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Also known as Song To A Seagull, Joni's David Crosby-produced debut is simpler and more stark than the meticulous tapestries of her later and more celebrated work. It showcases the fragile Sixties style Crosby called "art-folk": hushed and demure, courtly and mannered. The young Joni sometimes sounds cloyingly virginal, and the flowery mooncalf affectations grate, but her unique sense of rhythm and melody is already blooming, most beautifully on "I Had A King", "Michael From Mountains" and "The Dawntreader". Raw and clear, Joni Mitchell is the sound of arguably the 1970s finest songwriter warming up, her approach, musical and lyrical, coming into focus, her vision ghosting past the boundaries of the folk form. --Taylor Parkes
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By nicjaytee
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Audio CD
As a long time Joni Mitchell fan how did I miss this one? Well, like many others who got into her music after her first rush of success her debut, devoid of any "hits" and rarely played on the radio, then & now, somehow just passed me by. My loss... because, it's a fragile, haunting and impeccably played & sung album. David Crosby's production extracts the best from what was, as time has shown, an incredibly talented artist putting everything into her first release and its pared-down, at times almost sparse arrangements are a huge credit to both artists in capturing "singer/songwriter folk music" at its very highest levels.
A lot of what of what was to follow was better and justifiably more successful but "Song To A Seagull" has that rarest of things - a level of purity and sincerity in its lyrics and execution that makes it absolutely timeless. So much so that its most successful track, "Night in the City", with its excellent, folk/rock orientated delivery ends up as an almost uncomfortable distraction from the spellbinding simplicity of what surrounds it. A seriously under-rated and quite beautiful record.
A lot of what of what was to follow was better and justifiably more successful but "Song To A Seagull" has that rarest of things - a level of purity and sincerity in its lyrics and execution that makes it absolutely timeless. So much so that its most successful track, "Night in the City", with its excellent, folk/rock orientated delivery ends up as an almost uncomfortable distraction from the spellbinding simplicity of what surrounds it. A seriously under-rated and quite beautiful record.
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
This, Joni Mitchell's first album is still, in my opinion her best. The anguish in her voice, especially on the haunting "I Had A King", the first track, grabs your attention and keeps it through all ten tracks. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5 and 9 would grace any album by any singer. The lyrics could stand alone.
Rumour has it the album was originally entitled "Song To A Seagull" (see the cover). It could also have been called "Joni Mitchell meets Crosby, Stills and Nash" as Crosby produced it, Stills played bass guitar and Nash was her partner at that time. But any other title would do it an injustice, for this IS "Joni Mitchell".
Buy it and enjoy it, as I have done for over thirty years, yes it was first released in 1968.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Joni Mitchell was 25 when she first went into a recording studio to record the enviable inventory of songs that became Song To A Seagull. By this time she had been performing professionally for several years and her songs had already been recorded by some of folk's biggest names, notably Tom Rush and Judy Collins, whose orchestral version of Mountain From Mountains can be compared directly with the starker, simpler version heard here. The album was thematic with one side titled I Came To The City and the other Out Of The City And Down To The Seaside and comprised mainly Joni Mitchell accompanying herself on guitar and piano, with the occasional banshee and Stephen Stills on bass, thanks to David Crosby's sensitive production. This put the focus squarely on Joni's performance and the remarkable strength of her writing. Only a moderate success at the time it nevertheless set in motion the relentless trajectory of her fame, and still sounds fresh and perceptive, grating only when her voice enters the higher registers.
In the UK, Night In The City was released as a single and raised her profile with some radio plays on programmes such as Top Gear
In the UK, Night In The City was released as a single and raised her profile with some radio plays on programmes such as Top Gear
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Dylan Moore
Format:Audio CD
This is a classic example of the "brilliant first album". An artist puts years of ideas into her first offering, with her own unadulterated personality on display. The result is powerful, innovative, and retains its rough edges.
I first heard it in 1968, when it fell loosely into the "folky" category. Adolescent fans of that genre (as I was) idolized people like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon as "Folk Poets". Half-way through the first track, scanning the words on the record cover, I had one of life's epiphanies. I thought "This woman really is a poet!" Her words, in this and many subsequent albums, make all those other song writers seem insipid, artless, incompetent.
Her arrival on the scene was actually quite explosive. She had a lot of street credibility from the outset. She grew up in Saskatoon, in the Canadian far-north. She had given birth to and parted with a child, been briefly married, and done her time playing in cellars in the Boho zone. She was in with Crosby, Stills and Nash and a host of others at the sharp end of the music scene of the time. Many well-known artists started recording her songs almost immediately. Everyone was entranced with her words. She had influential fans for two years before the production of this first album.
For her first album, she interestingly chose to record newly-written songs, in a "concept" format, rather than record the songs for which she was already famous (some of which she included in her second album). Although she was 25 when the album was issued, the sentiments of the songs are often adolescent, sometimes tooth-jarringly so. In the cover notes, she says "This album is dedicated to Mr Kratzman, who taught me to love words"!!... Read more ›
I first heard it in 1968, when it fell loosely into the "folky" category. Adolescent fans of that genre (as I was) idolized people like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon as "Folk Poets". Half-way through the first track, scanning the words on the record cover, I had one of life's epiphanies. I thought "This woman really is a poet!" Her words, in this and many subsequent albums, make all those other song writers seem insipid, artless, incompetent.
Her arrival on the scene was actually quite explosive. She had a lot of street credibility from the outset. She grew up in Saskatoon, in the Canadian far-north. She had given birth to and parted with a child, been briefly married, and done her time playing in cellars in the Boho zone. She was in with Crosby, Stills and Nash and a host of others at the sharp end of the music scene of the time. Many well-known artists started recording her songs almost immediately. Everyone was entranced with her words. She had influential fans for two years before the production of this first album.
For her first album, she interestingly chose to record newly-written songs, in a "concept" format, rather than record the songs for which she was already famous (some of which she included in her second album). Although she was 25 when the album was issued, the sentiments of the songs are often adolescent, sometimes tooth-jarringly so. In the cover notes, she says "This album is dedicated to Mr Kratzman, who taught me to love words"!!... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"Blue" apart, this album vies with any of Joni's first five, but as a debut constantly amazes. A Customer's original review covers the bases, but my favourite tracks are "Marcie" (love the "Red's for..." "Green's for..." motif) and "Cactus Tree", a song with - again - proper structure, beautiful images and a wonderfully unresolved ending:
Someone thought they saw her Sunday
Window shopping in the rain;
Someone heard she bought a one-way
Ticket and went west again.
Can't really agree about "Night in the City" - Joni usually includes an upbeat song, or attempted hit single, as I think we can call it.
I first bought this album in about 1969 (what else do you do when you buy a superb second album and there is no 3rd album yet?) when it was just called "Joni Mitchell" - see the record spine of my original! - and was arrogantly convinced that later incarnations as "Song to a Seagull" were stupid errors caused by over-examination of the cover. There are, after all, other references to the lyrics in Joni's artwork. However, Wikipedia tells me that the mistake was on the original, caused by an error in Reprise' publicity dept. and it was always "Song to a Seagull". Does anyone know what Joni says?
Someone thought they saw her Sunday
Window shopping in the rain;
Someone heard she bought a one-way
Ticket and went west again.
Can't really agree about "Night in the City" - Joni usually includes an upbeat song, or attempted hit single, as I think we can call it.
I first bought this album in about 1969 (what else do you do when you buy a superb second album and there is no 3rd album yet?) when it was just called "Joni Mitchell" - see the record spine of my original! - and was arrogantly convinced that later incarnations as "Song to a Seagull" were stupid errors caused by over-examination of the cover. There are, after all, other references to the lyrics in Joni's artwork. However, Wikipedia tells me that the mistake was on the original, caused by an error in Reprise' publicity dept. and it was always "Song to a Seagull". Does anyone know what Joni says?
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Multi tracking - Masterful
Incredible vocal range and brilliant multitracking make this one of ( if not the best ) Joni Mitchell albums no favourite tracks I love them all.
Published 2 months ago by Steve
5.0 out of 5 stars
On time and as described
Lovely and interesting music. I used to take Joni Mitchell for granted as part of a particular singer/songwriter generation, but I'm rediscovering her now, to my great delight. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Gershon
5.0 out of 5 stars
A truly 'great' album.
Joni stands head and shoulders above her contemporaries. 'Song to a Seagull' set a standard that most singer-songwriters, past and present, would aspire to but simply not reach. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Martin Harrison
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
Bought this originally as an LP in the early 1970's. Downloaded the MP3 format and it sounds as brilliant as it was then. Read more
Published 5 months ago by R. Mason
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joni was my teenage heroin
Think I misspelled a word in my title? I didn't!
I discovered Joni as a teenager, thanks to a compilation cassette my parents had. I quickly became addicted. Read more
I discovered Joni as a teenager, thanks to a compilation cassette my parents had. I quickly became addicted. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Sebastian Palmer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just Gorgeous
Just a stunning and timeless album, showcasing Joni's amazing voice and evocative lyrics with some beautiful acoustic guitar. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Tartan Dalek
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joni's Landmark Debut
What words best describe Joni Mitchell's (1968) debut album, Song To A Seagull? Well... I would say melancholic,serious,atmospheric, beautiful ,unique,affecting ,bold and... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2011 by Brian I Davidson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Song to a seagull
Dimly remembered from my mid teenage years, but never heard since then, I was delighted in my mid 50s to find that this LP was available in CD format. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2010 by Haddock
5.0 out of 5 stars
Song to a Seagull
I was given this LP when I was ill in bed the year it was released way back in the late sixties. It really "spoke" to me and is one of the most evocative records that make the... Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2009 by Sally Birtwell
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quick Reviews!
By 1968 Joni Mitchell had already written hits for other artists but decided that she wanted to write, record, and perform for herself. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2009 by carlosnightman
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