Hits

The most famous song here is surely Both sides now, which has been covered by many singers since Judy Collins had a hit with it. Legend has it that Joni rang Judy in the small hours one morning and sang it to her, begging her to record. Neither of them were especially well known at the time, but Judy was more widely recognised than Joni. After the song became a big hit (in Britain and America), both quickly established themselves. Judy also covered Chelsea morning, another fine song of Joni's included here.

Woodstock, a song about the pop concert of 1969, was a British number one hit for Matthews southern comfort in 1971. They never had another hit.

Big yellow taxi was Joni's biggest hit by far - it just missed the top ten in Britain, although I must confess I'm not sure if the hit was the original studio version (included here) or a live recording. I know that it was the live version that was a hit in America.

Country singer Gail Davies did a lovely cover of You turn me on I'm a radio, but my favorite song here (apart from Both sides now) is Chinese café, a song which cleverly weaves a segment of Unchained melody into the lyrics. I'd love to hear Joni sing Unchained melody on its own, but I don't actually recall her covering anybody else's songs - and why should she, when she can write such great songs as those here?

Of course, these are generally her best songs. They are not the only ones worth hearing, but this a good place to start a Joni Mitchell collection. Her style changed somewhat over the years, so you can easily decide which other albums to go for after hearing this.