“She’ll amount to nothing”: the record label that rejected Joni Mitchell
The music of people we adore finds us in different ways. Sometimes, they come out of nowhere, appearing to us when we need them most. Their songs are vulnerable and appeal to something deep within us, creating an intrinsic link between creative and consumer. Joni Mitchell has had that impact on many people over the years, and yet her potential wasn’t seen straight away.
There are a number of different facets to Mitchell’s music. She isn’t a musician who can be simply placed into a genre and assigned a style of music; there is much more to her than that. A combination of her guitar playing and poetry makes her one of the greatest and most renowned musicians of all time, as she has the ability to move people with catchy songs that push the boundaries of guitar music.
Mitchell was able to touch so many people because she used music as a means to process her emotions. No matter what stage in her career she was at, Mitchell could write about the shape her life was taking, and her experiences were so universal for so many that her music resonated worldwide.
“I don’t think she was ever happy. She’d been through polio, the marriage to Chuck Mitchell and giving up a child – and music was her way of processing this,” said David Crosby when talking about her. “It could be difficult to be around her because she’d have you laughing or crying real tears in the same half an hour, like her music. It’s genuinely who she is.”
In that same interview, Crosby talks about her songwriting and highlights just how much of a Talent Mitchell was. “Bob Dylan’s as good a poet as Joni,” he said. “But nowhere near as good a musician.”
She started playing music from an early age, and it was always clear that she was going to be a success; it was just a matter of time until someone recognised her talent. There was an unnamed record label in Malka Marom’s Both Sides Now, which passed on the opportunity to sign Mitchell, stating that they weren’t interested in working with her and nobody would be interested in working with her.
After stumbling into a Joni Mitchell show one late night, Marom immediately recognised Mitchell as a huge talent, with her music having the profound resonating effect it has had on so many people since. Subsequently, Marom was keen on getting Mitchell signed and reached out to one of her friends at a record label, but he wasn’t impressed and missed the opportunity to sign who would become one of the biggest artists in the world.
“By the time Joni played ‘Night in the City’, he had no ears to hear her,” recalled Marom. “’This singer has no stage presence, she’ll amount to nothing’, he declared in a whisper, then left in the middle of her set.”
