19 August 2021

Oh will you take me as I am, strung out on another man

Thursday music corner: The second single taken from one of Canadian folk legend Joni Mitchell’s most critically acclaimed albums, Blue, California was written in self-imposed exile in Europe as she recuperated from her break-up with Graham Nash, and evokes a wistful, playful longing for the creative atmosphere of the laid-back Pacific state that was then the centre of the global counterculture. Featuring Mitchell on dulcimer and guitar, the recording also benefits from Mitchell’s then paramour James Taylor’s guitar-work, although their relationship would soon break down when Taylor attained global fame. In 2020 Blue was rated third-highest in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Joni Mitchell – California (1971)

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