For The Roses
Release date: October 1972
Album Notes
Woodwinds and Reeds: Tommy Scott
Bass: Wilton Felder
Drums: Russ Kunkel
Percussion: Bobbye Hall
Strings: Bobby Notkoff
Harmonica: Graham Nash
Electric Guitar (Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire): James Burton
Rock 'n' Roll Band (Blonde in the Bleachers): Stephen Stills
Sound and Guidance: Henry Lewy
Recorded at A&M Studios- Hollywood, California
Art Direction/Design: Anthony Hudson
Photography: Joel Bernstein
Direction: The Geffen Roberts Co.
All songs composed by Joni Mitchell
All songs published by Joni Mitchell / BMI
Copyright 1972
Asylum Records, Manufactured by
Atlantic Recording Corporation
1841 Broadway, New York, New York 10023
Reviews of the album from the Library:
- Fighting Winning Loving Losing: Sounds Magazine, 1972
- Minding Joni’s Roses: Brown Daily Herald, March 2, 1972
- Joni Mitchell's New For The Roses: Los Angeles Times, November 21, 1972
- Joni Mitchell, Carole King - Both Good and Different: Hartford Courant, December 2, 1972
- Joni Changes Song Style: Tallahassee Democrat, December 3, 1972
- Joni Mitchell: Back to the Rose Garden: Observation Post (CCNY), December 4, 1972
- Joni, James offer strange albums: Rice Thresher (Houston), December 7, 1972
- Fifth Joni Mitchell Album Is Headed 'For the Roses': Van Nuys Valley News And Green Sheet, December 8, 1972
- One Step into the Future: Georgetown Hoya, December 8, 1972
- Roses, Raspberries, And Faces: Gettysburgian, December 8, 1972
- Joni Mitchell Sings Her Sad Songs on New Album: Philadelphia Inquirer, December 10, 1972
- Musical Notes: Arcadia Tribune, December 14, 1972
- Review: For The Roses: Choragos (Mount Holyoke College), December 14, 1972
- For the Roses: San Mateo Times, December 23, 1972
- Joni Mitchell — For the Roses: San Mateo Times, December 23, 1972
- Her new album reveals a different Joni Mitchell: Toronto Star, December 30, 1972
- For the Roses: Newsday, January 1973
- Joni Mitchell's For the Roses: It's Good For A Hole In The Heart: Rolling Stone, January 4, 1973
- Mitchell style: Disc shows emotion: Daily Utah Chronicle, January 4, 1973
- Looking back at ’72…records to remember: Michigan Daily, January 9, 1973
- Female Musicians Set 70’s Pace: News Record, University of Cincinnati, January 12, 1973
- Joni Mitchell surrounds poetry with intense music: Michigan Daily, January 27, 1973
- Joni Mitchell: beautiful: Journal News (Hamilton, OH), January 28, 1973
- Joni Mitchell’s new album no step forward: Griffin (Buffalo NY), February 2, 1973
- Mitchell ‘Flies Away’ With ‘For the Roses’: College Reporter (F&M, Lancaster PA), February 6, 1973
- Songs for the New Woman: New York Times, February 11, 1973
- For The Roses: Words and Music, March 1973
- Joni Mitchell: Still Travelling: New Yorker, March 3, 1973
- Joni Mitchell - FOR THE ROSES: Res Gestae (University of Michigan), March 23, 1973
- Wrecord Wrap: Joni Mitchell Plugged In: The Yell (UNLV), April 11, 1973
- For the Roses: DailyOM, August 19, 2011
- Record Bin: The complex folk idealism of Joni Mitchell's 'Court and Spark': Nooga (website), December 5, 2015
- listening to joni: #5: for the roses: We Move To Canada, February 19, 2018
- Off the Beaten Tracks: After Blue – what Joni Mitchell did next: Conservative Woman, September 30, 2019
Transcriptions of songs from the album:
Banquet Lyrics & More
Comments on For The Roses
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Le K. on :
This album is so beautiful. I discover it this summer. it's been years since i've had goosebumps while listening to music. Thank you Joni. I am very happy to discover your beautiful songs today.
philhansen on :
This piece of music is my favorite of ALL music/poetry recordings I have ever been introduced to in my life. I don't know why but this album is like a salve to my soul. It reaches me somewhere deep in my heart like when the Holy Spirit lights upon me...I've listened to this album at least 50 times per year for the last 40 years...you do the math...I think I got a problem like "Joni-itise". When we get to heaven I'm going to let Joni fall in love with me, or at least beg her to sing 'For the Roses'. A fella can dream can't he?
afriendofspirit on :
I love the way that Joni's albums are whole works, each with a mood and a sound all its own, and For the Roses is such a perfect example of that. It reminds me of chamber music, in a way. The lyrics are so wise and poetic, and also have a classical feel to them; Judgement of the Moon and Stars adds to the classical feel as well, being about Beethoven and all. Such a unique offering from a unique moment in Joni's career.
jjrose on :
This album along with some of the earlier recordings certainly got me through my bleak days at college Sept' 75. ---Thanks so much Joni!
hummingbird75 on :
I'm french and when I first heard "For The Roses" in 1973 I was 16. I felt in love with this songs and with Joni too!! This record remains my favorite.
Thank you Joni.
brentholcomb84 on :
I work in a Starbucks and my customers have heard this album about a thousand times this year... These aren't just songs. These are monumental, towering epiphanies for the ages. Judgment of the Moon and Stars (Ludwig's Tune) is an undeniable masterpiece. This is one of the grooviest, most enlightening albums I've ever heard. Thank you so much, Joni. You never fail to inspire greatness in me, and I'm humbled to include you in my life's cast of characters. Even though we'll probably never actually meet, I feel as though you know me. I owe my musical career, and most of my happiness to you. With much love, Brent Holcomb [ed.]
sweet.bird on :
i dislike favoritism, yet this... in all honesty, is my most favorite joni record.
i just LOVE it's raw versatility. she does this in all of her records, but this one fits PERFECTLY.