Maps of Music

Blue (1971)

Where the lyrics of Blue take you, and where it was really made.

Much of Blue was written on an Appalachian dulcimer that Mitchell bought at a 1969 folk festival, and that one instrument shaped the album's sparse sound.

Key places

Where Blue was recorded (1971)

Recording site A&M Recording Studios — Mitchell recorded Blue at A&M Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, from late 1970 into early 1971. Recording was completed in March 1971. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Blue is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
• Released June 22, 1971 through Reprise Records
• Written and produced entirely by Mitchell
• Recorded across late 1970 and early 1971 at A&M Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles
• Sparse arrangements built on acoustic guitar, piano and Appalachian dulcimer
• Explores the different facets of relationships

Background

• Created in the aftermath of her breakup with Graham Nash
• Created during an intense relationship with James Taylor
• Preceded by Ladies of the Canyon (1970), a critical and commercial success
• Voted the world's top female singer in a Melody Maker poll in 1970
• Her trip to Greece and wider Europe after the breakup led to some of the material
• Played a Greenpeace benefit concert, Amchitka, with Taylor at the tail end of 1970

Recording

• Recorded at A&M Studios, the same studio as her previous two albums
• Most songs were written on an Appalachian dulcimer bought at the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival for $200
• James Taylor contributed acoustic guitar to All I Want, California and A Case of You
• Session drummer Russ Kunkel provided percussion
• Aside from a few guest musicians, recorded in near-seclusion
• Recording was completed in March 1971
• Hunter and Urge for Going were cut from the early track listing and replaced by All I Want and The Last Time I Saw Richard after Mitchell urged Reprise to halt the pressing

Cover

• Photograph taken by Tim Considine
• According to Joel Bernstein, the photo was taken years before release, at the Troubadour in 1967 or 1968
• According to Yaffe, the cover departs from the playful, self-created artwork of Mitchell's past three albums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

• Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter, born Roberta Joan Anderson in 1943 in Fort Macleod, Alberta.

Formation

• Began singing in Saskatoon nightclubs, then performed in Calgary and Toronto before moving to the United States in 1965.
• Her songs were first recorded by other singers, which helped her sign with Reprise Records.
• Debut album Song to a Seagull was released in 1968.

Career

• Blue (1971) is often cited as one of the greatest albums of all time.
• Court and Spark (1974) moved toward jazz influences and became her best-selling album.
• Collaborated with jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, and Charles Mingus.
• Won eleven Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.
• Returned to live performance in 2022 at the Newport Folk Festival after a 2015 brain aneurysm.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Blue was met with critical acclaim upon release, and some reviewers deemed it Mitchell's best to date
• Jack Lloyd of The Philadelphia Inquirer praised her as a charming storyteller and a skilled musician
• Robert Christgau also considered it Mitchell's best release thus far
• Peter Reilly of Stereo Review considered it an expansion on the tradition of torch songs, with a satirical edge in the lyrics
• Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times considered it a strong contender for the best album of 1971
• Peter Goddard of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix noted growth in her melodies, accompaniments and vocal sound

Reappraisal

• Retrospective reviews are extremely positive, typically with perfect scores
• AllMusic's Jason Ankeny declared it the quintessential confessional singer/songwriter album
• Jessica Hopper of Pitchfork rated it 10/10
• The Rolling Stone Album Guide stated the album is arguably Mitchell's masterpiece
• Rolling Stone placed it at number three on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list

Records

• Reached number 15 in the US and number three in the UK
• Reached the top 10 in the UK and Canada, and the top 15 in the US
• Its first single, Carey, reached number 93 in the US
• RIAA Platinum certification in 1986 for US sales in excess of 1,000,000 copies
• According to Yaffe, it surpassed Court and Spark as Mitchell's best-selling album, with US sales exceeding 10 million copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Mitchell said she was surprised by a reaction from Kris Kristofferson, who reportedly told her to save something of herself after hearing the album
• Sandy Denny said in a mid-1970s interview that she was uneasy about the album's emotional content
• Mitchell later disliked the confessional tag applied to her after the album
• Taylor Swift has called Blue her favorite album of all time, and it was cited as a significant influence on her album Red (2012)
• Haim cited the title track as a reference point for their album Women in Music Pt. III (2020)
• Nazareth's cover of This Flight Tonight reached the top 20 in the UK and number one in Germany
• In late 2025, Amanda Seyfried went viral for her vocal-and-dulcimer performance of California on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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