Joni Mitchell "Blue"

The album "Blue" is the fourth studio album by Joni Mitchell, a Canadian singer-songwriter. It was produced and written entirely by Joni Mitchell, and it was recorded in Hollywood, California, in 1971.

The album reflects Joni Mitchell's breakup with Graham Nash and her intense relationship with James Taylor. The songs are accompanied by simple guitar, piano, and Appalachian dulcimer tunes, and they explore different facets of relationships, including love, insecurity, and heartbreak. The album achieved considerable commercial success, reaching the top 3 on the UK Albums Chart, number 9 on the Canadian RPM Albums Chart, and number 15 on the Billboard 200.

In January 1970, despite her previous success, Joni Mitchell decided to take a break from performing. She went on a vacation to Europe and while on the island of Crete, she wrote some of the songs that would appear on her album "Blue", including "Carey" and "California", which were inspired by her relationship with Cary Raditz. Other songs on the album were inspired by her troubled relationship with Graham Nash, including "My Old Man" and "River". Her relationship with James Taylor also played a pivotal role in the album's creation, with "Blue" and "All I Want" referencing their relationship. The album was almost released in a different form, with three old songs and two new ones being removed at the last minute. Mitchell reflected that during the making of the album, she felt vulnerable and exposed, with no personal defenses. She continued to use alternate guitar tunings to create unique chord combinations. When Kris Kristofferson first heard the album, he joked that Mitchell should "keep something to [her]self!"

Today, the album is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, with critics frequently praising Joni Mitchell's songwriting, compositions, and voice. It has been named one of the 25 albums that represent "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music" by The New York Times and was rated as the third greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone in their 2020 list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2017, NPR chose it as the greatest album made by a woman of all time. "Blue" is considered to be a quintessential confessional singer/songwriter album, with its raw nerves and tales of love and loss etched with stunning complexity.