Joni Mitchell – Song To A Seagull (1968)

I first heard Joni on the radio; on Sunday mornings Noel Edmunds, before real fame, had a programme where he highlighted a whole host of early Seventies West Coast artists.  Then I saw her in concert on BBC2 and she was singing songs from her first real Masterpiece ‘Blue’.  I was and still remain absolutely bewitched by her, she is totally unique.  I worked my way back to this late Sixties debut, produced by her then boyfriend David Crosby. While quite naïve in some ways and really just a folk album, there was something there, the lyrics, the guitar tunings – and that voice haunting and floating above the melodies.  Of course she became one of the most celebrated singer songwriters after her album ‘Blue’ and drifted into jazz; she never chased popularity and simply wrote and sang exactly what she wanted.  Best on this debut are – ‘Night In The City’, ‘Cactus Tree’ and ‘The Pirate Of Penanace’