10 Things You May Not Know About Joni Mitchell

In February of 1968, about a month before the release of her debut album, Joni Mitchell was asked by Broadside magazine to briefly introduce herself.

“Let’s find out where you came from and how you got here,” the interviewer suggested (via jonimitchell.com). “Why don’t you give us, in 200 words or less, the entire story of your life.”

Mitchell proceeded with over 600 words, describing her childhood in rural Canada to her time playing small venues in Toronto to her move to the United States. A month later, Song to a Seagull, produced by Mitchell’s friend David Crosby, was released, and though it only landed at No. 189 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, it was a solid jumping off point for Mitchell.

You might know Mitchell as the “Big Yellow Taxi” singer, but in honor of her birthday, here are some lesser-known facts.

1. At First, She Wanted to Pursue Fashion, Dance or Art, Not Music

Before Mitchell went down a musical path, she was much more interested in pursuing dance, fashion or art — she even ran a fashion-related column for her school paper and attended an art college. “In my teens I loved to dance,” she told Rolling Stone in 1979. “That was my thing. I instigated a Wednesday night dance ’cause I could hardly make it to the weekends. For dancing, I loved Chuck Berry. Ray Charles. ‘What I’d Say.’ I liked Elvis Presley. I liked the Everly Brothers.”

 

2. She Contracted Polio at Age 9

When Mitchell was nine years old, she contracted polio, not long before the vaccine for it was introduced to the public in 1955. She was hospitalized for the disease and put in a wheelchair. “They said I might not walk again, and that I would not be able to go home for Christmas,” Mitchell recalled in the aforementioned Rolling Stone interview. “I wouldn’t go for it. So I started to sing Christmas carols and I used to sing them real loud. When the nurse came into the room I would sing louder. The boy in the bed next to me, you know, used to complain. And I discovered I was a ham. That was the first time I started to sing for people.”

Mitchell recovered, but it led to the muscles in her hands being weaker than normal. This, in part, led to her developing highly unique guitar chords that were easier for her hands and fingers to create.

 

3. Jimi Hendrix Went to See Her Perform in Canada in 1968

Quite literally just a few days before Mitchell’s debut album was released, she performed a show at a coffeehouse in Ottawa, Ontario. In the audience that evening was none other than Jimi Hendrix, who recorded her set and described Mitchell in his diary notes at that time as a “fantastic girl with heaven words.”

 

4. David Crosby Helped Her Land Her First Record Deal

Crosby first saw Mitchell performing at a venue in Coconut Grove, Florida. He instantly knew she was the real deal. “I was just floored,” he recalled in 1997. “I couldn’t believe that there was anybody that good.” Crosby brought her back to Los Angeles with him, where he introduced her to various music industry executives and convinced Reprise Records to make Mitchell’s first album.

 

5. Her First Album Was Dedicated to Her English Teacher

As mentioned, Mitchell was primarily interested in art, and more specifically in painting, when she was younger. It was in 7th grade that her English teacher, Mr. Kratzmann, encouraged her in the fields of poetry and writing. “He said, ‘Well, if you can paint with a brush, you can paint with words,'” Mitchell recalled in 2023. “So, in that act, he gave me permission to do both.” Later, she dedicated her first album, Song to a Seagull, to Mr. Kratzmann.

 

6. ‘Blue’ Was Not a Hit When It Was Released

These days, Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue is hailed as one of the best singer-songwriter albums of all time. But back then, it wasn’t a hit, and was often considered to be much too vulnerable and confessional in nature. “The most feedback that I got was that I had gone too far and was exposing too much of myself,” she said to the Los Angeles Times in 2021. It was only with the passage of time that Blue became thought of as a pinnacle of songwriting.

 

7. She Produced or Coproduced Most of Her Albums

Out of Mitchell’s 19 studio albums, the only one she did not produce herself or coproduce was her debut release. “I figured ‘Gee…You know, did Mozart have a producer?'” Mitchell said in a 1998 interview with Nicole Sander. “No! You have to judge what you’re trying to get at yourself…”

 

8. She Sang Secretly Backstage at ‘The Last Waltz’ Concert

If you’ve watched The Last Waltz, then you know that Neil Young, at one point in the program, sang “Helpless.” During it, an ethereal backing vocal can be heard, which is actually Mitchell singing from behind the curtain. It was done this way to prevent giving away Mitchell’s presence to the audience before her performance slot.

 

9. Harry Styles Hired Her Dulcimer Teacher

Mitchell used a dulcimer — a stringed instrument with a bright, bluegrassy sound — on several songs that were included on Blue. Decades later, pop star and devoted Mitchell fan Harry Styles tracked down the woman who had given Mitchell her very first dulcimer, Joellen Lapidus, asking her if she could teach him to play it. (Styles has also been a guest at Mitchell’s famous Joni Jams held at her home in California.)

 

10. She Holds Dual Canadian and American Citizenship

Mitchell hails from Canada, but has lived in the U.S. since the 1965 and holds dual citizenship. As of 2006, she was splitting her time between Los Angeles and a home in British Columbia, Canada. “L.A. is my workplace, B.C. is my heartbeat,” she told the Ottawa Citizen then.