Joni Mitchell says she never made a record with commercial success a prime motive.
"I'm a composer, not a pop star that can be decorated into fashion," she said in a recent interview, talking about her move from pop to jazz after her 1974 blockbuster album "Court and Spark."
"I was never comfortable with all the attention I received as a result of the success of 'Court and Spark,"' she said. "I never courted that kind of fame because I'm a back-bush Canadian and was raised to believe that if you stick your head up, it will probably get knocked off."
But Mitchell, 44, is now out with a new album _ an upbeat pop record called "Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm." It features eight songs with guest artists Don Henley, Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, Peter Gabriel, Wendy & Lisa and Billy Idol.
Is the star quotient a calculated move at commercial success?
"James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were around when I made my early records and I put them to work," she said. "I recorded some of this album at Peter Gabriel's studio and he dropped by one day so I put him to work. I met Wendy & Lisa through Prince, who'd been inviting me to a lot of things.
"What I did do here that I've never done before was seek out singers I didn't know because I thought they were suited to songs - Billy Idol and Willie Nelson fall into this category."
