by
Du Barry Campua
Toronto Telegram
July
7,
1969
Original article: 
One Canadian singer whose talent eludes me is Joni Mitchell, who appeared last night on the Johnny Cash show (Channel 9). She's a pretty young thing and her compositions, when arranged and sung by other vocalists, have quite a bit of appeal - but when she does them herself, they lose their quality. I know she has scads of ecstatic fans and doesn't need me among them, but I find her very self-consciously folk-y and am vastly put off by that sort of falsetto she affects. Best she should stay home and tend to her writing - and let others take it from there.
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Added to Library on May 31, 2026. (142)
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Van Peplin on :
This whole article just does not compute. The Show was recorded in May broadcast in June and this jab was printed in July. Things moved very slowly back then. The writer literally looks like Bozo The Clown. Obviously out of touch with what was happening at the time.. It was no secret how talented Joni was and how loved. She was playing shows all over the map.
It looks to me like she was just thinking I need to fill in this space so take a swipe at a beautiful person loaded with talent and stir the pot a little.
wh344 on :
Wonder if the critic ever lived down his comments.