HARP is loathe to endorse tribute albums. However, nothing says you've made it like a tribute album. Especially when said tribute album features the likes of Bjork, Cassandra Wilson, Elvis Costello, Sufjan Stevens, and Emmylou Harris putting their own flava into your hits. Joni Mitchell, your tribute album time has come.

That's right, A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, is due to drop this spring, courtesy of Nonesuch Records. The 12-track album consists of 12 major-league musicians getting crazy on Ms. Mitchell, who announced in 2002 that she was quitting the music business after the release of her last album, Travelogue

Be that as is may, Billboard.com reported last month that Joni Mitchell was back in a Los Angeles studio and recording new material, although it is uncertain when (and if) she plans to release her new tunes.

On a more personal note, I was mocked for wearing a Joni Mitchell T-shirt back in high school - ceaselessly ridiculed by the same individuals who are now salivating at the idea of Sufjan Stevens singing "Free Man in Paris. Whatever, guys. I look at life from both sides now.

A Tribute To Joni Mitchell tracklisting:

"Boho Dance," Bjork
"Dreamland," Caetano Veloso
"Don't Interrupt the Sorrow," Brad Mehldau
"For the Roses," Cassandra Wilson
"Free Man in Paris," Sufjan Stevens
"A Case of U," Prince
"Blue," Sarah McLachlan
"Ladies of the Canyon," Annie Lennox
"Magdalena Laundries," Emmylou Harris
"Edith and the Kingpin," Elvis Costello
"Help Me," k.d. lang
"River," James Taylor

In related Mitchell news, James Taylor, Chaka Kahn and Herbie Hancock are among those who will pay a live tribute to Joni when she is inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame this month. Taylor is to sing "Woodstock" while Kahn will perform "Help Me." Hancock will induct Joni into the hall of fame. The ceremony will be held this Sunday, Jan. 28, at Toronto's Metro Convention Center.

And in honor of the induction, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is launching two websites which will archive Mitchell video and audio, going back all the way to 1967. Informed sources say the collection will be "pure manna" for Mitchell fans.