History Music / JoniMitchell

+ Music/{{Prince}}, Music/TaylorSwift, Music/HerbieHancock, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BobDylan, Music/NeilDiamond, Annie Lennox (Music/{{Eurythmics}}), Music/DonnaSummer, Music/{{Jewel}}, Music/SaraBareilles, Chrissie Hynde (Music/ThePretenders), Maynard Keenan (Music/{{Tool}} and Music/APerfectCircle), Music/WeyesBlood]

!!Tropes in her life and work include:

* {{Blackface}}: Joni created an Afro-American male character called Art Nouveau and carefully dressed and made up as him on a few occasions. ([[http://img.wax.fm/releases/625916/joni-mitchell-don-juans-reckless-daughter-2116180.jpeg That's her being Art]] on ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter''.) [[FairForItsDay At the time, it was seen as audacious, but not offensive]]. Black jazz artist Music/CharlesMingus asked her to collaborate with him ''after'' seeing this and hearing her jazz pieces. It was the last recording he ever made.

* StageNames: Joni's birth name is Roberta Joan Anderson. Joni Mitchell not really a stage name, though -- she always went by Joni, and she took the name Mitchell when she married fellow musician Chuck Mitchell. She got famous as Joni Mitchell, and subsequently kept the name even though the marriage to Chuck dissolved fairly quickly.

* StageNames: Joni's real name is Roberta Joan Anderson.

+ Music/{{Prince}}, Music/TaylorSwift, Music/HerbieHancock, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BobDylan, Music/NeilDiamond, Annie Lennox (Music/{{Eurythmics}}), Music/DonnaSummer, Music/{{Jewel}}, Music/SaraBareilles, Chrissie Hynde (Music/ThePretenders), Maynard Keenan (Music/{{Tool}} and Music/APerfectCircle)
]

* OneManSong: "Carey". The significant other the song concerns just happened to have an androgynous name.

* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: Her mid-70s albums drew heavy influence from jazz. She also claimed her {{Blackface}} character on the cover of ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'', "Art Nouveau," was a representation of her "black soul."

* CoolOldLady: Similar to fellow Canadian Music/NeilYoung's status as an elder statesmen of {{Grunge}}, Mitchell enjoys a similar elder stateswoman status over the adult alternative and Americana movements, especially among female singer-songwriters who've cited her as an inspiration.

Mitchell was inducted into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame in 1997 and the UsefulNotes/CanadianMusicHallOfFame in 1981. She also received a UsefulNotes/CompanionOfTheOrderOfCanada citation and the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

* ''Music/BlueJoniMitchellAlbum'' (1971)

Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell (née Anderson, born November 7, 1943) [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever CC]] is a Canadian singer, song-writer and painter. She was born in Alberta, and began singing around the age of nine, after a case of polio. To get the biographical data out of the way: she made a short attempt to go to college, leaving after a year; in 1965, she gave birth to a girl, but not long after, she gave the girl up for adoption. She married Chuck Mitchell later that same year.

Now on to the important bits. She made her breakthrough in the mid 1960s, relocating to New York City and travelling up and down the Northeast coast, playing in cafes and bars. Many of the songs she had written and sung were [[CoverVersion covered]] by other artists during this time, a trend that would continue as her popularity grew. Many of these covers allowed these artists to [[CoveredUp eclipse Mitchell's own career]], including Judy Collins' cover of "Both Sides, Now", which became a top ten hit in 1967.

It wasn't until 1970 that she reached mainstream success, under the guidance of producer David Crosby, of [[Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung Crosby, Stills, and Nash]], winning ''Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance'' for her album ''Clouds''. She continued to receive critical and commercial success, incorporating [[GenreShift more and more jazz-influenced songs]] compared to her previous acoustic work. By the 1980s, her work failed to reach the same success as before, with 1979's ''Mingus'' (a collaboration with Music/CharlesMingus) being her first album not to sell at least half a million copies.

This trend continued until the 1990s, particularly after the release of the Grammy-awards CD ''Turbulent Indigo'' in 1994. This is largely thanks to a return to her original sound and playing style. Her newfound success would continue until her retirement in 2002, though she later released several new [=CDs=] since then. A memoir is also supposedly in the works. She suffered an aneurysm in 2015 that caused her to take a step back from the spotlight as she still has trouble talking.

She was inducted into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame in 1997 and the UsefulNotes/CanadianMusicHallOfFame in 1981. Mitchell also received a UsefulNotes/CompanionOfTheOrderOfCanada citation and the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

Mitchell musical style consists of non-standard guitar tuning, elaborate orchestration (occasionally verging on BaroquePop territory), lush vocal harmonies, and borrowing elements from various genres (rock, jazz, [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]], folk and pop, for starters).

* AntiChristmasSong : "River"

* DualMeaningChorus : "Big Yellow Taxi"

* LighterAndSofter : Crosby, Stills and Nash's cover of ''Woodstock'' was quite different from her original slow, sparse work.

* SmokingIsCool : Joni began smoking at the age of 9, and it is reportedly one reason for her voice's decline in later years.

It wasn't until 1970 that she reached mainstream success, under the guidance of producer David Crosby, of [[Music/CrosbyStillsNashAndYoung Crosby, Stills, and Nash]], winning ''Grammy Award for Best Folk Performance'' for her album ''Clouds''. She continued to recieve critical and commercial success, incorporating [[GenreShift more and more jazz-influenced songs]] compared to her previous acoustic work. By the 1980s, her work failed to reach the same success as before, with 1979's ''Mingus'' (a collaboration with Music/CharlesMingus) being her first album not to sell at least half a million copies.

+ Music/{{Prince}}, Music/TaylorSwift, Music/HerbieHancock, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BobDylan, Music/NeilDiamond, [[Music/{{Eurythmics}} Annie Lennox]], Music/DonnaSummer, Music/{{Jewel}}, Music/SaraBareilles, [[Music/ThePretenders Chrissie Hynde]], [[Music/{{Tool}} Maynard]] [[Music/APerfectCircle Keenan]]

* TheChick: Magazine/RollingStone considered her to be this to all the male rock stars in L.A. in the '70s. The magazine called Mitchell the "Old Lady of the Year"[[note]]In the 1960s and 70s, your "old lady" was a woman you were comfortable with, a relationship that really meant something, whether formally married or not.[[/note]] and the "Queen of El Lay".

-> ''"I want the full hyphen: folk-rock-country-jazz-classical, so finally when you get all the hyphens in, maybe they'll drop them all, and get down to just some American music."''

+ Music/{{Prince}}, Music/TaylorSwift, Music/HerbieHancock, Music/{{Bjork}}, Music/BobDylan, Music/NeilDiamond, [[Music/{{Eurythmics}} Annie Lennox]], Music/DonnaSummer, Music/{{Jewel}}, Music/SaraBareilles, [[Music/ThePretenders Chrissie Hynde]], [[Music/{{Tool}} Maynard]] [[Music/APerfectCircle Keenan]]

* CoolOldLady: Similar to fellow Canadian Music/NeilYoung's status as an elder statesmen of {{Grunge}}, Mitchell enjoys a similar elder stateswoman status over the adult alternative and American movements, especially among female singer-songwriters who've cited her as an inspiration.

* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: Her mid-70s albums drew heavy influence from jazz. She also explained her {{Blackface}} character on the cover of ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'', "Art Nouveau," was a representation of her "black soul."

* RefrainFromAssuming: A few songs, particularly "Big Yellow Taxi" (not "You don't know what you got till it's gone") and "Woodstock" ("Back to the Garden").