It’s not a Joni Mitchell/Jimi Hendrix collaboration, per se, but the next best thing, or at least the next oddest thing: A recording of a 1968 Mitchell concert that the legendary guitarist captured from a front row seat has been discovered after decades of being considered lost. And it’s among the unreleased material that’s been rounded up for her next boxed set, “Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971),” coming in October.
“The Dawntreader,” a track from the Hendrix-recorded set, was released Wednesday to preview the collection.
The five-CD or 10-LP set also includes a complete rendering of Mitchell’s 1969 Carnegie Hall debut, held shortly before she released her second album, “Clouds”; a live 1970 show from London originally broadcast over the BBC; previously unreleased compositions like “Jesus,” captured in a Chelsea apartment in ’69; and alternate takes from the “Ladies of the Canyon” and “Blue” sessions with extra orchestration or instrumentation that was abandoned for the final release versions.
But the biggest curio by far is the Hendrix recording of her March 19, 1968 show at the Le Hibou Coffee House in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada — 22 tracks in all from both sets Mitchell performed that night.
As with the previous boxed set in the series, Mitchell sat for a liner-notes interview with filmmaker/journalist Cameron Crowe, in which she explained the circumstances of how Hendrix came to be an unlikely recording engineer for that occasion.
“They came and told me, ‘Jimi Hendrix is here, and he’s at the front door.’ I went to meet him,” she told Crowe. “He had a large box. He said to me, ‘My name is Jimi Hendrix. I’m on the same label as you. Reprise Records.’ We were both signed about the same time. He said, ‘I’d like to record your show. Do you mind?’ I said, ‘no, not at all.’ There was a large reel-to-reel tape recorder in the box.”
Jimi Hendrix records Joni Mitchell in the front row in 1968
Courtesy Rhino
She continued, “The stage was only about a foot off the ground. He knelt at edge of the stage, with a microphone, at my feet. All during the show, he kept twisting knobs. He was engineering it, I don’t know what he was controlling, volume? He was watching the needles or something, messing with knobs. He beautifully recorded this tape. Of course I played part of the show to him. He was right below me.”
Hendrix had done his own show earlier in the evening a few blocks away. His fascination with the 24-year-old up-and-comer was noted in his diary: “fantastic girl with heaven words.”
The complete track list for the Oct. 29 release:
Disc One
Joni’s home (late 1967/early 1968)
1. “Midnight Cowboy” – Version one
2. “The Dawntreader” – Demo with vocal overdub
3. “Song To A Seagull”
4. “Midnight Cowboy” – Version two
Jane Lurie’s Apartment, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, NY (late 1967/early 1968)
5. “The Way It Is”
6. “Turn Around” – Incomplete
Home Demo, Joni’s home (late 1967/early 1968)
7. “I Had A King” – Demo with piano overdub
8. “Roses Blue” – Demo with peacock harp overdub
9. “The Fiddle And The Drum” – Piano demo
Song To A Seagull Session, Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA (January 24, 1968)
10. “Jeremy”
11. “Conversation”
12. “Both Sides Now”
13. “The Gift Of The Magi”
Jane Lurie’s Apartment, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, NY (early 1968)
14. “It’s Easy”
15. “Another Melody”
Live at Canterbury House, Ann Arbor, MI (March 10, 1968)
16. Introduction
17. “Jeremy”
18. “Songs To Aging Children Come”
Le Hibou Coffee House, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Recorded by Jimi Hendrix (March 19, 1968)
First Set
1. “Night In The City”
2. “Come To The Sunshine”
3. Intro to “The Pirate Of Penance”
4. “The Pirate Of Penance”
5. “Conversation”
6. “The Way It Is”
7. Intro to “The Dawntreader”
8. “The Dawntreader”
Second Set
9. “Marcie”
10. Intro to “Nathan La Franeer”
11. “Nathan La Franeer”
12. Intro to “Dr. Junk”
13. “Dr. Junk”
14. Intro to “Michael From Mountains”
15. “Michael From Mountains”
16. “Go Tell The Drummer Man”
17. Intro to “I Don’t Know Where I Stand”
18. “I Don’t Know Where I Stand”
19. Intro to “Sisotowbell Lane”
20. “Sisotowbell Lane”
21. Intro to “Ladies Of The Canyon”
22. “Ladies Of The Canyon”
Studio Session, Western Recorders, Hollywood, CA (May 31, 1968)
23. “Come To The Sunshine”
Jane Lurie’s Apartment, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, NY (summer 1968)
24. “My Second Album”
25. “Lambert, Hendricks & Ross”
26. “The Pirate Of Penance”
Top Gear BBC Radio Broadcast, London, England (recorded September 23, 1968)
27. Intro to “Chelsea Morning”
28. “Chelsea Morning” – with the John Cameron Group
29. Intro to “The Gallery”
30. “The Gallery”
31. Intro to “Night In The City”
32. “Night In The City” – with the John Cameron Group
Disc Three
Live at Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY (February 1, 1969)
First Set
1. “Chelsea Morning”
2. A Valentine for Joni
3. “Cactus Tree”
4. “Night In The City”
5. “I Had A King”
6. “Blue Boy”
7. My American Skirt
8. “The Fiddle And The Drum”
9. Spoony’s Wonderful Adventure
10. “That Song About The Midway”
11. “Both Sides Now”
Second Set
12. “Marcie”
13. “Nathan La Franeer”
14. Intro to “The Gallery”
15. “The Gallery”
16. “Hunter”
17. “Morning Morgantown”
18. Intro to “Get Together”
19. “Get Together”
20. Intro to “The Circle Game/Little Green”
21. “The Circle Game/Little Green”
Encore
Live at Carnegie Hall, New York City, NY (February 1, 1969)
1. Intro to “Urge For Going”
2. “Urge For Going”
Clouds Sessions, A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA (spring 1969)
3. “Conversation”
4. “Blue Boy”
5. “The Priest”
Jane Lurie’s Apartment, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, NY (mid 1969)
6. “Jesus”
7. Playing piano and vocalizing
The Dick Cavett Show ABC TV Broadcast, New York City, NY (Recorded August 18, 1969)
8. “Chelsea Morning”
9. “Willy”
10. “For Free”
11. Interview
12. “The Fiddle And The Drum”
Ladies Of The Canyon Demo Session, A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA (late 1969)
13. “Woodstock”
Live at Centennial Auditorium, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (November 1, 1969)
14. “As I Lie Thinking In My Backyard On August 2nd”
15. “Roses Blue”
16. “Rainy Night House”
Ladies Of The Canyon Sessions, A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA (late 1969)
17. “Ladies Of The Canyon” – with cellos
18. “Blue Boy” – with recorder coda
In Concert BBC TV Broadcast, (recorded September 3, 1970)
19. “All I Want”
Blue Demo Sessions, A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA (September 1970)
20. “A Case Of You”
21. “California”
In Concert BBC Radio Broadcast, Paris Theatre, London England (recorded October 29, 1970)
1. Introduction
2. “That Song About The Midway”
3. Intro to “The Gallery”
4. “The Gallery”
5. “Hunter”
6. Intro to “River”
7. “River”
8. “My Old Man”
9. “The Priest”
10. This is a mountain dulcimer
11. “Carey”
12. “A Case Of You” – with James Taylor
13. Intro to “California” – with James Taylor
14. “California” – with James Taylor
15. Intro to “For Free” – with James Taylor
16. “For Free” – with James Taylor
17. Intro to “The Circle Game” – with James Taylor
18. “The Circle Game” – with James Taylor
19. Intro to “You Can Close Your Eyes” – with James Taylor
20. “You Can Close Your Eyes” – with James Taylor
21. “Both Sides Now”
22. Intro to “Big Yellow Taxi”
23. “Big Yellow Taxi”
Blue Sessions, A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA (late 1970/early 1971)
24. “Hunter”
25. “River” – with French horns
26. “Urge For Going” – with strings