Joni Mitchell Classic Albums Timeline

Joni Mitchell
1968

Song to a Seagull

Tracks
  1. I Came to the City
  2. I Had a King
  3. Michael From Mountains
  4. Night in the City
  5. Marcie
  6. Nathan La Franeer
  7. Out of the City and Down to the Seaside
  8. Sisotowbell Lane
  9. The Dawntreader
  10. The Pirate of Penance
  11. Song to a Seagull
1969

Clouds

Grammy 'Best Folk Performance'

Tracks
  1. Tin Angel
  2. Chelsea Morning
  3. I Don't Know Where I Stand
  4. That Song About the Midway
  5. Roses Blue
  6. The Gallery
  7. I Think I Understand
  8. Songs to Aging Children Come
  9. The Fiddle and the Drum
  10. Both Sides
  11. Now
Grammy
1970

Ladies of the Canyon

Talking about Laurel Canyon and The LA rock scene of the 1960’s where Joni lived at the time.

Tracks
  1. Morning Morgantown
  2. For Free
  3. Conversation
  4. Ladies of the Canyon
  5. Willy
  6. The Arrangement
  7. Rainy Night House
  8. The Priest
  9. Blue Boy
  10. Big Yellow Taxi
  11. Woodstock
1971

Blue

every track a classic, the most covered album ever?

Tracks
  1. All I Want
  2. My Old Man
  3. Little Green
  4. Carey
  5. Blue
  6. California
  7. This Flight Tonight
  8. River
  9. A Case of You
  10. The Last Time I Saw Richard
1972

For the Roses

Tracks
  1. Banquet
  2. Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire
  3. Barangrill
  4. Lesson in Survival
  5. Let the Wind Carry Me
  6. For the Roses
  7. See You Sometime
  8. Electricity
  9. You Turn Me On I'm a Radio
  10. Blonde in the Bleachers
  11. Woman of Heart and Mind
1974

Court and Spark

The album that marked her evolution from a folk artist. joni made a clean break with her earlier folk sound, producing the album herself, and employing jazz/pop fusion band the L.A. Express

Tracks
  1. Court and Spark
  2. Help Me
  3. Free Man in Paris
  4. People's Parties
  5. The Same Situation
  6. Car on a Hill
  7. Down to You
  8. Just Like This Train
  9. Raised on Robbery
  10. Trouble Child
  11. Twisted
play my version of Court and Spark
2 nominations: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female and Album of the Year - won Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
1974

Miles of Aisles

a two-record set including all but two songs from the L.A. concerts with Tom Scott's LA Express

Tracks
  1. In France They Kiss on Main Street
  2. The Jungle Line
  3. Edith and the Kingpin
  4. Don't Interrupt the Sorrow
  5. Shades of Scarlett Conquering
  6. The Hissing of Summer Lawns
  7. The Boho Dance
  8. Harry's House / Centerpiece
  9. Sweet Bird
  10. Shadows and Light
1975

The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Fun fact: Joni made an early effort at sampling (a recording of African musicians), something that later became commonplacein the 1980s

Tracks
  1. In France They Kiss on Main Street
  2. The Jungle Line
  3. Edith and the Kingpin
  4. Don't Interrupt the Sorrow
  5. Shades of Scarlett Conquering
  6. The Hissing of Summer Lawns
  7. The Boho Dance
  8. Harry's House / Centerpiece
  9. Sweet Bird
  10. Shadows and Light
1976

Hejira

arguably Mitchell's most experimental album so far, collaborating with jazz virtuoso bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius on several songs

Tracks
  1. Coyote
  2. Amelia
  3. Furry Sings the Blues
  4. A Strange Boy
  5. Hejira
  6. Song for Sharon
  7. Black Crow
  8. Blue Motel Room
  9. Refuge of the Roads
1979

Mingus

the album topped out at No. 17 on the Billboard albums chart—but was her first album since the 1960s not to go gold

Tracks
  1. Happy Birthday 1975 (Rap)
  2. God Must Be a Boogie Man
  3. Funeral (Rap)
  4. A Chair in the Sky
  5. The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey
  6. I's a Muggin' (Rap)
  7. Sweet Sucker Dance
  8. Coin in the Pocket (Rap)
  9. The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines
  10. Lucky (Rap)
  11. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
1977

Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

with jazz legends from Weather Report, Jaco Pastorius, Don Alias, and Wayne Shorter

Tracks
  1. Overture -- Cotton Avenue
  2. Talk to Me
  3. Jericho
  4. Paprika Plains
  5. Otis and Marlena
  6. The Tenth World
  7. Dreamland
  8. Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
  9. Off Night Backstreet
  10. The Silky Veils of Ardor
1980

Shadows and Light

a two disc live album Her final release on Asylum Records made it up to No. 38 on the Billboard charts

Tracks
  1. Introduction
  2. In France They Kiss on Main Street
  3. Edith and the Kingpin
  4. Coyote
  5. Goodby Pork Pie Hat
  6. The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines
  7. Amelia
  8. Pat's Solo
  9. Hejira
  10. Black Crow
  11. Don's Solo
1982

Wild Things Run Fast

her friend David Geffen, founder of Asylum Records, decided to start a new label, Geffen Records and signed Joni

Tracks
  1. Chinese Cafe / Unchained Melody
  2. Wild Things Run Fast
  3. Ladies' Man
  4. Moon at the Window
  5. Solid Love
  6. Be Cool
  7. (You're So Square) Baby
  8. I Don't Care
  9. You Dream Flat Tires
  10. Man to Man
  11. Underneath the Streetlight
  12. Love
1985

Dog Eat Dog

Personally I'd lost track of Joni since Miles of Aisles [1974] until I saw her video of this track on MTV - a complete electic reinvention of her sound, 80's but cool, stunning!

Tracks
  1. Good Friends
  2. Fiction
  3. The Three Great Stimulants
  4. Tax Free
  5. Smokin' (Empty
  6. Try Another)
  7. Dog Eat Dog
  8. Shiny Toys
  9. Ethiopia
  10. Impossible Dreamer
  11. Lucky Girl
1988

Taming the Tiger

Tracks
  1. Harlem in Havana
  2. Man From Mars
  3. Love Puts On a New Face
  4. Lead Balloon
  5. No Apologies
  6. Taming the Tiger
  7. The Crazy Cries of Love
  8. Stay in Touch
  9. Face Lift
  10. My Best to You
  11. Tiger Bones
1988

Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm

The album's first official single, "My Secret Place", was a duet with Peter Gabriel

Tracks
  1. My Secret Place
  2. Number One
  3. Lakota
  4. The Tea Leaf Prophecy (Lay Down Your Arms)
  5. Dancin' Clown
  6. Cool Water
  7. The Beat of Black Wings
  8. Snakes and Ladders
  9. The Reoccuring Dream
  10. A Bird That Whistles (Arrangement of the Traditional Work)
1994

Turbulent Indigo

Sex Kills, How Do You Stop, Turbulent Indigo - all classic Joni. The album coincided with the end of Mitchell's marriage to musician Larry Klein after 12 years

Tracks
  1. Sunny Sunday
  2. Sex Kills
  3. How Do You Stop
  4. Turbulent Indigo
  5. Last Chance Lost
  6. The Magdalene Laundries
  7. Not to Blame
  8. Borderline
  9. Yvette in English
  10. The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)
two Grammys: Best Pop Album and Best Album Package
1994

How Do You Stop

Germany release only

Tracks
  1. How Do You Stop?
  2. The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song) (Album Version)
  3. Moon at the Window (Live
1996

Hits

compilation

Tracks
  1. Urge for Going
  2. Chelsea Morning
  3. Big Yellow Taxi
  4. Woodstock
  5. The Circle Game
  6. Carey
  7. California
  8. You Turn Me On I'm a Radio
  9. Raised on Robbery
  10. Help Me
  11. Free Man in Paris
1996

Misses

compilation

Tracks
  1. Passion Play (When All the Slaves Are Free)
  2. Nothing Can Be Done
  3. A Case of You
  4. The Beat of Black Wings
  5. Dog Eat Dog
  6. The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey
  7. The Magdalene Laundries
  8. Impossible Dreamer
  9. Sex Kills
  10. The Reoccurring Dream
  11. Harry's House / Centerpiece
1991

Night Ride Home

Joni likes a title track to open and this one is great! In the United States, it reached Billboard's Top Albums chart at No. 41

Tracks
  1. Night Ride Home
  2. Passion Play (When All the Slaves Are Free)
  3. Cherokee Louise
  4. The Windfall (Everything for Nothing)
  5. Slouching Towards Bethlehem
  6. Come In From the Cold
  7. Nothing Can Be Done
  8. The Only Joy in Town
  9. Ray's Dad's Cadillac
  10. Two Grey Rooms
2000

Both Sides Now

Jazzy Joni with an orchestra, what's not to like!

Tracks
  1. You're My Thrill
  2. At Last
  3. Comes Love
  4. You've Changed
  5. Answer Me
  6. My Love
  7. A Case of You
  8. Don't Go to Strangers
  9. Sometimes I'm Happy
  10. Don't Worry 'Bout Me
  11. Stormy Weather
  12. I Wish I Were in Love Again
two grammys: Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
2002

Travelogue

Joni revists her favorite songs, superb! Features a 70-piece orchestra, in addition to guest appearances by many jazz legends.

Tracks
  1. Otis and Marlena
  2. Amelia
  3. You Dream Flat Tires
  4. Love
  5. Woodstock
  6. Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Based on a Poem by W.B. Yeats)
  7. Judgement of the Moon and Stars (Ludwig's Tune)
  8. The Sire of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)
  9. For the Roses
  10. Trouble Child
  11. God Must Be a Boogie Man
  12. Be Cool
  13. Just Like This Train
  14. Sex Kills
  15. Refuge of the Roads
  16. Hejira
  17. Chinese Cafe/Unchained Melody
  18. Cherokee Louise
  19. The Dawntreader
  20. The Last Time I Saw Richard
  21. Borderline
  22. The Circle Game
2007

Shine

Joni's first collection of new songs in nearly a decade and declared she would retire. But Joni saved the best for last, her swansong is a masterpiece. Please Joni, make another album!

Tracks
  1. One Week Last Summer
  2. This Place
  3. If I Had a Heart
  4. Hana
  5. Bad Dreams
  6. Big Yellow Taxi (2007)
  7. Night of the Iguana
  8. Strong and Wrong
  9. Shine
  10. If
play my version of Shine
2023

Joni Mitchell at Newport

Nothing new but if 'Both Sides Now' doesn't brings tears to your eyes you have a heart of stone! Watch the videos on YouTube too.

Tracks
  1. Big Yellow Taxi
  2. A Case of You
  3. Amelia
  4. Both Sides Now
  5. Just Like This Train
  6. Summertime
  7. Carey
  8. Help Me
  9. Come in from the Cold
  10. Shine
  11. The Circle Game
Grammy Award for Best Folk Album in 2024

see also Joni Mitchell profile

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