EDITORS’ NOTES

Released April 1970, Joni Mitchell's third solo album captures both the optimism of the counterculture and the wary feelings that were beginning to manifest. Away from the burdensome Saskatchewan winters, Mitchell found her muse in the sunny, mellow sway of L.A's Laurel Canyon among like-minded neighbors. "BigYellow Taxi" hurtles past with a schoolgirl laugh and a cautionary tale. "For Free" recounts the intimate power of a street singer versus her own rise in the star-making machine. "Woodstock" represents the apex of the impossible hippie dream. While some songs represent Mitchell at her most wide-eyed and naïve (1966's much covered "The Circle Game" makes its Mitchell debut here), there's also a musical sophistication to her lesser-known compositions. "Rainy Night House," allegedly about fellow Canadian singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, is a dark, sweet piano ballad. It's matched by the romance of "Blue Boy," another neglected, hidden gem from one of the 20th century's finest songwriters.