Joni Mitchell
by
Roy Shipston
Disc Magazine
October 1970
Original article:
A Roy Shipston exclusive
JONI MITCHELL appears at
London's Royal Festival
Hall next month - her fifth,
and last, show this year.
Joni has virtually given up
appearances - ein order to
"find out who she is."
When we phoned her at her Laurel
Canyon, California, home, she was
packing to fly to Memphis to see a
friend and said how much she was
looking forward to playing in London.
Why so few appearances in a year when
her popularity has expanded so
much. particularly through "Big
Yellow Taxi"?
"This is a year of replenishing for me.
All I have done are two festivals and
London's Royal Festival Hall in
January. I've just got a couple more
bookings- - Vancouver in mid-October and London next month. I think
that's on November 21.
"I haven't done much, apart from
writing, because I just needed to stop
and take a look at what I was doing.
I had to slow down. If you keep going
at such a pace all the time you lose
the perspective of who you are-
makes you crazy. I just wanted to
hang out and be a person for a while."
Joni is particularly looking forward to
the Festival Hall show because she
wasn't too happy about her ex-
periences at the IoW. "I almost quit
a couple of times because of all the
commotion. During my first number
people were freaking out about 10
rows from the front. In the second
there was a lot of confusion as doctors tried to get to them. In the
third someone got on stage and
started playing bongoes - and then
photographers started screaming at
me to look their way. I just wanted
to sing.
"I got a bit mad and after that I was able
to sing all right. But I'm glad i didn't
miss the festival. It was a
great thing to see and be at."
Joni, who said
there wasn't
any truth in
rumours that
she plans to
work with
James Taylor
in the future,
will be recording a new album soon.
"I usually record
in November
or December.
I have enough material of my own
for an LP - -some new songs and some
written a very, very long time ago.
I usually put old and new songs
together on albums. The old ones
have more of a kind of melodic style
than the ones I write now and I think
it's good to put songs with different
texture together because they make
each other stand out more."
About the success of "Taxi" Joni is a
little coy.
"That wasn't really intended to be a
single. I am not really a singles artist.
I never thought it would do as well
as it has. It was a surprise to me. I
haven't any plans to release another.
"The nicest thing about that for me
was that it first started moving in
Hawaii, where I wrote it."
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Added to Library on February 2, 2021. (333)
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