''Early Joni – 1963'' is a compilation album by singer-songwriter

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

, released on October 30, 2020, by

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

. The album, which is the second overall and the first auxiliary release of the

Joni Mitchell Archives The Joni Mitchell Archives is an ongoing project to release previously unreleased recorded material by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. So far, each new release schedule consists of a box set collection, a compilation with material on the ...

, features one of Mitchell's first live performances, a broadcast set on

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

radio station CFQC AM. The cover art for the release features a self portrait drawn by Mitchell that is based on an early photo in her personal archive, and marks the first visual artwork that she had completed in several years. This separate title was pressed exclusively on vinyl, though it serves as a companion to '' Joni Mitchell Archives – Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967)'', the box set from which its material is derived.

Background and recording

In 1963, now-retired radio DJ Barry Bowman of CFQC 600 lived with three of his friends in downtown

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. During that summer, Bowman and his friends met and befriended Joni Mitchell, who at the time was still going by her birth name of Joni Anderson. The group would frequently congregate with Mitchell at the large house they were renting, the local swimming pool, or the

South Saskatchewan River The South Saskatchewan River is a major river in Canada that flows through the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. For the first half of the 20th century, the South Saskatchewan would completely freeze over during winter, creating spectacular ...

, where they "drank beer and ate hot dogs." One of Bowman's friends and co-tenants, Danny Evanishen, referred to that period of time as being "the summer that Joni came to

hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the ga ...

" Evanishen is also attributed as being the person who encouraged Mitchell to take up playing the guitar, loaning her his guitar to play in lieu of her ukulele. Encouraged by Mitchell's budding talent, Bowman invited her to the radio station to record nine traditional folk songs over the course of two nights. He gave her a copy of the audition tape and kept the masters, which were later unearthed by his ex-wife in 2015.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. ;Performers * Joni Mitchell – vocals; guitar ;Production and recording * Allison Boron – project assistance * Barry Bowman – recording * Marcy Gensic – project assistance *

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

– mastering; lacquer cutting * Joni Mitchell – reissue producer * Patrick Milligan – reissue producer * Jane Tani – project assistance ;Design * Barry Bowman – liner notes * Sheryl Farber – booklet editor * Lisa Glines – art direction; design * Joni Mitchell – cover illustration * Doran Tyson – product manager * Shannon Ward – packaging manager

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Early Joni - 1963 Joni Mitchell albums 2020 albums