Joni Mitchell: First Four Albums Remastered For ‘Blue’ 50th Anniversary
Joni Mitchell has announced that her first four albums will be remastered and reissued to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her smash hit record, Blue.
Continuing with the success of the archive series, which saw the release of Archives Volume One: The Early Years (1963-1967) as well as Early Joni – 1963 and Live At Canterbury House – 1967, now Joni Mitchell’s first four albums will get the remaster treatment they deserve.
To celebrate Blue‘s 50th anniversary, the album has been remastered as part of The Reprise Albums (1968-1971), featuring newly remastered versions of Blue(1971) and the three albums that came before it: Song To A Seagull (1968), Clouds (1969), and Ladies Of The Canyon (1970). In the case of Song To A Seagull, the original mix has been recently updated by Mitchell and mixer Matt Lee. “The original mix was atrocious,” says Mitchell. “It sounded like it was recorded under a jello bowl, so I fixed it!”
The cover art for The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) features a previously unseen self-portrait Mitchell sketched during the time period. The collection also includes an essay by Grammy winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, another artist who’s been influenced greatly by Mitchell. She writes: “In my opinion, Blue is the greatest album ever made. Blue didn’t make me a better songwriter. Blue made me a better woman… No matter what we are dealing with in these times we can rejoice and know that of all the ages we could have lived through, we lived in the time of Joni Mitchell.”
The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) brings together the albums that helped establish Mitchell as one of the most-talented songwriters of her generation. It includes essential tracks like River, Chelsea Morning, Both Sides Now, Big Yellow Taxi, Woodstock, and The Circle Game. Clouds, her second album, was certified gold and won the 1969 Grammy (her first of nine) for Best Folk Performance. Ladies Of The Canyon and Blue were both certified platinum, while the latter was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
The set will be followed later this year by Joni Mitchell Archives Vol 2, the second installment in the extensive archival series that began last year. Each one promises a deep dive into unreleased studio and live recordings from different eras of Mitchell’s storied career. …Vol 2 will focus on the time frame when she recorded the albums included in The Reprise Albums (1968-1971). Mitchell continues to be intimately involved in producing these collections, lending her vision and personal touch to every element of the projects. Future releases in the archive series will arrive in a similar manner, with a boxed set focused on studio albums from a specific era, followed by an official “Archives” set looking at unreleased audio from the same period.
The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) will be available on 25 June as a 4CD or 180g 4LP set (limited to 10,000 copies), as well as digitally. The newly remastered version of A Case Of You from Blue is available today on all digital download and streaming services. You can hear it below on Spotify or by clicking here.
Fans can pre-order the CD or LP version of The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) from Eurostore.JoniMitchell.com and they will also receive an exclusive limited edition 7”x7” print of the self-portrait featured on the cover art.
The first ever line of official Joni Mitchell merchandise has also launched today, exclusively at the official website.