances are excellent, with special kudos reserved for Jaco Pastorius' melodic bass playing on "Refuge of the Roads" and the title cut. This excellent album is a rewarding listen. ---David Cleary, Rovi

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Side 1: "I Came to the City"

   1. "I Had a King" – 3:37
   2. "Michael from Mountains" – 3:41
   3. "Night in the City" – 2:30
   4. "Marcie" – 4:35
   5. "Nathan La Franeer" – 3:18

Side 2: "Out of the City and Down to the Seaside"

   1. "Sisotowbell Lane" – 4:05
   2. "The Dawntreader" – 5:04
   3. "The Pirate Of Penance" – 2:44                play
   4. "Song to a Seagull" – 3:51                    play
   5. "Cactus Tree" – 4:35

Personnel
 * Joni Mitchell - guitar, piano, vocals
 * Stephen Stills - bass on "Night in the City"
 * Lee Keefer - banshee
 * Produced by David Crosby

Joni Mitchell's debut release is a concept album. Side one, subtitled "I Came to the City," generally exhibits songs about urban subjects that are often dour or repressed in some way. "Out of the City and Down to the Seaside," by contrast, is a celebration of nature and countryside, mostly containing selections of a charming, positive, or more outgoing nature. What sets this release apart from those of other confession-style singer/songwriters of the time is the craft, subtlety, and evocative power of Mitchell's lyrics and harmonic style. Numbers such as "Marcie," "Michael From Mountains," "The Dawntreader," and "The Pirate of Penance" effectively utilize sophisticated chord progressions rarely found in this genre. Verses are substantive and highly charged, exhibiting careful workmanship. "Song to a Seagull" has graceful and vivid lyrics about the joys of freedom set to a haunting, wide-ranging vocal line. Conversely, "Cactus Tree" explores the downside of a no-strings-attached approach to life, the fear of committing to a relationship (ironically wedding these words to a hopeful melody and pulsating guitar texture). "Marcie" utilizes poignant, twisting music set to desolately lonely lyrics about a jilted woman; the recurrent use of red and green imagery in the verses is especially clever. Character studies such as "I Had a King" and "Nathan la Franeer" are painfully bleak in contrast to the lithe domestic scene of "Sisotowbell Lane" and the winsomely reserved love song "Michael From Mountains." Unusual in her oeuvre are the overlapping dialogue prose manner of "The Pirate of Penance" and the jaunty honky tonk stylings of "Night in the City." Mitchell sings in a light, gossamer, at times diffident manner; vocal harmony is sparingly employed here. David Crosby's production is simple and effective. This excellent debut is well worth hearing. --- David Cleary, AllMusic Review

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1.    "Urge for Going" – 5:08
2.    "The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)" – 4:54		play
3.    "Cherokee Louise" [Orchestral Version] – 6:01
4.    "Ray's Dad's Cadillac" – 4:33
5.    "Let the Wind Carry Me" – 3:56
6.    "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter" – 6:38
7.    "Raised on Robbery" – 3:07
8.    "Paprika Plains" [Mix] – 16:19
9.    "Song for Sharon" – 8:37
10.    "River" – 4:05
11.    "Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody" – 5:18
12.    "Harlem in Havana" – 4:27						play
13.    "Come In from the Cold" [Edit] – 3:38

Personnel: 
Joni Mitchell (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, keyboards); 
Larry Klein (guitar, keyboards, bass instrument, bass guitar, percussion); 
Steve Lukather (electric guitar); 
Tom Scott (woodwinds, horns); 
Wayne Shorter (soprano saxophone); 
Kenny Wheeler (trumpet, flugelhorn); 
Herbie Hancock (piano); 
Billy Preston (Hammond b-3 organ); 
Jaco Pastorius (bass instrument); 
John Guerin, Manu Katché (drums, percussion); 
Brian Blade, Vinnie Colaiuta (drums); 
Don Alias (shaker); 
Paulinho Da Costa (percussion); 
Alex Acuńa (bells); 
Lisa Coleman, Wendy Melvoin, Brenda Russell (background vocals).

SONGS OF A PRAIRIE GIRL could not even remotely be described as a "hits" collection, nor is it a career summary, or even an examination of a particular period in Joni Mitchell's discography. Rather, it's an esoterically compiled anthology whose ostensible theme is a wintry feel evocative of Mitchell's Canadian homeland. Ultimately, the effect is simply one of putting some of Mitchell's most interesting songs in one place regardless of era, style, or relative popularity. How else to describe a disc that encompasses the murky noir of the late-1990s track "Harlem in Havana;" the quirky, fusion-tinged '70s tune "Don Juan's Restless Daughter;" and the poignant, folkie song poetry of "Urge for Going," a '60s single never before included on an album? There are a couple of more well known songs here ("Raised on Robbery," "River"), but they're surrounded by just as many fascinating obscurities. Assembled by Mitchell herself, this collection is an intriguing snapshot into the complex world of a mercurial talent. ---cduniverse

The third in Joni Mitchell's ongoing series of thematic compilations drawn from her stellar back catalog, Songs of a Prairie Girl is described by Mitchell in her liner notes as "my contribution to Saskatchewan's Centennial celebrations," an appropriate gesture since she spent most of her childhood in Saskatoon, a city in that Canadian province. Most of the songs on Songs of a Prairie Girl deal in one way or another with childhood or adolescence, often with a bittersweet edge; there's little in the way of unbridled nostalgia, with "Let the Wind Carry Me" and "Urge for Going" expressing the desire to escape the boundaries of small-town life, and "Ray's Dad's Cadillac" and "Song for Sharon" recalling equal measures of joy and remorse in the misadventures of her teen years. Mitchell's music also splendidly conjures up the wintry space of the Canadian plains, especially on the epic "Paprika Plains" from Don Juan's Reckless Daughter (appearing here in a new mix that reduces the emphasis on the orchestra in favor of Joni's piano) and the symphonic version of "Cherokee Louise." And while there are moments of remembered joy (particularly on "Harlem in Havana"), for the most part Songs of a Prairie Girl is, by design, a meditation on the broad and snowy spaces of Saskatchewan, and Mitchell herself advises with tongue in cheek that the listeners should "get yourself a hot beverage and stand by the heater as you listen." As a collection of lesser-known material ("Raised on Robbery" is the only "hit" here), Songs of a Prairie Girl once again casts a well-considered glance on a less-explored aspect of Mitchell's work, and these songs convey the mingled pleasure and sadness of growing up with the careful eye of a true artist, as well as the crisp if faded memories of the home she left so many years ago. Beautiful stuff, and richly rewarding. ---Mark Deming, allmusic.com

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1. In France They Kiss on Main Street 
2. Jungle Line, The 
3. Edith and the Kingpin 
4. Don't Interrupt the Sorrow 
5. Shades of Scarlett Conquering 
6. Hissing of Summer Lawns, The 
7. Boho Dance, The 
8. Harry's House / Centerpiece 
9. Sweet Bird 
10. Shadows and Light

    Joni Mitchell – vocals, acoustic guitar (01, 02, 03, 04, 09), Moog (02), piano (05, 09), keyboards (07), Arp (10), Farfisa (10); cover design, illustration
    Graham Nash – background vocals (01)
    David Crosby – background vocals (01)
    James Taylor – background vocals (01), guitar (06)
    Robben Ford – electric guitar (01), dobro (04), guitar (08)
    Jeff Baxter – electric guitar (01)
    Larry Carlton – electric guitar (03, 04, 05, 09)
    Victor Feldman – electric piano (01, 05), congas (04), vibes (05), keyboards (06), percussion (06)
    Joe Sample – electric piano (03), keyboards (08)
    John Guerin – drums (01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08), arrangement (06), Moog (06)
    Max Bennett – bass (01, 05, 06, 07, 08)
    Wilton Felder – bass (03, 04)
    The Warrior Drums of Burundi (02)
    Chuck Findley – horn (03), trumpet (06, 08), flugelhorn (07)
    Bud Shank – saxophone and flute (03, 06), bass flute (07)
    Dale Oehler – string arrangement (05)

Joni Mitchell evolved from the smooth jazz-pop of Court and Spark to the radical Hissing of Summer Lawns, an adventurous work that remains among her most difficult records. After opening with the graceful "In France They Kiss on Main Street," the album veers sharply into "The Jungle Line," an odd, Moog-driven piece backed by the rhythms of the warrior drums of Burundi -- a move into multiculturalism that beat the likes of Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, and Sting to the punch by a decade. While not as prescient, songs like "Edith and the Kingpin" and "Harry's House -- Centerpiece" are no less complex or idiosyncratic, employing minor-key melodies and richly detailed lyrics to arrive at a strange and beautiful fusion of jazz and shimmering avant pop. ---Jason Ankeny, AllMusic Review

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