Joni Mitchell is not as well-known for her singing as she is for her songwriting, due mainly to the efforts of Tom Rush and Judy Collins. Both have utilized Miss Mitchell’s talents on their more recent LPs. But her first album, “Joni Mitchell,” released last spring, attests to her beautiful voice and accomplished guitar playing.

Born in Canada, she now resides in Los Angeles, which explains how Steve Stills (of Buffalo Springfield fame) came to play bass on her album.

The album is more than a collection of unrelated songs because it deals with two phases of her life: part one, “I came to the City” and part two “Out of the City and Down to the Seaside.” By taking each side of her life, her songs reflect her different moods, usually soft and involved with others. Even that happy life by the seaside is not without conflicts and doubts.

“I HAD A KING,” the first song on part one, shows the changes in a love she seems to have lost. These changes have taken him far away from her thoughts and she can’t go back to see him again. She no longer fits into his life of paisley and drip-dry.

The gentleness in “Michael from Mountains” is astounding and that is all there is to say about this beautiful song.

With “Night in the City” Miss Mitchell creates a swirling, colorful picture in the listener’s mind of a laughing, summer night, completely vivid and real. The music and her voice alone create a happy and carefree night which never seems to end.

Then, in part two, we are escorted down to the seaside, with songs not only for the seagulls but for everyone to hear.

A PICTURE OF a road by the seaside, with its rocking chair and friendly neighbors, is painted in “Sisotowbell Lane.” There is an underlying feeling of apprehension over what is to come in this song.

“Cactus Tree” ends the album and could represent something of an autobiography except that Miss Mitchell is much more aware than the girl “too busy being free.” She can see through all the people she has known and writes them into her musical story of her life.

Although the song “Both sides now” was not included in her first album, it could be considered a summary of the Reprise LP and how the 25-year-old versatile artist has lived until now. She will continue writing and her life will change as it has before. We can be sure there will be more from this female minstrel of the world.