Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters with Joni Mitchell

by Susan Whitall (Editor)

Few artists are as intriguing as Joni Mitchell. She was a solidly middle-class, buttoned-up bohemian; an anti-feminist who loved men but scorned free love; a female warrior taking on the male music establishment. She was both the party girl with torn stockings and the sensitive poet.

She often said she would be criticized for staying the same or changing, so why not take the less boring option? Her earthy, poetic lyrics (“the geese in chevron flight” in “Urge for Going”), the phrases that are now part of the culture (“They paved paradise, put up a parking lot”), and the unusual melodic intervals traced by that lissome voice earned her the status of a pop legend. Fearless experimentation ensured that she will also be seen as one of the most important musicians of the twentieth century.

Joni on Joni is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of some of Mitchell’s most illuminating interviews, spanning the years 1966 to 2014. It includes revealing pieces from her early years in Canada and Detroit along with influential articles such as Cameron Crowe’s never-before-anthologized Rolling Stone piece. Interspersed throughout the book are key quotes from dozens of additional Q&As. Together, this material paints a revealing picture of the artist— bragging and scornful, philosophical and deep, but also a beguiling flirt.

Genres: Music, Biography

416 pages, Hardcover

Published November 6, 2018

About the author

Susan Whitall is an award-winning journalist and author.
She was born in Philadelphia, and moved to Detroit with her family at age 10.
She joined Detroit-based Creem Magazine as a writer and editor in 1975, and became editor in 1978.
A second edition of "Women of Motown" (DeVault-Graves), an oral history of the girl groups and women artists who put Motown on the map, is available online and in select stores, including the Book Beat in metro Detroit (thebookbeat.com) and Pure Detroit Stores.
Her bio of Little Willie John, "Fever: Little Willie John's Fast Life, Mysterious Death and the Birth of Soul" was chosen as a "Michigan Notable Book" for 2012 by the Library of Michigan, an honor reserved for just 20 books each year.
She is currently working on "Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters" for Chicago Review Press, and several other projects.

Reviews

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to think of another musician of the era who exuded artistry like Joni Mitchell. She is herself a work of art. Her music transcends genre and her painting is as musical as her music is visual. Her writing is poetic and lyrical, and her guitar work is distinct and evocative. I think it's fair to say that she proved herself more dynamic than even the heaviest of her peers; Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison - as great as they are, none of them explored more territory with as much aplomb and authority as the girl from Saskatoon. Her conversation, as this book well illustrates, is also a form of improvisational art, as engaging as her other means of expression. Most people will remember her as a sixties icon – an archetypal hippie and author of classics like “Woodstock,” “Both Sides Now,” and “Big Yellow Taxi.” In my humble opinion though, it was her jazz collaborations with the likes of Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorious, Pat Metheny, and Wayne Shorter that really set her apart. She really knows how to tell a story, and where to place the chords. Reading these interviews is a great way to absorb even more of the depth conveyed in her art.

[Sylvia Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent summary of joni mitchells musical development through the various articles and interviews she gave. Some repetition as each writer tries to summarise her life up to the point they interview her- but it is easy to skip the odd paragraph and sometime a new snippet spills out too. I was never sure i would like her as a person - often I like someone's art but not the person - but i did with her - i got her- the struggles she had- the stance she had to take so often so defend her own truth - i so relate to that with my own writing- though i am not in her league of course, but y poetry also tells stories more often than not- as her songs do. I grew up with her influence musically and poetically so I am a loyal follower of the development of her career and fortunately i always liked jazz too - listened to Gershwin etc at the same time as listened to BLUE so her progression into jazz sounds felt fine to me. I doubt you will ever get close to a memoir than this. Publishing friends have said what that contract would be worth but it wont happen now - so this is a happy compromise - apart from her own songs and the stories they also tell us.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone (at 49) who has finally discovered, and is finally ready for, such an intense and poetic musician as Joni, this book has further increased my respect and admiration for her works. And for her. Each of the 27 original interviews has been helpfully arranged chronologically, and is accompanied by a brief preface from editor Susan Whitall that places it in context. Any revisions such as place names, major events in Joni’s discography, spellings, etc. are indicated as well. Above all, Joni’s storytelling abilities and timeless wisdom on topics like artistic originality (and mediocrity), the timing/mood required to be moved by a particular piece, and the finding of inspiration shine throughout the collection. If her music moves you, so will this!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed a lot of this as I do not know the "scene" well enough to have the names and events be meaningful. Of interest was that her husband Chuck Mitchell was from my hometown of Rochester MI and they were married here (I was away at college or I am sure I would have been invited). Inspired me to listen again to her music.

[Deborah Sowery-Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of interviews with Mitchell over the course of her career. For fans only.

[Elaine]

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