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Song to a Seagull

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Song to a Seagull
Studio album by
Joni Mitchell
ReleasedMarch 23, 1968
RecordedEarly 1968
StudioSunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California
GenreFolk[1][2]
Length38:11
LabelReprise
ProducerDavid Crosby
Joni Mitchell chronology
Song to a Seagull
(1968) 		Clouds
(1969)
Singles from Song to a Seagull
  1. "Night in the City"
    Released: June 1968[3]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
MusicHound[6]
Pitchfork6.7/10[7]
Rolling Stone[8]

Song to a Seagull (also known as Joni Mitchell) is the debut studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Produced by David Crosby, the album was recorded in early 1968 at Sunset Sound and released in March 1968 by Reprise Records.

Production

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The album was recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California.[9] David Crosby was assigned as producer as part of the deal with Reprise Records, following meeting Mitchell in October 1967.[9] Crosby wanted Mitchell to sound pure and natural, so he asked her to sing into the studio grand piano, and set up extra microphones to capture her voice reverberating off the strings; unfortunately the set-up captured too much ambient noise, resulting in excessive tape hiss, which could only be removed post-production at the cost of the high sounds in the audio range, which gives the album a flat feel.[10]

Mitchell had written songs that were hits for other artists (e.g., "Both Sides Now" and "Chelsea Morning" by Judy Collins and Dave Van Ronk, "Eastern Rain" by Fairport Convention, "Urge for Going" and "The Circle Game" by Tom Rush), but none of those songs were recorded for her debut.

Content

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Mitchell has said that "Sisotowbell" stands for "Somehow, in spite of trouble, ours will be ever lasting love".[11]

Record World said of the single "Night in the City" that "The marvelous Joni Mitchell lights up the imagination with this provocative rock."[12]

The album was dedicated to her Grade 7 English teacher, "Mr. Kratzmann, who taught me to love words".[13]

Release

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This album was originally released as Joni Mitchell because the LP album covers were printed incorrectly, cutting off part of the Song to a Seagull title (spelled out by birds in flight).[citation needed] The cut-off, as well as the publishers at Reprise Records not noticing that the birds spelled out the album name, caused the eponymous album title.[citation needed]

The two sides of the LP were labelled as Part 1 – "I Came to the City", and Part 2 – "Out of the City and Down to the Seaside".

On April 8, 2021, Rhino Entertainment, the catalog arm of Warner Music Group, announced that a new mix of the album overseen by Mitchell and mixer Matt Lee would be released on June 25, 2021 as part of a special remaster collection comprising the singer's first four albums. Commenting on the quality of the original mix, Mitchell called it "atrocious" and said it "sounded like it was recorded under a Jello bowl".[14] The remastered collection is part of the ongoing Joni Mitchell Archives project.

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Joni Mitchell

Side one – I Came to the City
No.TitleLength
1."I Had a King"3:37
2."Michael from Mountains"3:41
3."Night in the City"2:30
4."Marcie"4:35
5."Nathan La Franeer"3:18
Side two – Out of the City and Down to the Seaside
No.TitleLength
1."Sisotowbell Lane"4:05
2."The Dawntreader"5:04
3."The Pirate of Penance"2:44
4."Song to a Seagull"3:51
5."Cactus Tree"4:35

Personnel

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  • Joni Mitchell – guitar, piano, vocals, album cover, banshee
  • Stephen Stills – bass on "Night in the City"
  • Lee Keefer – banshee

Technical

Charts

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Chart performance for Song to a Seagull
Chart (1968) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[15] 189
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[16] 88

Other versions and covers

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Cass Elliot covered two songs from the album: "Sisotowbell Lane" and "I Had a King". Elliot sang "I Had a King" "live" on Andy Williams's Kaleidoscope in 1968. Neither song has ever been released on any of Elliot's seven albums. "Sisotowbell Lane" can be found on the CD compilation The Complete Solo Collection – 1968–71, released in 2005.

Judy Collins covered "Michael from Mountains" on her LP Wildflowers, as did Gábor Szabó on his LP 1969. Buffy Sainte-Marie recorded "Song to a Seagull" on her album Fire & Fleet & Candlelight issued in 1967.

References

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  1. ^ Shumway, David R. (August 21, 2014). Rock Star: The Making of Musical Icons from Elvis to Springsteen. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-4214-1393-8.
  2. ^ Carlin, Richard (2005). Folk. Infobase Publishing. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-8160-6978-1.
  3. ^ "Spotlight Singles". Billboard: 70. June 15, 1968.
  4. ^ Cleary, David (2011). "Song to a Seagull – Joni Mitchell". AllMusic. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Mitchell, Joni". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  6. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Visible Ink Press. p. 769. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  7. ^ Hopper, Jessica (November 9, 2012). "Joni Mitchell: The Studio Albums 1968–1979 | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Black, Les (July 5, 1968). "Joni Mitchell". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  9. ^ a b Monk, Katherine (September 7, 2012). Joni: The Creative Odyssey of Joni Mitchell. Greystone Books. p. 77. ISBN 9781553658382.
  10. ^ Monk, Katherine (September 7, 2012). Joni: The Creative Odyssey of Joni Mitchell. Greystone Books. pp. 78–79. ISBN 9781553658382.
  11. ^ White, Timothy (December 9, 1995). "JMDL Library: Joni Mitchell – A Portrait of the Artist". JoniMitchell.com. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  12. ^ "Single Reviews" (PDF). Record World. June 8, 1968. p. 8. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  13. ^ Album sleeve
  14. ^ "Joni Mitchell Archives Series Continues". jonimitchell.com. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "Joni Mitchell Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  16. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. June 22, 1968. p. 33. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
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