Graham Nash on his favourite Joni Mitchell song from ‘Blue’
The worlds of Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash were intertwined throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. The pair were one of music’s biggest power couples for a brief period of time, with Nash scoring hits with The Hollies while Mitchell was becoming one of the most legendary singer-songwriters of all time. When Nash left The Hollies and moved out to California, he actually moved into Mitchell’s house in Laurel Canyon, which is where he met his next bandmates.
“I met Joni in 1967 when I was in The Hollies, and we played Ottawa,” Nash told The Guardian. “Later, I flew from London to spend a few days with her in Los Angeles. When I arrived, I could hear voices in the house. David Crosby and Stephen Stills were having dinner with her.”
“The Byrds had thrown David out, and Stephen’s band, Buffalo Springfield, were over,” he recalled. “We smoked a big one, and Stephen played this fabulous song, ‘You Don’t Have to Cry’, with David and myself singing harmonies. So Joni witnessed the birth of Crosby, Stills and Nash.”
Nash and Mitchell were together long enough for the pair to write songs about each other. Nash famously composed ‘Our House’ about their domestic bliss, while more than a few songs on Mitchell’s 1971 opus Blue related back to her relationship with Nash. Their breakup occurred right before the recording of Blue, and Nash had a unique perspective on the classic album.
“We were a couple for two years – and I watched her write many of the songs on Blue. She didn’t finish it until after we parted,” Nash observed. “‘River’ made me sad because it chronicled the end of our relationship, but also elated because it was such a beautiful song, and she had the courage to bare her soul. We were very much in love. I treasured that relationship.”
“I remember leaving the house to give her the space to finish ‘My Old Man’. I’m sad that it’s about me again, but it’s so brilliant,” Nash added. “Like the song suggests, I asked her to marry me, but I think she thought I wanted a ‘wife’ to cook meals and so on, which was never my intention. I wanted her to be as free as possible, to be as brilliant as possible. She’s an amazing woman. I’m proud to have been a part of her life. In 100 years’ time, people will remember the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Joni.”
Check out ‘My Old Man’ down below.
