The 1970s singer Joni Mitchell called “a musical genius”
By her own admission, Joni Mitchell is one of the most authentic artists in music history.
She’s so authentic, in fact, that she once said in 1986 she couldn’t be a sell-out even if she tried: “If I tried to sell out, I don’t think I could. By that I mean, to make an attempt to make a commercial record. I just make them, and I think, ‘If I was a kid, I would like this song. This one is definitely a little artistic’.”
In the same interview, she rather interestingly connected this mindset to a broader comparison with painting, noting that artistic quality is recognised more openly and willingly in other forms of art. In contrast, she said music has become a “toss-away industry”, concluding by saying that she’s a “fine artist working in a commercial arena” and that that’s “my cross to bear”.
Had any other artist appeared so self-assured, those words would have likely come across as a bit pretentious. In fact, when you look at the countless artists who have said something similar of late, the initial response is to raise your eyebrows and wonder why they felt the need to express themselves with such overt grandiosity. And while the first person to come to most people’s minds on the subject of artists with an unnecessary amount of self-worth is Morrissey, he is fairly on the money when it comes to all the reasons why Mitchell will never appear quite so jarring when it comes to her own value and self-importance.
After all, considering how scathing Morrissey is when it comes to quite literally any other artist on the planet, he once said the following words about the legendary lyrical wordsmith: “You have an extraordinary balance with words. I think you’re the greatest lyricist that has ever lived”.
The reason why we agree with Mitchell, therefore, is that she genuinely is one of the finest lyricists in music who’d rather follow her own passions than pander to anyone’s expectations, constantly taking “side excursions” that might have cost her “credibility as a hit maker” but which ultimately cemented her position as one of the most well-respected poets to this day.
That said, while Mitchell is more than aware of her own credibility, she has also constantly observed the broader scene around her, taking inspiration from other talents that she considers to be just as groundbreaking and indifferent to outsiders’ opinions. Across the years, she’s spoken openly about the artists who shaped her style and writing, though few seemed to impact her quite as heavily as one Stevie Wonder.
In fact, when talking about the wondrous soul singer, Mitchell once said that he inspired her at a time when her music was becoming increasingly shaped by her favourite jazz songs and artists. She also explained how his deeply raw and emotional style of singing influenced her to up her game with her own vocal technique.
“I’m influenced at this point by Stevie Wonder because I think that he’s like a musical genius,” she said, “I really do, and I love the quality of his singing”.
