You start out with a Hootenany-style intro, and then Joni solos and blows a hole in the fabric of the universe. The show's producers got a major lucky break to discover her when she was still an unknown quantity.
Can you say “hyperbole”? In any case: Presumably these producers saw Joni as an asset since they retained her-for how long I don’t know-but whether they considered her an asset far beyond those of the other members of the cast seems to me doubtful. It would depend, of course, what their particular intentions for her were, not at all on whether she became famous in the future. Her future fame was not at all “a major lucky break” for the show’s producers; it affected them not at all. Rather, it was a “major lucky break” for Joni herself.
You put together a little folk group in college. One singer shows up for the first practice, opens her mouth, and you know she's going to be a star. Then she plays one of the songs she has written after you have run through the Pete Seeger repetoire, and you realize she is going to be the best artist of your generation. You get married, become an industrial engineer, or something like that, give up music and have a nice middle class existence. But, you will always have the memory of that blazing, shining talent, in her infancy.
Yeah, there's a lot of derision in these comments about her fellow musicians, but a cocked head is a sure sign of curiosity. Jimmy Driftwood and the man to her left were fascinated and awed, in my opinion.
First of all: she’s drop dead gorgeous. Second of all: she opens her mouth and that amazing voice rolls out. Third of all: she’s so together and professional with a unique guitar tuning that turns all the old English folky songs they’ve ever heard on their ear. Fourth of all: all that hootenanny bs has been out-classed in the coolest, most unique way. So you never forget your brush with greatness: You’ve just been exposed to possibly the greatest talent/poet of her generation.
I agree with mist of that... With a left hand weakened from a childhood battle with polio, Mitchell simply couldn’t press down on the strings as hard as her peers “In the beginning, I built the repertoire of the open major tunings that the old black blues guys came up with,” Mitchell told journalist Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers in 1996. “It was only three or four. The simplest one is D modal [D A D G B D]; Neil Young uses that a lot. And then open G [D G D G B D], with the fifth string removed, which is all Keith Richards plays in. And open D [D A D F#A D]. Then going between them I started to get more ‘modern’ chords, for lack of a better word.”
The only thing different about the tuning is the capo. She uses different tunings on several songs, but this isn't one of them. Also, she wrote the song, so not "English, folky". Don't make fun of those old guys - they were showing her respect.
People like you should stop denigrating Joni's fellow musicians as BS. I don't like it, others don't like it, Joni wouldn't like it. Show some respect and pick up guitar yourself, if you're capable. Then apologise.
Laurel canyon and joni mitchell were manufactured by the gov as bread and circus. Shes crowned by the queen for her imperialism and exploitation of minorities via western violence
@@sonicboy19 I guess that sometimes a decisive moment where one of the single most important monument of humanity’s popular culture silently takes shape happens to simply be someone singing a song.
You watch this, and wonder "how could she ever get any better than this? It's perfect in a way". Yet she did. Then she did again. Then she did again and again and again.
@@terrysutton2950 That line was actually in Joni’s original version, but only in the final iteration of the chorus, whereas CSNY put it in every repetition (they needed more words with their more rhythmic rendition).
Geez! She is such a great talent. I’ve never heard this song before. She can do it all. She writes, she plays instruments, she sings beautifully and she is an amazing artist too. Joni is definitely one in a million.👍👍🇨🇦
I do too and wish people were more accepting of this type of style today. Subtle soulfulness and honesty can have a much greater impact than when someone tries too hard to give a hit you over the head visual performance or high volume music with no substance. We can thank MTV for killing the singer-songwriters’ popularity in mainstream music when it changed music into a primarily visual medium.
After listening to this, it makes you wonder why today we prefer songs with engineered voices, with lyrics impossible to decipher without looking at a printed page, that have no meaning even after we figure out what they are saying, played at a volume so loud it numbs our senses. What Joni gave us here is none of the above ... and without any bombastic laser show either. THIS is music. I wish more people today knew what they were missing.
The sound quality for this old performance is amazing, and her playing and singing is flawless. She’s so calmly sure of herself, yet utterly mesmerizing to everyone else.
How often in a century, does creativity and inner and outer beauty operate in unison like this... Sometimes I find it so beautiful and timeless I can't watch anymore. One wants it to last forever, but it's ephemeral. Betty Carter does that to me as well, why couldn't she have had 50 more good years, if you know what I mean. Now, it's a vacuum, in the music world, lucky for the recorded legacy.
Wow. I wonder if anyone in that room realised they were staring at a genius and the future of music. I think Mr Driftwood was blown away after 30 seconds. The host's guitar was soo outa tune. He was very Might Wind
...right? I've been a Joni fan my entire life, and had never seen this. It was like Mozart playing in front of Salieri. Everyone is quietly stunned... My lifelong angel, I can't imagine a world without Joni and her music.
Same here; I heard Rush do it around 1968 in Harvard Square, figured it was his. It was also on an Ian & Sylvia album, I believe. Then 2 yrs in the Army, didn't know about Joanie Mitchell until friend gave me the Blue album in '71. Best, most honest album I have ever owned, always have a CD of it in the house.
Someday soon ( :) ) Joni will be "rediscovered" by the next generation and they will proclaim her stellar brilliance... which we all knew who grew up in the 60s
The dude with the cowboy hat seems to be stunned when she starts singing. No wonder Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever". Everything about her is stunning.
The dude in the hat is Jimmy Driftwood, a legendary songwriter in his own right and I am SURE he knew he was witnessing a new kind of genius and that it was very emotional for him.
Yup. What Joshua said. Jimmy wrote fine story songs and even won a Grammy or two, but he drew on history and humor... Not deep heart-felt emotions, unless you count that alligator having its head blown off in "Battle of New Orleans" or the two-species romance of "Tennessee Stud." :-) Both are wonderful songwriters.
Jimmy Driftwood was a prolific songwriter who wrote the 28th best song in the first 50 years of the recording industry, according to Billboard magazine. The million selling Battle of New Orleans.
When I was in my late teens, Joni lived in Detroit with her then husband. They used to sing at a coffee house called the Chessmate on Livernois, near the University of Detroit. We used to go there most weekends. I saw her many times after that, but always remember those early days.
"But when the leaves came trembling down and bully winds did rub their faces in the snow." My God, what a glorious image. These lucky folks were blessed with a encounter with true genius, what a marvelous performance.
The whole song rings particularly true for those of us who, like Joni, grew up in Saskatchewan. Summer is brief and glorious here, the winters long and hard, and the metaphor of the fleetingness of youth and the impermanence of all things is not lost on us.
Unbelievable... she emerges from a hokey intro to offer a timeless performance. Sound quality unexpectedly good. Watch the reactions of her bandmates. (Mitchell discovered that she was pregnant by her Calgary ex-boyfriend Brad MacMath in late 1964. She later wrote, "[He] left me three months pregnant in an attic room with no money and winter coming on and only a fireplace for heat. The spindles of the banister were gap-toothed-fuel for last winter's occupants. She gave birth to a baby girl in February 1965. Unable to provide for her daughter, Kelly Dale Anderson, she placed her for adoption. The experience remained private for most of Mitchell's career, although she alluded to it in several songs.) - Wikipedia So, this is the guy who Urge for Going is written about.
Exactly. Imagine being of the requisite musical sensibility, circa 1966, unassumingly expecting the usual run-of-the-mill sort of folkishness (worthy as it might be in its own way, however ploddingly predictable) and unexpectedly coming upon such an exquisitely artistic apparition as Mme Mitchell presented as she and her music so beautifully and triumphantly emerged 'midst the (by comparison) mediocrity-- amazing, phenomenal! As one's head understandably exploded, one might stammer out: *What* the-- ?! *Who* the-- ?! But *how*--!?-- before one gave it up and surrendered to the wonder of it. Makes me think of the now-iconic intros to the American TV series "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits" (both of which had ended their runs the year before this aired), mashed together : "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture... You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination..." Puts me in mind, also, of an account that Crosby gives in his first autobiography, about how (in the early days before her first album) he'd bring Joni out of the woodwork unannounced to play for his stoned &/or tripping Laurel Canyon cronies-- they'd listen, absolutely transfixed, minds boggled; after she'd leave they'd be sincerely and piteously wondering if they'd hallucinated the performance-- the music being so impossibly good, the singer so impossibly ethereal! Cheers!
@@nuthineatholl6434 Alternatively she might have been ignored. I think the story went like that for a while yet - broke, despondent, even rejected by folk clubs. But genius isn't often denied and the journey to Cali in the next couple of years paid off in spades
i mean, i guess it is hokey, but these are the roots of music. this style emerged from country, folk, church, and camp fire music. its a style of music. just like "happy hardcore" is a style of music. it has a tone. it has its own themes. its not bad music. just different. imagine listening to mens quartet music from the 50's. its a different world. and from that sprang groups like Frankie Valley, the Beach Boys, and the The Beegees, which completely took the tone and themes in another direction.
That's awesome. Those two old boys from the New Town Kingsmen standing on either side of Joni look like they're staring in incomprehension, realising their time is up. The future has arrived.
In fairness to them, I think they are also trying to work out which chords she is playing so that they can accompany her. They might not have encountered Open tunings that often before.
Maybe as accomplished musicians they appreciated her talent immensely and weren’t poisoned by sanctimony like you are. You have no idea what those two old boys were thinking, only what you’re projecting.
50+ years later and I am just as entranced as the people on the stage who appear to be in rapture. Her transcendant beauty combined with her already assured singing here is quite incredible. Glad this has been preserved, and thank you for posting.
The Poetry here is beyond compare. "But when the leaves came trembling down and bully winds did rub their faces in the snow..." No one ever wrote a line so pregnant with image and experience. Eat your heart out W.S. Her phrasing is impeccable, too.
And I was 13 on the 24th of October ...the clipboard I had to rush home from school to see the tailend of let's sing out and I remember seeing her play this song. I had never seen anything so beautiful
Yeah. I didnt know about until the "Hits" and "Misses" albums came out. After I heard it the first time a played it every day right after a got home for 2 or 3 weeks@@frankieelen7238
Experienced her during a "power outage" one summer in early 1970s Mississippi River Festival at Edwardsville, IL. SIU Campus. She played outside under pavilion by candlelight and it couldn't have been better!
The look on the face of the cowboy hat guy is priceless. "Don't recognize that hootenany song. What th....." Going from the hootenany to a whole new universe. Folk music changes forever.
Blown me away. The juxtaposition between the intro sequence and her playing by herself is startling. It's like a miracle happening. I don't think those present would have forgotten that night.
Joni Mitchell had that audience in the palm of her little hand. She was not only flawless musically and lyrically, but her look was more innocent and pure than a fawn playing in the woods. Stunningly adorable. No wonder Graham Nash fell in love w her.
I saw her in Ambler PA at the Temple Music Festival, during her Miles of Aisles Tour. Which was kind of a compilation of all her stuff up through Court and Spark. Glad I caught it.
Holy shit. I haven't watched this video for quite some time. As soon as she started to sing, I was (once again) struck by its (and her) beauty, sincerity and depth. *** Tears began to flow. Wow! *** I can see how David Crosby of CSNY was absolutely floored/knocked on his ass, the first time he saw/heard Mitchell playing live in some random, US coffee shop wayyyyyy back in the sixties. LL
Do a little research before running off at the mouth. Jimmy Driftwood was a singer songwriter from the 1930's on and had a huge body of work at the time of this clip. Not at all a "modest talent"
I didn't know music could be this beautiful.....my G O D......this is my very first time listening to this artist...David Gilmour quoted her in one of his documentaries....and i decided to hear for myself..Truely beautiful.
Beautiful. This kind of thing, Joni and her haunting songs, happens far too infrequently in this world. It just vexes and demands we be here and in the present (even though it's from decades ago). Maybe that's why we cherish it so...
@@Cryo837 Jimmy Driftwood was still getting big royalty checks from Johnny Hortons version of Battle of New Orleans in 1966 and would for the rest of his life. Dozens of other artists, some of the biggest in the business like Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and , Leon Russell and dozens more recorded it. It was used in movies and tv shows. Youre more likely to be begging Walmart for a job than Jimmy Driftwood was, even if he was from Arkansas. And then there are the other 300 songs he wrote that were recorded by other artists. How many have you written?
Agreed. It's strange that her mid-70's BBC concert, recorded at the height of her popularity, doesn't seem to have survived, while her earliest television performances from Canada in the 60's when no one knew who she was were preserved. I'm definitely thankful that they were!
I was just reading that modern popular lyrics are written at a much lower grade level than they were in the 60s and 70s...this is definitely solid evidence.
The voice, the face, the musical artistry that brought the guys from Led Zep to the USA looking to meet her. They too knew a goddess when they saw and heard one. "Goin' to California," their homage to Joni Mitchell.
Joni is a shimmering reflection of the light of God here. A blinding glint that pierces the soul. Tony Rice does a wonderful cover of this song. I didn't know Joni wrote it until now.
She's breathtakingly beautiful.
Her fellow musicians realise Joni is different class - look at their faces.
The chords alone
Yeah noticed that.
Yep
They sure did realize that Joni, was one in a billion!
Yep. Joni is taking them to school!
You start out with a Hootenany-style intro, and then Joni solos and blows a hole in the fabric of the universe. The show's producers got a major lucky break to discover her when she was still an unknown quantity.
Can you say “hyperbole”? In any case: Presumably these producers saw Joni as an asset since they retained her-for how long I don’t know-but whether they considered her an asset far beyond those of the other members of the cast seems to me doubtful. It would depend, of course, what their particular intentions for her were, not at all on whether she became famous in the future. Her future fame was not at all “a major lucky break” for the show’s producers; it affected them not at all. Rather, it was a “major lucky break” for Joni herself.
You put together a little folk group in college. One singer shows up for the first practice, opens her mouth, and you know she's going to be a star. Then she plays one of the songs she has written after you have run through the Pete Seeger repetoire, and you realize she is going to be the best artist of your generation.
You get married, become an industrial engineer, or something like that, give up music and have a nice middle class existence.
But, you will always have the memory of that blazing, shining talent, in her infancy.
Wow. Lucky you.
It takes a lot of hurt to find this kind of artistry,
Very well said.
Thank you for starting this if that's what you're saying. What a great college memory.
Look at the expressions on the guys faces on stage..... they are in shock and awe
Those people were thunderstruck that day. They will be old now but will never forget hearing this legend just blooming.
I'm 82 now, and Joni Mitchell is the only one that can bring me back to my golden years of youth.
I'm not so old as you but share your sentiment. Thanks.
hypnotic. you get the feeling everyone in the audience, including her fellow musicians were just in awe of her presence and talent.
That's what I was thinking, just pure awe.
Astounding moment, plainly evident. Historical.
Didn't see your remark, thought exactly the same...
Yeah, there's a lot of derision in these comments about her fellow musicians, but a cocked head is a sure sign of curiosity. Jimmy Driftwood and the man to her left were fascinated and awed, in my opinion.
and especially her guitar playiing aside from the lyrics
First of all: she’s drop dead gorgeous. Second of all: she opens her mouth and that amazing voice rolls out. Third of all: she’s so together and professional with a unique guitar tuning that turns all the old English folky songs they’ve ever heard on their ear. Fourth of all: all that hootenanny bs has been out-classed in the coolest, most unique way. So you never forget your brush with greatness: You’ve just been exposed to possibly the greatest talent/poet of her generation.
I agree with mist of that...
With a left hand weakened from a childhood battle with polio, Mitchell simply couldn’t press down on the strings as hard as her peers
“In the beginning, I built the repertoire of the open major tunings that the old black blues guys came up with,” Mitchell told journalist Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers in 1996. “It was only three or four. The simplest one is D modal [D A D G B D]; Neil Young uses that a lot. And then open G [D G D G B D], with the fifth string removed, which is all Keith Richards plays in. And open D [D A D F#A D]. Then going between them I started to get more ‘modern’ chords, for lack of a better word.”
The only thing different about the tuning is the capo. She uses different tunings on several songs, but this isn't one of them. Also, she wrote the song, so not "English, folky". Don't make fun of those old guys - they were showing her respect.
People like you should stop denigrating Joni's fellow musicians as BS. I don't like it, others don't like it, Joni wouldn't like it.
Show some respect and pick up guitar yourself, if you're capable. Then apologise.
Laurel canyon and joni mitchell were manufactured by the gov as bread and circus. Shes crowned by the queen for her imperialism and exploitation of minorities via western violence
Wow. Truly amazing. And yes, just gorgeous.
does everyone realize how monumental this is?
Sadly no - but monumental it is, and appreciate it they should!
It’s hittin’ me right now yeah
Oh my, yes.
@@sonicboy19 I guess that sometimes a decisive moment where one of the single most important monument of humanity’s popular culture silently takes shape happens to simply be someone singing a song.
Her CBC Performances were next,,, Beginning a monumental body of Music and Art,, Watch her Magdelain Laundries on TH-cam Much Music,, later Joni
You watch this, and wonder "how could she ever get any better than this? It's perfect in a way". Yet she did. Then she did again. Then she did again and again and again.
❤❤❤
A few years later she was telling us ‘We are stardust, we are golden, billion year old carbon’. I can barely breathe.
#CantalizedGrace
The billion year old carbon was added by CSN&Y.
@@terrysutton2950 That line was actually in Joni’s original version, but only in the final iteration of the chorus, whereas CSNY put it in every repetition (they needed more words with their more rhythmic rendition).
@@vinista256 noted
@@terrysutton2950 No it wasn't... go listen to the original
This is Nobel-Prize-in-Literature quality
Dylan first, Joni next.
Good Lord She was beautiful and sang like a meadow lark!
***** She was beautiful, wasn't she? And you know what? She still is. Get well soon, Joni. WE LOVE YOU !!!
our beaiful bird+ sweet bird at hat.....
100years from now,her songs will still be listened to. ❤️🎶
Geez! She is such a great talent. I’ve never heard this song before. She can do it all. She writes, she plays instruments, she sings beautifully and she is an amazing artist too. Joni is definitely one in a million.👍👍🇨🇦
i love how shy and humble she is, then she just gets up there and kicks ass with her amazing voice and songwriting.
I do too and wish people were more accepting of this type of style today. Subtle soulfulness and honesty can have a much greater impact than when someone tries too hard to give a hit you over the head visual performance or high volume music with no substance. We can thank MTV for killing the singer-songwriters’ popularity in mainstream music when it changed music into a primarily visual medium.
It wasn't a competition, but I hear what you saying.
Or the big note, the over singing is legion. Joni's "visual" here is actually kind of stunning. @@justintime42000
After listening to this, it makes you wonder why today we prefer songs with engineered voices, with lyrics impossible to decipher without looking at a printed page, that have no meaning even after we figure out what they are saying, played at a volume so loud it numbs our senses. What Joni gave us here is none of the above ... and without any bombastic laser show either. THIS is music. I wish more people today knew what they were missing.
Because talent
they could careless....the audiences are in a fog
Because nobody can sing even close to this. Good for her but this is just bragging
OF COURSE. Stop complaining and make/support anyone who does real and good music.
you are absolutely right brother
The sound quality for this old performance is amazing, and her playing and singing is flawless. She’s so calmly sure of herself, yet utterly mesmerizing to everyone else.
She has such a beautiful voice, and she handles it so perfectly.
This song always sounded so timeless. Like it could be medieval or something. It's so mesmerising. This is an incredible performance.
It's one of her best songs and a lot of people aren't aware of it.
Joni is like.... from another world altogether.......
Yep.
i don't think she's an alien..but i see your point
How often in a century, does creativity and inner and outer beauty operate in unison like this... Sometimes I find it so beautiful and timeless I can't watch anymore. One wants it to last forever, but it's ephemeral. Betty Carter does that to me as well, why couldn't she have had 50 more good years, if you know what I mean. Now, it's a vacuum, in the music world, lucky for the recorded legacy.
I am happy that Joni is from our world!
Wow. I wonder if anyone in that room realised they were staring at a genius and the future of music. I think Mr Driftwood was blown away after 30 seconds. The host's guitar was soo outa tune. He was very Might Wind
Joni is one of Canada's greatest national treasures. She was world-class from the very beginning.
the entire digital revolution was worth it so we could see this video. Thank you!
...right? I've been a Joni fan my entire life, and had never seen this. It was like Mozart playing in front of Salieri. Everyone is quietly stunned... My lifelong angel, I can't imagine a world without Joni and her music.
Yeah, there's a lot of shit in the digital realm but being able to witness this is very special!
totally!
Maybe the best reason so far. I don't know if it was all worth it but this is great...
Yesssssssssssssss!
I've watch this every day for a while and I don't think I'll be stopping anytime soon.
OMG. I thought for the last 5 decades that Tom Rush wrote that. Figures she did it. Ungodly brilliance. She had and has no peer.
Thanks, I was trying to remember who owned the male voice for which I first heard this song. That was before I knew about the amazing Joni.
Word.
I've checked this out and it was actually Joni Mitchell who wrote the song, not Tom Rush. At least that's what documents say.
Same here; I heard Rush do it around 1968 in Harvard Square, figured it was his. It was also on an Ian & Sylvia album, I believe. Then 2 yrs in the Army, didn't know about Joanie Mitchell until friend gave me the Blue album in '71. Best, most honest album I have ever owned, always have a CD of it in the house.
Im going to guess that someone knew this needed to be preserved
As close to perfection as a human can achieve in this art form.
We're all Salieris to her Mozart
Someday soon ( :) ) Joni will be "rediscovered" by the next generation and they will proclaim her stellar brilliance... which we all knew who grew up in the 60s
Cf Grammy Awards,.2024. Note the physical resemblance to a certain T Swift...
Not likely.
Her legend has endured at least since 'Blue' - and has never really receded.
The dude with the cowboy hat seems to be stunned when she starts singing. No wonder Rolling Stone called her "one of the greatest songwriters ever". Everything about her is stunning.
Levi Must The Rolling Stone is hardly a "Touchstone", they dumped on Roy Buchanan.
The dude in the hat is Jimmy Driftwood, a legendary songwriter in his own right and I am SURE he knew he was witnessing a new kind of genius and that it was very emotional for him.
Yup. What Joshua said. Jimmy wrote fine story songs and even won a Grammy or two, but he drew on history and humor... Not deep heart-felt emotions, unless you count that alligator having its head blown off in "Battle of New Orleans" or the two-species romance of "Tennessee Stud." :-)
Both are wonderful songwriters.
Jimmy Driftwood was a prolific songwriter who wrote the 28th best song in the first 50 years of the recording industry, according to Billboard magazine. The million selling Battle of New Orleans.
People, she is from another dimensiom, spreading the message of peace and purity. Absolutely beautiful. :(
When I was in my late teens, Joni lived in Detroit with her then husband. They used to sing at a coffee house called the Chessmate on Livernois, near the University of Detroit. We used to go there most weekends. I saw her many times after that, but always remember those early days.
"But when the leaves came trembling down and bully winds did rub their faces in the snow." My God, what a glorious image. These lucky folks were blessed with a encounter with true genius, what a marvelous performance.
there's an alternate to this: "but when leaves fell to the ground and bully winds came and pushed them face down in the snow."
I just quoted those lines in a new post - before I read your post ... !
The whole song rings particularly true for those of us who, like Joni, grew up in Saskatchewan. Summer is brief and glorious here, the winters long and hard, and the metaphor of the fleetingness of youth and the impermanence of all things is not lost on us.
So many songs of that period were ,es,erizing in their poetic wonder. Simon and Garfunkle, Joni, and many more. A lost art so it seems.
I looked up beautiful in the dictionary and it said: see this video.
Sweetness defined is that comment!
I concur!!
Not true, but Joni does have a beautiful voice.
❤really I believe you ...🎉
Wow, nice comment...:)
Unbelievable... she emerges from a hokey intro to offer a timeless performance. Sound quality unexpectedly good. Watch the reactions of her bandmates.
(Mitchell discovered that she was pregnant by her Calgary ex-boyfriend Brad MacMath in late 1964. She later wrote, "[He] left me three months pregnant in an attic room with no money and winter coming on and only a fireplace for heat. The spindles of the banister were gap-toothed-fuel for last winter's occupants. She gave birth to a baby girl in February 1965. Unable to provide for her daughter, Kelly Dale Anderson, she placed her for adoption. The experience remained private for most of Mitchell's career, although she alluded to it in several songs.)
- Wikipedia
So, this is the guy who Urge for Going is written about.
Exactly. Imagine being of the requisite musical sensibility, circa 1966, unassumingly expecting the usual run-of-the-mill sort of folkishness (worthy as it might be in its own way, however ploddingly predictable) and unexpectedly coming upon such an exquisitely artistic apparition as Mme Mitchell presented as she and her music so beautifully and triumphantly emerged 'midst the (by comparison) mediocrity-- amazing, phenomenal! As one's head understandably exploded, one might stammer out: *What* the-- ?! *Who* the-- ?! But *how*--!?-- before one gave it up and surrendered to the wonder of it.
Makes me think of the now-iconic intros to the American TV series "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits" (both of which had ended their runs the year before this aired), mashed together : "There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture... You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination..."
Puts me in mind, also, of an account that Crosby gives in his first autobiography, about how (in the early days before her first album) he'd bring Joni out of the woodwork unannounced to play for his stoned &/or tripping Laurel Canyon cronies-- they'd listen, absolutely transfixed, minds boggled; after she'd leave they'd be sincerely and piteously wondering if they'd hallucinated the performance-- the music being so impossibly good, the singer so impossibly ethereal! Cheers!
Exactly my feelings!
Agreed, totally. None left to say, and yet it's done; just for the sake of underlining what you pointed out precisely.
@@nuthineatholl6434 Alternatively she might have been ignored. I think the story went like that for a while yet - broke, despondent, even rejected by folk clubs. But genius isn't often denied and the journey to Cali in the next couple of years paid off in spades
i mean, i guess it is hokey, but these are the roots of music. this style emerged from country, folk, church, and camp fire music. its a style of music. just like "happy hardcore" is a style of music. it has a tone. it has its own themes. its not bad music. just different. imagine listening to mens quartet music from the 50's. its a different world. and from that sprang groups like Frankie Valley, the Beach Boys, and the The Beegees, which completely took the tone and themes in another direction.
This is pure raw talent of the highest degree - the songwriting, melody, singing, lyrics, guitar, all is wonderful. And she looks beautiful too.
I love the way the bloke in the hat suddenly realises he is listening to a major poet, rather than a bit of a girl.
Yes...its written Al over his face, like when Clapton realised that hendrix was better than him.
It just showed that Clapton's judgement wasn't on a par with his music.
That’s jimmy driftwood, who wrote some great country songs.
I agree what a chap, good on him, I doubt if many of us could recognise greatness that quickly.
She didn’t write this song, so it is her performance that is stunning.
Her poetic imagery is beautiful.
Yes. And suerly if Dylan deserves a Nobel for his poetry, Joni does too! I hope they get around to giving it to her before she leaves us.
That's awesome. Those two old boys from the New Town Kingsmen standing on either side of Joni look like they're staring in incomprehension, realising their time is up. The future has arrived.
In fairness to them, I think they are also trying to work out which chords she is playing so that they can accompany her. They might not have encountered Open tunings that often before.
Dave Costello just thinking the same thing. Those dudes were completely blown away...
that is actually one of the very few songs that Joni wrote in EADGBE. :)
Game over man, game over
Maybe as accomplished musicians they appreciated her talent immensely and weren’t poisoned by sanctimony like you are. You have no idea what those two old boys were thinking, only what you’re projecting.
50+ years later and I am just as entranced as the people on the stage who appear to be in rapture.
Her transcendant beauty combined with her already assured singing here is quite incredible.
Glad this has been preserved, and thank you for posting.
One of the great moments in music history.
I love the perplexed look on the guy with the glasses, like omg god what I am listening to here.
What could be more perfect than this performance? Joni, radiant, with the voice of an angel and effortlessly playing her guitar to perfection.
The Poetry here is beyond compare. "But when the leaves came trembling down and bully winds did rub their faces in the snow..." No one ever wrote a line so pregnant with image and experience. Eat your heart out W.S. Her phrasing is impeccable, too.
She never fails to move me.
Pure magic-their faces in shock-hearing something so mesmerizing and haunting. Unfortunately she wasn't able to sing the full song...
Actually, this tune is one of the rare Joni tunes that's played in standard tuning. River is another one. Love love love Joni Michell and her songs.
River is played on the piano, not on the guitar. So your standard tuning comment doesn’t apply there.
I was twelve in 1966 and I’ve only just discovered this gem at the age of 65.... She’s of my generation and she’s amazing...
And I was 13 on the 24th of October
...the clipboard I had to rush home from school to see the tailend of let's sing out and I remember seeing her play this song. I had never seen anything so beautiful
Me, 1954 too!
Me too !!!! I think this track was due to be on her first album.... why did they keep this from us for all that time ??? I too was 12 in 1966. 😊
Yeah. I didnt know about until the "Hits" and "Misses" albums came out. After I heard it the first time a played it every day right after a got home for 2 or 3 weeks@@frankieelen7238
The guy beside her at the start is trying to comprehend ❤️✌️
Experienced her during a "power outage" one summer in early 1970s Mississippi River Festival at Edwardsville, IL. SIU Campus. She played outside under pavilion by candlelight and it couldn't have been better!
The look on the face of the cowboy hat guy is priceless. "Don't recognize that hootenany song. What th....." Going from the hootenany to a whole new universe. Folk music changes forever.
Blown me away. The juxtaposition between the intro sequence and her playing by herself is startling. It's like a miracle happening. I don't think those present would have forgotten that night.
This is the Joni I saw at my school gym in 1968. My tongue fell out and I was blown away. Followed her everywhere...
I have watched this at least ten times today. What a revelation.
There are no words to tell about Joni Mitchell.
We just sat and watched as she passed through our days.
Joni was always going to go her own way. And so we are blessed with her songs.
One of the most gorgeous Joni Mitchell songs. How old was she when she wrote it? 18? She's a genius.
Joni Mitchell had that audience in the palm of her little hand.
She was not only flawless musically and lyrically, but her look
was more innocent and pure than a fawn playing in the woods.
Stunningly adorable. No wonder Graham Nash fell in love w her.
And several others.
Gram Nash, James Taylor, David Crosby,
Leonard Cohen, Jackson Brown, etc, etc, etc,... Who wouldn't love her if they could.
My greatest regret when it comes to music is that I never got to see Joni play in person.
I saw her in Ambler PA at the Temple Music Festival, during her Miles of Aisles Tour. Which was kind of a compilation of all her stuff up through Court and Spark. Glad I caught it.
The men are floored.
The guy with the glasses beside her, just stunned...standing next to a supernova.
Jimmy driftwood, a major Canadian western star. He was watching his career flash before his eyes.
@@jayd.rosenblum3975 The uploader should add his name to the video description above.
@@dbadagnait introduces him in the beginning
Her songs have defined the careers of many singers.
Holy shit. I haven't watched this video for quite some time. As soon as she started to sing, I was (once again) struck by its (and her) beauty, sincerity and depth. *** Tears began to flow. Wow! *** I can see how David Crosby of CSNY was absolutely floored/knocked on his ass, the first time he saw/heard Mitchell playing live in some random, US coffee shop wayyyyyy back in the sixties. LL
The brilliance of this is chilling
You have to have a certain sympathy for the male members of the ensemble - it's tough to be modest talents in the presence of genius.
+Ernest Money even if I were a female in her presence, I'd have to have sympathy for myself!
Just the look on their faces...
Do a little research before running off at the mouth. Jimmy Driftwood was a singer songwriter from the 1930's on and had a huge body of work at the time of this clip. Not at all a "modest talent"
Warren Strouts I believe "Tennessee Stud" was a driftwood original, made famous by Doc Watson.
They looked like The Past witnessing the birth of The Future.
I want this for the play out at my funeral. Not the studio version, I want this.
good idea, except for the funeral part.
She’s just stellar here! Her music is poetry!
In a league all her own🙏
You could see a future superstar in the making here. Love Joni Mitchell.
Amazing footage
And so pretty
Musical genius, after these lyrics, it's no wonder she wound up in California with it's endless summer.
Even in black and white she is hypnotic and her vocals are prestine and mesmerising. A lot of humble presence in this Canadian lady........
Her exquisite, golden voice just rings like a bell.
Lovely
Incredible being
I love how her fellow musicians are mesmerized by Joni.
Beauty beyond belief
Fascinating to hear early Joni and hear how her artistry subsequently developed beyond her folk origins to encompass so many genres.
I didn't know music could be this beautiful.....my G O D......this is my very first time listening to this artist...David Gilmour quoted her in one of his documentaries....and i decided to hear for myself..Truely beautiful.
You have never listened to Joni Mitchell? WHOA. Prepare to be haunted forever. Then give a listen to Sandy Denny.
Wow; I listened to Joni for decades before discovering this gem. You are blessed to have heard this as your first introduction to her music.
Beautiful. This kind of thing, Joni and her haunting songs, happens far too infrequently in this world. It just vexes and demands we be here and in the present (even though it's from decades ago). Maybe that's why we cherish it so...
Her genius is already apparent. Thanks for sharing this.
Poor old Jimmy - the face of a man who's literally seen it all witnessing the birth of something new!
Mumbling to himself...we'll I'm from Arkansas maybe WalMart will hire me?
@@Cryo837 Jimmy Driftwood was still getting big royalty checks from Johnny Hortons version of Battle of New Orleans in 1966 and would for the rest of his life. Dozens of other artists, some of the biggest in the business like Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and , Leon Russell and dozens more recorded it. It was used in movies and tv shows. Youre more likely to be begging Walmart for a job than Jimmy Driftwood was, even if he was from Arkansas. And then there are the other 300 songs he wrote that were recorded by other artists. How many have you written?
Not only is her music perfectly beautiful, her eyes are equally gorgeous
Genius. I love how expressive her voice has been every phase of her career.
"Teenage Joni". Now you know why she had such a successful career!. She was Brilliant then and she's brilliant now!!!! You Go Girl!!!!
God, she was beautiful, just to add her incredible voice and guitar playing.
I bet some of those men were boiling with jealousy underneath the friendly demeanor! Imagine having to follow such a brilliant charismatic woman.
She really expanded folk music. Adding more complex and interesting chords and harmonies , song structures, lyrics . A real pioneer
It’s the most beautiful expression I’ve ever heard and seen!! The song when it’s time to close my garden in for the winter. Always thank you Joni❤️
Horray for Canadian TV preserving this tape. aT THAT TIME 60+70'S most tv companies binned old recordings
Agreed. It's strange that her mid-70's BBC concert, recorded at the height of her popularity, doesn't seem to have survived, while her earliest television performances from Canada in the 60's when no one knew who she was were preserved. I'm definitely thankful that they were!
I was just reading that modern popular lyrics are written at a much lower grade level than they were in the 60s and 70s...this is definitely solid evidence.
The voice, the face, the musical artistry that brought the guys from Led Zep to the USA looking to meet her. They too knew a goddess when they saw and heard one.
"Goin' to California," their homage to Joni Mitchell.
This was as the folkie movement was fading, & she was already light years beyond. Nice bass player backup....
Yes, who was the bass player? Obviously knew the chord sequence pretty well?
Harry Chapin of the Chapin brothers who played on Oscar's show.
What, *the* Harry Chapin?
Yeah! The bass player is in the pocket.
A mob of highly talented musicians standing around her in a clearly palpable sense of awe.
This must of just dropped so many jaws. So much better and more sophisticated than that other 'hoot nanny' tripe.
`Have just´. She sang the hootenanny too, all music is good, if it´s good
Yes I’d love to see the crowd reaction lol
It still drops mine 55 years later.
The other musicians on stage got the "Urge for Going" when they discovered they couldn't follow the incredibly talented Joni Mitchell!
Thanks for the laugh.. Good one !!!!
@@mizzury54 You're welcome.
I mean, they'd no doubt heard the song before. They were listening in admiration, not despair.
Television shows are rehearsed. They aren't in shock.
Joni is a shimmering reflection of the light of God here. A blinding glint that pierces the soul. Tony Rice does a wonderful cover of this song. I didn't know Joni wrote it until now.
This song makes me so sentimental. It's just beautiful & poignantly sad.
Joni, the best song poet there ever was.
A pure poet,prophet,professional....my mentor...love Joni...as golden as the prairie wheat