"Songbirds, Greatest Female Singers of Our Time" is coming out in weeks. Joni is prominently featured as she makes the list of top 30 singers. I am the author, Brian Marshall. I will let all you Joni enthusiasts know when the book drops.
An excerpt:
Mitchell started singing with her friends at bonfires around Waskesiu Lake, northwest of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She widened her repertoire to include her favorite performers, such as Édith Piaf and Miles Davis, at age 18. Her first paid performance was on October 31, 1962, at a Saskatoon club that featured folk and jazz performers. Although she never performed jazz herself in those days, Mitchell and her friends sought out gigs by jazz musicians. Mitchell said, “My jazz background began with one of the early Lambert, Hendricks and Ross albums." I considered that album to be my Beatles. I learned every song off of it, and I don't think there is another album anywhere — including my own — on which I know every note and word of every song.”
After graduating from high school at Aden Bowman Collegiate in Saskatoon, Mitchell took art classes at the Saskatoon Technical Collegiate and left home to attend the Alberta College of Art in Calgary for the 1963–64 school year. She felt disillusioned about the high priority given to technical skill over free-class creativity and dropped out of school after a year at age 20.
An excerpt:
Mitchell started singing with her friends at bonfires around Waskesiu Lake, northwest of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She widened her repertoire to include her favorite performers, such as Édith Piaf and Miles Davis, at age 18. Her first paid performance was on October 31, 1962, at a Saskatoon club that featured folk and jazz performers. Although she never performed jazz herself in those days, Mitchell and her friends sought out gigs by jazz musicians. Mitchell said, “My jazz background began with one of the early Lambert, Hendricks and Ross albums." I considered that album to be my Beatles. I learned every song off of it, and I don't think there is another album anywhere — including my own — on which I know every note and word of every song.”
After graduating from high school at Aden Bowman Collegiate in Saskatoon, Mitchell took art classes at the Saskatoon Technical Collegiate and left home to attend the Alberta College of Art in Calgary for the 1963–64 school year. She felt disillusioned about the high priority given to technical skill over free-class creativity and dropped out of school after a year at age 20.