#10 -- Joni Mitchell

A Feminine Aura

It's difficult to fully appreciate what Joni Mitchell did for rock n' roll, indeed for American culture.  Mainly that's because, in some respects, she led the way to where we are now.  In the age of Etsy and do-it-yourself crafting, originality and creativity no longer surprise us.

First and foremost, Mitchell wrote her own lyrics, produced her own sound, and crafted all her own album covers.

Second, and most importantly, she projected an unknowable mystique, grounded in creativity, that became a template for not just female musicians, but for the feminine project writ large.

And third, she opened up music itself; like a peeled banana her scales and rhythms shed tradition, seeking their own integrity.

Perhaps surprisingly, her use of 'open' guitar tuning was due to her bout with polio as a child; her fingers were simply too weak to produce certain chords and fingerings.  Characteristically, she threw all that out the window and created her own guitar string tunings, each determined by the song she was playing. 

Her exploration of 'open' tone and rhythm began as popular music, then, gradually, she stepped into the future, beckoning us to follow.

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Each band or performer is graded on four things:
  1.  Innovation
  2.  Influence in my life--as a typical American
  3.  Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)  
  4.  Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music

9/7/10/9 = 35 out of a perfect 40

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Thought: although Crosby, Stills and Nash rendered a masterful cover of Mitchell's "Woodstock", I think of that song, and of the best of that generation, as her's.