Peter Warren is somewhat of a local celebrity here in Winnipeg. One would be hard pressed to find a Winnipegger who hasn't heard the name; Peter Warren. Aside from writing a weekly column for The Winnipeg Sun, he has also hosted a radio call-in, talk-show, here in Winnipeg for about the past 30 years. ("Warren on The Action Line on CJOB") He's very outspoken, never hesitates to speak his mind, and will verbally slam you in an instant if he thinks you're out of line. For the most part, I believe he's fair, but because I know he can be harsh, I hesitated to send this email (below) to him. I didn't want to be slammed. Also, I didn't want to be his "letter of the day" which he reads on-air. So, I was very careful about what I said. The letter itself explains why I wrote to him.

Dear Mr. Warren;

My guitar teacher, upon my hearing that I am a big fan of Joni Mitchell, showed me an article you had written for the Winnipeg Sun, entitled "We Gotta Have Passion". In the article, you wrote:

"I remember booking a young Saskatchewan folk singer into The Depression coffee house in Calgary many years ago. It was her first paid gig.

We shared an espresso after her performance, and I asked her about future hopes and dreams in showbiz.

'The most important thing is to believe and be passionate with the issues you sing about,' she told me.

Her name: Joni Mitchell."

I am a subscriber of the "Joni Mitchell Discussion List" (www.jmdl.com email: joni@listbox.com). We are a group of about 360 people from all over the world, who, obviously, adore the music of Joni Mitchell, and have come together to discuss (in the moderator's words) "anything and everything related to the life, art, music, and times of Joni Mitchell". The JMDL was born from the Joni Mitchell Home Page (www.jonimitchell.com), which was created, and is maintained by, Wally Breese.

As the JMDList moderator, Les Irvin, puts it:

"The Joni list encourages all kinds of discussion. We are generally a mature, thoughtful bunch who are mostly supportive of Joni and her work. However, that does not mean we are a bunch of starry-eyed fanatics either. We tend to be appreciative, critical, and fair - but always tempered with a deep respect for arguably the greatest songwriter on the planet."

I relayed your quote from Joni Mitchell concerning passion, to the JMDL. As expected, now they (and I included) all want to know more about "her first paid gig". I'd like to make it very clear that it is not my intention to be "dirt digging". But we are all very curious, with questions like: "What songs did she sing?" "How did the audience respond?" What instrument did she play? Was it guitar, or Ukulele?" etc.

I realize you are used to a much larger audience, and are a very busy man, but if you would like to contribute - can I call it - a retro-review of "her first paid gig", at least 360 people would be deeply appreciative.

As well, with your permission, Wally Breese may want to include your review on the Joni Mitchell Home Page as part of "The Written Word" section of the web site.

If you'd like to see these web sites for yourself, the web addresses are:

http://www.jonimitchell.com (The Joni Mitchell Home Page)

You may contact me (pdt423@freenet.mb.ca), or you may wish to contact one of the moderators of the above web sites, whose email addresses can be found on their web sites.

I'm hoping that you, too, are a fan of Joni Mitchell's music, and will want to contribute your writing talents, enlightening the rest of us about "her first paid gig".

Sincerely,

Gerald Hillman

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PS: a related story.

My dad is an avid listener of your show. He listens to CJOB and "The Action Line", daily. One Christmas, I received a couple Joni Mitchell cassettes from another family member. My dad asked me what tapes I had received. When I told him they were both Joni Mitchell, he said;

"Oh, God! That off-key bitch! I can't stand her! Whenever I hear her on the radio (undoubtedly, CJOB), I have to turn the volume down until she's done."

I didn't retaliate in any way. I just found it kind of amusing, and was pleased to know that at least one radio station was playing Joni Mitchell's music. Thanks, CJOB!

A few weeks after I sent the email to Mr. Warren, a friend called me on the phone, and said she had something to read to me. She started reading, and I soon figured out who the author was. I was shocked! I couldn't believe what I was hearing!

From The Winnipeg Sun, Friday, Nov. 28, 1997

WHERE HAS OUR PASSION GONE? -Peter Warren

I don't know the guy, but Gerald Hillman has soul. Here's the story:

His dad, is an avid CJOB listener, but, several years ago, Gerald received a Joni Mitchell cassette for Christmas and, after listening to it all morning Dec. 25, his father up and announced:

"I cannot take that off-key woman any more. Turn it off!"

Now, Gerald's father has matured and aged with grace. So, apparently, has Gerald's guitar teacher.

Upon hearing that Gerald is a big fan of Joni Mitchell, the teacher introduced him to a column I had written years ago in The Winnipeg Sun. The headline said simply:

"WE GOTTA HAVE PASSION!"

In that article, I wrote:

"I remember booking a young Saskatchewan folk singer into The Depression Coffee House in Calgary many years ago. It was her first paid gig. We shared an espresso after her performance and I asked her about her future hopes and dreams."

And in that column, too, I remember quoting Joni Mitchell:

"The most important thing is to believe, and be passionate about, the issues of which you sing."

Gerald (pdt423@freenet.mb.ca) is still a Joni Mitchell nut and would like to hear from people who understand her passion. He invites fans to visit the Wally Breese Website (www.jonimitchell.com).

An interesting comment from JMDList moderator Les Irvin:

"The Joni Mitchell list encourages all kinds of discussion. We are generally a mature, thoughtful bunch who are mostly supportive of Joni and her work. That does not mean we are a bunch of starry-eyed fanatics either.

We tend to be appreciative, critical and fair, but always tempered with a deep respect for arguably the greatest songwriter on the planet."

Gerald tells me that all of 360 people would appreciate feedback or memories of Joni Mitchell. He is truly one of the world's last absolutely passionate fans.

Joni was not the only one who made it big when Peter Warren and Frank Crockett booked acts into The Depression:

There was this group of unruly gimme-a-beer, loudmouth rascals led by Will Miller... the Irish Rovers played The Depression, after doing freebies at chicken joints and Sunday-morning pancake houses.

Add to that one, my own milkman - Ben Wicks, the now-world-famous cartoonist, who left a half-litre of homogenized on my Calgary front-door step every morning...

You know what: we were all younger, we were all unknown, but we all had passion.

And that's what is missing today.

---

Can you believe it? I was outed in the Winnipeg Sun as "a Joni Mitchell nut"! I was flattered ("has soul", "passionate fan") and yet, a little embarrassed, too. I hadn't conceived the idea that the tables would turn; that I would become the subject of the story.

So far, I haven't received any email from Winnipeggers wanting to share their memories of Joni. (Oh, gawd! If they could see my blushing face!) When I'm in a music store looking through the Joni section, or in a book store reading Joni's new book with coveting eyes, I wonder if someone, who may have read the Sun article, is looking at me, and wondering if I'm that "Joni Mitchell nut".

About a week after my friend had called to read me the article, I received a letter from Peter Warren. I opened it to find one piece of paper on which he wrote, "A Present". He had sent me his membership card from The Depression coffee house where he had booked Joni's "first paid gig". I was very impressed! I think it's way cool! It has his signature on it followed by, "...is a member in good standing of The Depression, member #6446".

Naturally, I sent Mr. Warren an email to express my gratitude:

"Either you just cleaned out your wallet for the first time in over thirty years, or the membership card you sent me, meant something to you. Now, it means something to me. Thank you!"

Now, if I can only have the same effect on the people at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Joni's new album has been postponed until July 98. It just so happens that the 25th Winnipeg Folk Festival will be in July 98!

Daring to dream where passion leads.

Gerald Hillman (card carrying "Joni Mitchell nut")