I wasn't expecting this, but when I saw the entrance to the Cafe au Go Go, and then the silk blouse, I almost fainted. I was at this show, and it's the last thing that I ever expected to see again. It was a Monday night, which was jam night, catch-as-catch-can, let's see who's in town. They put a couple of names in the usual publications to draw an audience. Part of one band playing with a well known musician from another band, things like that. My friends and I knew the trick for getting good seats, so we were against the wall directly opposite the stage. They announced a "new sensation" or something, and Joni walked in with the guitar, in a silk outfit. She was charisma-central. She played a few songs and they moved on. We were mightily impressed. It was definitely a highlight moment, and I was a Joni fan immediately.
Holy cow, that's amazing! I'm so envious. She is so solid in her musicianship and vocal virtuosity. Can't imagine how it would feel to be so talented. On another note, speaking as a mother I can't imagine singing a song about giving up my child as entertainment for audiences over and over. I wonder how her daughter feels about this song. It is a tall order to put your life and pain out for public consumption for all concerned.
Imagine the conundrum she was in back then. She had her baby in a time when it was a shameful thing to get pregnant out of wedlock. Women were sent to the other coast saying they were going to visit a relative and have their babies in places with other young girls in the same situation. Then, their babies were put up for adoption anonymously. But she had her baby and as the song says, "she signed all the papers in the family name, sad, but not ashamed". From: www.smoothradio.com/news/music/joni-mitchell-age-husband-daughter-songs-health/ ""In late 1964, Joni Mitchell discovered that she was pregnant by her ex-boyfriend Brad MacMath. She later said: "[He] left me three months pregnant in an attic room with no money and winter coming on and only a fireplace for heat. The spindles of the banister were gap-toothed-fuel for last winter's occupants." In February 1965, she gave birth to a baby girl. However, unable to provide for the baby, she placed her daughter, Kelly Dale Anderson, for adoption."" Her daughter searched for her real mother and found her in 1997. By then Joni was a Grandmother to her Kelly's (renamed Kilauren Gibb) son. The story of her pregnancy was a secret until sold to a tabloid by a former roommate in 1993. A great biography about three great women called "Women Like Us" tells about those times and is about Carly Simon, Carole King and Joni Mitchell. A great read.
Joni's been my fave since I was 17, I'm 72 now, & it's the 1st time I found out the story behind Green! I met her in a men's store, "Z", in L.A. maybe 10/15 years ago. I told her what a huge fan I'd been all those years, how she so completely influenced me as a person & as a singer & thanked her profusely. She was SO sweet, kind, gracious & genuine & when I was leaving this small store, she called out to me to say Goodbye. One of my favorite experiences ever! Thank you Joni!! You have blessed us all! ❤
All people are clearly not created equal. Joni has no equal. 50 years later her music still touches like no other for me. And she considers herself a painter first and musician second. One of the greatest creative minds of all time.
Agreed Arnieus - there is still no equal - lyrics that evoke deep emotional reaction - perfectly crafted poetry in musical form - melodies that stand alone over half a century later - humble in every way - when the singer songwriter genre of the 60's + 70's is discussed, she is at the top of the list
I am adoptive parent and this is my favorite quote “ a child born to another woman calls me mother, the magnitude of that tragedy , and the depth of that privilege are not lost on me. “
This version of "Little Green" was performed about 4 years BEFORE "Blue" was released. This song was part of Joni's early repertoire, but did not make it onto an album much later. The section with the melody that is different from blue is much more like her earliest songs -- for example "Urge for Going".
I love this kind of crowd unlike today, no cameras, no distractions, just the moment. The experience is preserved through your senses. I think that is such a rare and pure thing to have...
When all is said and done, she will always be known as one of the best singer-songwriters of our generation. Genius like hers is once in a lifetime and I, for one, am grateful to have lived in her time.
I have five years on you! On the Mount Rushmore of Singer-Songwriters, she has a definite place. In my mind ... Joni, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and then there's an arm wrestling match between a few others.
I was very lucky young girl. I grew up in the pacific northwest. I was going into 7th grade in 1968, and when other kids were listening to the teen music i met a group of people who lived in what at one time were old rum runners cabins on a place called salmon beach. It was close to the narrows bridge. They were hippies and much older, but i became friends with them. They turned me on to Joni, Jessie colin young, CSN, Jimmie, and all of the beautiful, music that was happening at the time. I inturn turned my friends on to the great music that was going on in the 60's. I will always be grateful that this community of really as they said then"far out"people took me in as a friend, little sis kind. They got me and so many others into the hippie thing that was going on. I got started early on a life long journey listening to the sounds of such talented and gifted story tellers and vocal wonders like Joni and many others. I will be forever grateful.
cool story, Karen..I'm from Saskatoon and grew up 4 city blocks away from Joni..my mother and her mother were acquaintances..and always stopped to chat at the local grocery store...she went to Aden Bowman High School which was one block from my house..she is older than me...through my teen years, I always had a serious crush on her,,,so talented..and her music and art are an incredible gift to this planet,,..!!!
Was Joni singing in high school? At coffeehouses in the area during her teen years or at high school functions? Did you actually go to the same high school? I know she was singing out in her late teens, early 20's but I wasn't sure if she actually was singing in coffeehouses (while still in high school.)
Oh Lucky I had older brother s and their friends when I was 9 to 12 and 13yrs old that were Hippies farmer s greaseball types Biker s etc they all listened to Music that was way out there mostly Jethro Tull Kinks Woodstock Led Zepplin record s after record piles of them it was like a store Joni, I didn't meet till I was in my teens cause I am a guitarist I was playing Music early cause Mom was a Musician and my other brother so I was writing early too its all a flow but yes I am glad I was introduced like you were too cool Musicians and writer s it was a Movement Did you go to Jessie Collin young concerts wow I had to find his stuff online but he was so mellow good to meet you ....1968 I was later on in the 70's but good to meet you
I'm surprised that she mentioned her daughters given name. Kelly... Kelly (renamed Kilauren Gibbs) was known only by the delivery staff and the adoption agency and a very few close confidants until 1993 when one of her college roommates sold the story to the tabloids. They finally met in 1997 when Kilauren was 42 and Joni found she was also a Grandmother to Kilauren's son. The burning question is, would the world have had the joy of Joni's art if she had to devote her time to raising a child? Dashing around the planet and the experiences she had that influenced her would have been impossible during her personal, creative "birth". I think Joni knew what her destiny was and with much sorrow, made the heart wrenching decision to put "little green" up for adoption. The story of Little Green is on the interwebs if you just search. As is most of this talented woman's life. Biographies like the book, "Women Like Us" and others lay Joni's private life out for all to see. But it is also a good read for those that were around in the days when the beatniks turned into the hippies. Shame some have to work so hard to maintain their privacy. Like, I never knew she was stricken with polio during the epidemic of the mid 50's. Luckily, she made a full recovery. In an interview, Joni had an epiphany when she heard Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street". She realized that she could write songs in the first person, which except for Little Green, the Blue album and most of her songs is how she writes. What an interesting person and the stories behind her songs.
she said in a recent interview that the reason she gave her up was NOT to further her career but to give her child a better life. she was 20 and had nothing at the time.
And she STILL found a way to improve the song for the album with a more refined chord progression and the action-reaction between the guitar and vocals is also more obvious, but that's probably due to the recording here. Really a stunning song and not played live very often, sadly.
I'm from Italy, and this song, and the full album "Blue", and Joni are and always will be in my personal pantheon of music. I have a reprint of "Blue" on CD bought in New York some years ago. The first edition I bought, in Italy - when I was very young, was on tape. Thus my infinite passion for the USA began. Love & Respect for All of You.
Man, as much as I would like to claim her, Joni is Canadian, BUT, you are still welcome to have a passion for USA. I know its tough sometimes, but some of us are really kick ass awesome to know as I'm sure you are!
Heartbreaking and triumphant song about her daughter who she gave up for adoption. So happy there was a happy ending when they found each other when "little Green" grew up. Too bad the audio isn't quality, but watching her sing and play is priceless.
I may sound like a parrot - but the album Blue WAS one of Joni Mitchell's most spectacular best of her creative powers. The fluctuations of the octaves and melody within a melody - truly unique only to her abilities and delivery. Long may you rain Lady Joni! You were and are a true musician who knows music, knows her own music, and makes the music that we love listening too
Thank you Joni for sharing your great talent as an artist with us! And for your honesty in your work. I love listening to your music from the 60’s through the present!! God bless you as you continue to heal! 🙏🏽❤️
Thank you sonicboy19 for finding and posting this. What an extraordinary version of this timeless song. Exquisite. Her voice is strong and pure. The words are devastatingly frank, raw and hopeful. Miss the singers who actually knew how to sing, how to phrase, how to write, how to be. Joni is just superb here. Thanks again for posting this.
I didn’t know much about Joni Mitchell or anything about this song until I saw the Netflix movie, The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open. That scene, with this song playing, touched my soul. Now, I’m a huge Joni fan and love this song like no other.
A lot of her early 60 photos she has the full face makeup going on. Eyeliner, false eyelashes, lipstick. She looks like the typical girl of that time. So different from 10 years later when she wore nothing.
Does anyone else hear that little laugh/sob that she makes at around 2:18 after singing "He went to California"? It's like she's reflecting on the song while she's singing it.
This is her ideal venue. Wish I had seen her here. Saw her with Dylan in Chicago at the United Center. Too Big. But still glad, very glad I saw her. She was outstanding.
I was adopted from Korea and my given Korean name translates to “Green Shoot” as I was born in the spring. This song has always meant a lot to me and my adoptive mom, who is a lifelong Joni Mitchell fan.
I was only three then, but I remember all these songs from the radio. Songs stayed popular much longer then. Reminds me of my daughter Rose born in cancer.
This is the song that gets to me most from Blue. So honest from her to discuss her complex feelings about giving up her daughter for adoption. "and sometimes there'll be sorry."
Lyrics: Born with the moon in cancer Choose her a name she will answer to Call her green and the winters cannot fade her Call her green for the children who've made her Little green, be a gypsy dancer He went to california Hearing that everything's warmer there So you write him a letter and say, "her eyes are blue." He sends you a poem and she's lost to you Little green, he's a non-conformer Just a little green Like the color when the spring is born There'll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow Just a little green Like the nights when the northern lights perform There'll be icicles and birthday clothes And sometimes there'll be sorrow Child with a child pretending Weary of lies you are sending home So you sign all the papers in the family name You're sad and you're sorry, but you're not ashamed Little green, have a happy ending Just a little green Like the color when the spring is born There'll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow Just a little green Like the nights when the northern lights perform There'll be icicles and birthday clothes And sometimes there'll be sorrow
I disagree that this isn't her "iconic vocal style'. She had an incredible range and after her first very high and lyrical albums she sang in this more sultry lower range most often. .Al;so her continued smoking also took it's toll and contributed to the lower ranges.
I think the bass drum behind Mitch says "Blues Project"... rock and folk shared their audiences back then. Certainly would have been a night to remember....
I'd love for someone to cut out all the bullshit at the start - but this is gold... and I'll keep coming back... and I might even cry each time I come back...
I think all periods of Joni are terrific; but I'm glad she kept evolving. Here she really belts it, in spots. And she's still using vibrato in the way that many female folk singers did at the time (also in spots). I'm glad the version on Blue, 3 years later, is more vulnerable, and less stylized. Then she was no longer 'being a folk singer'; she was really settling into her own way of singing. But it's fantastic to have this early version as a comparison!
Per Rolling Stone's 1971 review of Blue and, specifically, commenting on Little Green: "The pretty, 'poetic' lyric is dressed up in such cryptic references that it passeth all understanding." Huh? What's so cryptic about, "Child with a child pretending/weary of lies you are sending home/so you sign all the papers for the family name/you're sad and you're sorry, but you're not ashamed/little green/have a happy ending." The song is either about another young mother having to give up her baby for adoption to avoid scandal, or it's about Joni Mitchell herself. As we all know now, it's the latter. How much credit should Rolling Stone music reviews get when one of its journalists wrote something that stupid about this great song?
+George08ful I think she remained sad and sorry, but not ashamed. It wasn't a planned pregnancy, and t think she continued to believe it was the right thing to do given her circumstances at the time, including no consistent source of income, and no sign of fame and fortune on the horizon. She was 20 when she became pregnant, and 21 when she gave birth. She didn't record until 1968, and by then she was 27 years old.
The biblical phrase "A peace that (Passeth all understanding)" is not exactly a perjorative assessment of the lyrics. It refers to the gift of faith in the face of the uncertainty of the world. Do you think the song is only valid if you knew the exact details of her contemporary narrative? Poetry is a not tell-all memoir, and give the reviewer a little credit he wasn't exactly pushing tabloid fodder.
