My first reaction to watching Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 was…bravery. Wispy 27-year-old Joni Mitchell, alone on the concert stage and surrounded by The Who’s mountains of speakers, faced a hostile crowd of 600,000 attendees. A mob of people were trying to break down the fences to enter the Festival without paying. Radicals were accusing the musicians of “playing for money” when everything should be free!
Into this volatile situation, the Festival promoters maneuvered Joni Mitchell on the stage. “They threw me to the Beast,” Joni Mitchell says in her commentary. Alternating between her guitar, piano, and dulcimer, Joni Mitchell gamely tried to reach out to the acres of people. There’s noise, there’s disruption. You can see the frustration and anguish on Joni Mitchell’s face as the audience grows more ugly. And, amazingly, Joni Mitchell faces down those 600,000 people and brings order out of chaos. It’s one of the most courageous performances I’ve ever seen. And, all the while, Joni Mitchell’s voice soars over the restless Festival attendees.
Back in 1970, I was in love with Joni Mitchell (and Diana Rigg, Grace Slick, Marianne Faithfull, and a dozen more female singers and actresses). I owned all of Joni Mitchell’s albums. If you’re a Joni Mitchell fan, Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 is a must-buy. If you’re a casual Joni Mitchell fan, you’ll be captivated by her brave performance under dire conditions on the Isle of Wight. It doesn’t get much better than this! What’s your favorite Joni Mitchell song? GRADE: A+
SONG LIST:
That Song About The Midway
Chelsea Morning
For Free
Woodstock
My Old Man
California
Big Yellow Taxi
Both Sides Now
Gallery
Hunter
A Case Of You
Probably California. Not a big Joni fan. Saw her once in the mid 70’s when she went jazzy. It was kind of dull. Liked her Court and Spark album best.
Steve, I wasn’t thrilled with Joni Mitchell’s jazzy phase, either. But in 1970, Joni Mitchell still had her magic!
Loved Joni back in the day…but she lost me when she went in a jazzier direction (although I like some jazz—maybe I should relisten to those albums from the late 1980s and beyond). My favorite albums are Blue, For the Roses, and Court & Spark. Favorite songs include “Case of You”, “Car on the Hill”, “Jericho”, many others.
Deb, BLUE makes me cry every time I listen to it. Over all, COURT & SPARK remains my favorite Joni Mitchell album.
Hello George! I have not heard Joni Mitchell’s music in years though I often read about her, and comparisons with her.
Prashant, glad you’ve returned! You’ve been missed! Joni Mitchell’s music moved me as a kid and still resonates with me as a Senior Citizen.
I never, ever get tired of listening to COURT AND SPARK. But I also like the earlier stuff like “Big Yellow Taxi.”
Jeff, I never understood why Joni Mitchell didn’t follow up COURT & SPARK with an album in that vein. But, instead, Joni went jazzy. And lost me.
I loved Mitchell back in the day, and still love her early stuff. But in the albums that followed “Court and Spark” my interest slowly waned. She wrote so many great songs I hate to pick just one, but I’ll go with “Free Man in Paris”. I almost never buy DVDs, but I’ll look for this.
Michael, I strongly recommend JONI MITCHELL, BOTH SIDES NOW: LIVE AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL 1970! You’re going to hear some great music and brave Joni Mitchell facing down a rowdy crowd!
Used to catch her and her then-husband Chuck Mitchell at Club 47 in Harvard Square during the sixties. Great memories!
Jerry, I wish I’d seen Joni Mitchell live, but somehow I missed her.
Graham Nash talks about her fondly in his performances, and tells the story behind writing “Our House.” I’m hoping her health improves. Apparently, she did attend a James Taylor concert in June.
Jeff, in the commentary sections of this Blu-ray, Joni Mitchell always has a cigarette in her hand.
Kevin loved BIG YELLOW TAXI when he was two so I vote for that. But Chelsea Morning is also great. They are all great’
Patti, Joni Mitchell showed the world what a great singer/songwriter she was from the beginning of her career.
I like a few of her songs, but at the time preferred Judy Collins (“Both Sides Now”).
Rick, Judy Collins–after she heard Joni Mitchell’s version of “Both Sides Now”–quickly recorded her version and had her record company release it. As you recall, the Collins version became a hit.