Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters with Joni Mitchell

by Susan Whitall (Editor)

Overview

Few artists are as intriguing as Joni Mitchell. She was a solidly middle-class, buttoned-up bohemian; an anti-feminist who loved men but scorned free love; a female warrior taking on the male music establishment. She was both the party girl with torn stockings and the sensitive poet.

She often said she would be criticized for staying the same or changing, so why not take the less boring option? Her earthy, poetic lyrics (“the geese in chevron flight” in “Urge for Going”), the phrases that are now part of the culture (“They paved paradise, put up a parking lot”), and the unusual melodic intervals traced by that lissome voice earned her the status of a pop legend. Fearless experimentation ensured that she will also be seen as one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century.

Joni on Joni is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of some of Mitchell’s most illuminating interviews, spanning the years 1966 to 2014. It includes revealing pieces from her early years in Canada and Detroit along with influential articles such as Cameron Crowe’s never-before-anthologized Rolling Stone piece. Interspersed throughout the book are key quotes from dozens of additional Q&As. Together, this material paints a revealing picture of the artist— bragging and scornful, philosophical and deep, but also a beguiling flirt.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780914090359
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/06/2018
Series:	Musicians in Their Own Words
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	1,129,828
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Susan Whitall was a writer/ editor at Creem magazine in Detroit in its 1970s heyday and a music and feature writer at the Detroit News. Her previous books are Women of Motown and Fever: Little Willie John’s Fast Life, Mysterious Death and the Birth of Soul.

Table of Contents

Introduction Susan Whitall xi

Part I We Are Stardust

Two Single Acts Survive a Marriage A. L. McClain

February 6, 1966 | Detroit News (US) 3

Urbanity Revisited: Mode Is Mod for City Living Jo Ann Mercer

March 20, 1966 | Detroit News (US) 6

An Interview with Joni Mitchell Dave Wilson

February 14-27, 1968 | Broadside (US) 11

Part II Stoking the Star-Making Machinery

Joni: Let's Make Life More Romantic Jacoba Atlas

June 20, 1970 | Melody Maker (UK) 27

Joni Mitchell: Glimpses of Joni Michael Watts

September 19, 1970 | Melody Maker (UK) 34

Joni Takes a Break Larry Leblanc

March 4, 1971 | Rolling Stone (US) 38

Joni Mitchell: An Interview, Part One Penny Valentine

June 3, 1972 | Sounds (UK) 50

Joni Mitchell: An Interview, Part Two Penny Valentine

June 10, 1972 | Sounds (UK) 57

The Education of Joni Mitchell Stewart Brand

Summer 1976 | CoEvolution Quarterly (US) 64

Joni Mitchell Defends Herself Cameron Crowe

July 26, 1979 | Rolling Stone (US) 75

Part III Sweet Bird of Time and Change

Joni Mitchell Is a Nervy Broad Vic Garbarini

January 1983 | Musician (US) 111

Joni Mitchell Alanna Nash

March 1986 | Stereo Review (US) 137

An Interview with Joni Mitchell Sylvie Simmons

1988 | Musik Express (Germany) 143

Joni Mitchell: Don Juan's Reckless Daughter Phil Sutcliffe

May 1988 | Q (UK) 155

Joni Mitchell Jeff Plummer Marty Getz

1989 Quintessential Covina Cable Access Interview (US) 174

60 Minutes with Joni Mitchell Vic Garbarini

September 1996 | Guitar World (US) 197

Alternate Tunings John Ephland

December 1996 | Down Beat (US) 202

The Unfiltered Joni Mitchell Dave Dimartino

August 1998 | Mojo (UK) 213

Radio Interview Jody Denberg

September 8, 1998 | KGSR-FM, Austin (US) 242

Jazz Romance Jason Koransky

May 2000 | Down Beat (US) 266

Part IV A Defector from the Petty Wars

Heart of a Prairie Girl Mary S. Aikins

July 2005 | Reader's Digest (Canada) 279

Joni Mitchell's Fighting Words Doug Fischer

October 7, 2006 | Ottawa Citizen (Canada) 300

The Trouble She's Seen Doug Fischer

October 8, 2006 | Ottawa Citizen (Canada) 306

TV Interview Tavis Smiley

November 9, 2007 | Tavis Smiley on PBS (US) 315

Music and Lyrics Geoffrey Himes

December 2007 | JazzTimes (US) 328

Film Interview Michael Buday

August 20, 2008 | Grammy Museum (US) 346

TV Interview Tavis Smiley

November 25, 2014 | Tavis Smiley on PBS (US) 362

About the Contributors 375

About the Editor 379

Credits 381

Index 385

Editorial Reviews

"In a moment of great public interest in Joni Mitchell, one voice has been mostly absent—Mitchell’s own. Joni on Joni rectifies that, and offers a great songwriter in dialogue with pop music critics, cable access hosts, and, best of all, her prismatic self.” —RJ Smith, author of American Witness: The Art and Life of Robert Frank and The One: The Life and Music of James Brown


“Generations of young women—and men—found out who they were through Joni Mitchell’s naked lyricism, singular tunings, and her willingness to resist boundaries. Here, editor Susan Whitall shows us who the ever-evolving songwriter is through myriad interviews with some of the world’s smartest critics, and her own scene-setting/contextualizing introductions to each chapter. . . . For anyone who’s loved Blue, Mingus, Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, or Turbulent Indigo, Joni on Joni is a journey worth taking.” —Holly Gleason, editor, Woman Walk the Line: How the Women of Country Changed My Life


“This fascinating portrait of an artist is highly recommended for Mitchell’s fans and readers interested in the creative process.” —Library Journal


"Susan Whitall is a veteran music writer and brings a deep well of understanding in her introductions to each of the 27 interviews. For Joni fans, a must-read." - Sarah Murdoch Toronto Star

From the Publisher