Ladies of the Canyon

LADIES OF THE CANYON

Released: April 1970

Morning Morgantown

For Free

Conversation

Ladies of the Canyon

Willy

The Arrangement

Rainy Night House

The Priest

Blue Boy

Big Yellow Taxi

Woodstock

The Circle Game

Ladies of the Canyon is the third studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released on Reprise Records in 1970. It peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The title makes reference to Laurel Canyon, a center of popular music culture in Los Angeles during the 1960s, where Mitchell lived while she was writing the album.^[11] Specifically, Mitchell lived and wrote at 8217 Lookout Mountain Avenue, the house which is the subject of Graham Nash's "Our House". The album includes several of Mitchell's most noted songs, such as "Big Yellow Taxi", "Woodstock" and "The Circle Game".

The album is notable for its expansion of Mitchell's artistic vision and its varied song topics (ranging from the aesthetic weight of celebrity, to observation of the Woodstock generation, to the complexities of love). Ladies of the Canyon is often viewed as a transition between Mitchell's folky earlier work and the more sophisticated, poignant albums that were to follow. In particular, "For Free" foreshadows the lyrical leitmotif of the isolation triggered by success that would be elaborated upon in For the Roses and Court and Spark. The sparse, alternative-tuning laden sound of later records comes to the forefront on "Ladies of the Canyon".^[12]

From Wikipedia

In 2025 our greatest middle to long term existential threat is the build-up of an odourless, colourless gas in the atmosphere that actually is supposed to be there anyway (obviously I’m ignoring the rather more pressing concerns around the collapse of democracy and the triumph of the narcissist in the World Leader stakes). Back in 1970, we knew that the environment was important and the march of industry could have a detrimental effect, but really, we didn’t think much beyond trying to make everyone pick up their litter. It feels like Joni does a little bit of eco-bandwagon jumping on her most celebrated song, which appears on this album. In ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ she implores that “Farmer, farmer” should put away his DDT now. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane was a bit of a cause celebre in the early seventies but I’m not entirely convinced that Joni has much idea about what it is or does, she just knows that it’s a Bad Thing and so shoves it in her song. Certainly, it doesn’t directly reduce the number of spots on apples because it’s an insecticide. I suppose it would have been effective in stopping the wasps from burrowing in, but the consequence of that is a little more damaging than a ‘spot’ that we can happily ignore. To cut to the chase, I find that part of the message of Big Yellow Taxi a little half-baked. I should also mention that “Farmer, farmer”, always reminds me of the Viz comic strip, ‘Farmer Palmer’, who spent his time driving his tractor slowly along narrow country roads when he wasn’t blocking them with his herd of sheep and shouting “GET OFF MOI LAAAND!”. Undoubtedly he would have used DDT without compunction.

What else? That funny voice and giggle at the end. I’m sure humanity is split neatly in two as to whether you find it adorable or intensely annoying. Many claim it is fake. I don’t know, it seems genuine enough to me, but really, I’d have advised doing another take. BYT does seem to drop into the album from nowehere. The rest of it is very similar to what has come before, but the production seems much deeper and richer than the rest of the material.

I found Joni’s vocal swoops a bit distracting. It’s folk singing, so I get it, but everything about this album feels like she’s trying a bit too hard.

The other notable song here is ‘Woodstock’ which feels like a departure from her usual style (although the vocal gymnastics do continue). Wikipedia reckons that the CSNY version is the best know in the US, while in the UK we like the Matthews Southern Comfort version. I’ll take either over Joni’s.

I’m aware I’ve been harsh on her here. The songs are generally good and whether I claim to like it’s content or not, Big Yellow Taxi is memorable and has had a huge cultural impact. I just found this all a little forced.