Blue (Joni Mitchell album) - Released June, 1971; Reprise Records.
Blue (1971) is the fourth album of Canadian-born singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Exploring the various facets of relationships from infatuation on "A Case of You" to insecurity on "This Flight Tonight", the songs feature simple accompaniments on piano, guitar, and Appalachian dulcimer. Blue was a critical and commercial success, reaching #15 in the Billboard Album charts and #3 in the UK. The single "Carey" reached #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
| Review | by Jason Ankeny |
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Sad, spare, and beautiful, Blue is the quintessential confessional singer/songwriter album. Forthright and poetic, Joni Mitchell's songs are raw nerves, tales of love and loss (two words with relative meaning here) etched with stunning complexity; even tracks like "All I Want," "My Old Man," and "Carey" — the brightest, most hopeful moments on the record — are darkened by bittersweet moments of sorrow and loneliness. At the same time that songs like "Little Green" (about a child given up for adoption) and the title cut (a hymn to salvation supposedly penned for James Taylor) raise the stakes of confessional folk-pop to new levels of honesty and openness, Mitchell's music moves beyond the constraints of acoustic folk into more intricate and diverse territory, setting the stage for the experimentation of her later work. Unrivaled in its intensity and insight, Blue remains a watershed.
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Credits:
| Gary Burden | Art Direction |
| Sneaky Pete Kleinow | Guitar, Pedal Steel, Guitar (Steel) |
| Russ Kunkel | Drums |
| Henry Lewy | Engineer, Audio Engineer |
| Joni Mitchell | Guitar, Piano, Composer, Keyboards, Vocals, Audio Production |
| Stephen Stills | Bass, Guitar, Guitar (Bass) |
| James Taylor Jr. | Guitar |
| James Taylor | Guitar, Vocals |
| 1971 | Blue | The Billboard 200 | 15 |
Track listing
All tracks composed and arranged by Joni Mitchell
- "All I Want" – 3:32
- "My Old Man" – 3:33
- "Little Green" – 3:25
- "Carey" – 3:00
- "Blue" – 3:00
- "California" – 3:48
- "This Flight Tonight" – 2:50
- "River" – 4:00
- "A Case of You" – 4:20
- "The Last Time I Saw Richard" – 4:13
Production
- Engineer - Henry Lewy
- Art Direction - Gary Burden
- Cover Photography - Tim Considine
- A Case of You (lyrics)
- Just before our love got lost you said
I am as constant as a northern star
And I said, constantly in the darkness
Where's that at?
If you want me I'll be in the bar
On the back of a carton coaster
In the blue TV screen light
I drew a map of Canada
Oh Canada
With your face sketched on it twice
Oh you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
And I would still be on my feet
Oh I would still be on my feet
Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And I'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid
I remember that time that you told me, you said
Love is touching souls
Surely you touched mine
Cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time
Oh you're in my blood like holy wine
You taste so bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I would still be on my feet
I met a woman
She had a mouth like yours
She knew your life
She knew your devils and your deeds
And she said
Go to him, stay with him if you can
But be prepared to bleed
Oh but you are in my blood you're my holy wine
You're so bitter, bitter and so sweet
Oh I could drink a case of you darling
Still I'd be on my feet
I would still be on my feet