Cited as an influence by artists from Amy Grant to Prince, singer/songwriter Mitchell came to the US from Canada in the middle 1960's. Learning guitar from a Pete Seeger instruction record, she would progress to the open-tuning experimentation of recent years, influencing a generation of musicians. David Crosby (CSN&Y) discovered her playing alone in a south Florida folk club and immediately got her into a west coast studio, producing her first album ("Song To A Seagull") in 1967. 1970 brought the album "Blue" which featured "River", the song recently featured in the TV spot about the soldier reading the letter from home:
"It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh I wish I had a river
I could skate away on..."
She surfaced in a songwriting sense when Judy Collins covered "Both Sides Now" on her "Wildflowers" album of '67, with husband Josh Rifkin's harpsichord backing. Selling millions, that performance has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Later hits would come from the "Court And Spark" album of 1975, including "Help Me" and "Free Man In Paris". She's sung backup for friends on their albums, most famously for Don Henley and James Taylor projects but also on the Carole King magnum opus "Tapestry".
Mitchell continues to record and has reduced live appearances but does make an exeption to retirement now and again, as with the tour with Bob Dylan in 1998.
Bio written by: Pete_Jamison |
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