Today’s a day my most loyal readers never thought would come — the kickoff of a series on the legendary Joni Mitchell. A few weeks ago, I promised a Mitchell deep dive in 2021, so I figured there’s no time like the present.
I have long resisted Mitchell’s work, despite its groundbreaking nature, because I’m not a fan of her voice. Specifically, there’s a nasal sliding sound she makes on some of her songs that irritates me.
Of the three lists of favorite songs posted last week, one pick appeared on all of them. That was Elton John’s ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters,’ which Amy, Dana and Madison all singled out. The track is one of my very favorite Elton John songs — up there with ‘Tiny Dancer,’ ‘Rocket Man’ and ‘Your Song.’
I’ve posted ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters’ before, 12 years ago, so I’m setting it aside today in favor of a track that showed up on two of the three lists.
Joni Mitchell recorded this environmentally conscious classic in 1970, inspired by a trip to Hawaii.
“I took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance,” she told an interviewer. “Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart… this blight on paradise.”
This early Joni Mitchell song is one of her most popular, having been covered by more than 200 artists. It follows a boy through childhood, comparing the passage of time to a carousel.
Mitchell released this song on her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon, a few years after it had already shown up on albums by Buffy Sainte-Marie and Tom Rush.
It’s time for the latest installment of my Decades series, wherein I highlight the albums of a specific year in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. I last wrapped up the ‘zeroes’ by hitting 1970, 1980, 1990 and (earlier this year) 2000. Before that I did the ‘twos,’ starting with my birth year — 1972 — and jumping ahead from there.
Now I turn to the ‘ones’ and kick things off with 1971. As usual, I will count down my own favorite albums from that year before spending a week on widely acclaimed albums of the year with which I am unfamiliar.
Meet Me In Montauk 