The new book from the author and National Public Radio music critic Ann Powers is Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell, an essayistic examination of the Canadian singer-songwriter’s life and musical evolution. Powers converses with past collaborators and drew on a rich archive of Mitchell interviews for a contextual assessment of a singular artist. She spoke to Globe and Mail in advance of a pair of Canadian appearances (June 17, Toronto Reference Library; July 31, Calgary’s Wordfest).
You told the reader that this is not a typical biography. I found it was also about your journey of coming to an understanding of Joni, and that you’re taking us with you on the ride.
Exactly. That was my goal. I so admire traditional biographies. It’s absolutely necessary to provide those clear, clean accounts of people’s lives. But I wanted to think of the life of Joni as an icon, as a cultural influencer – and as one who was influenced by a culture. Not that all those things couldn’t happen in a conventional biographical form, but I found that interweaving cultural criticism with some memoir allowed for a fuller picture.
From what you wrote about David Yaffe’s 2017 biography of Joni, Reckless Daughter, I got the feeling you weren’t enamoured with it.
Oh, no, I wouldn’t say that. Look, I feel very grateful to put a book on the shelf with other great volumes on Joni. Every major publication on her has added something to our understanding of her that is crucial. David Yaffe’s book provided me with so many guideposts and so much insight, especially when it came to music. Also, it came out not long after I started on this project. The fact that David’s book existed meant I could go in another direction.
You say that his book took its cues from Mitchell herself. Is that why you didn’t interview Joni for your book?
At one point I did send out an exploratory email, asking if I could perhaps meet with Joni at some point. I did it reluctantly – I did it because I felt I needed to. Ultimately, I pulled back from that. I knew that whatever I would gain from an encounter with her, I would also gain other things that I felt would be risky for my process.
You wanted some distance from her?
Joni Mitchell is a daunting figure. She has what I would call the vortex of her charisma. The power of her allure can be a little overwhelming to writers I think. It’s important to make space for an artist’s own account of their work and their lives. But because of the way fame works in our culture, I think it can be hard once you’ve made that connection to express any other kind of view besides the one that’s already emanated from the artist themselves.
I found your quotes from David Crosby, Graham Nash and James Taylor, all of whom had a romantic relationship with Joni, fascinating. Did you sense they were in awe of her?
The interviews with Graham Nash and James Taylor took place at Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration, in 2018, in Los Angeles. They were definitely in homage mode, as it were. I interviewed Crosby when he came to Washington to play an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. In each case, these guys have different reasons to hold Joni up as a paragon. I’m glad they’re doing it, even if sometimes it reaches the level of hyperbole.
Is it hindsight? You write that men on the rock scene in the late 1960s didn’t really have the skills to recognize women as more powerful than they were.
Her peers were always aware of her extraordinary talent. But now there is no getting around the fact that her reputation exceeds almost anyone of her generation. I think time has shown these guys her place.
We see it in the scene from 2019 documentary Rolling Thunder Revue, where she’s playing her new song Coyote at Gordon Lightfoot’s house in Toronto, with Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn.
And they’re trying desperately to follow, right?
She’s blowing their minds. It’s a great piece of Canadiana and Toronto lore caught on film.
I wish I was able to speak to Gordon. But there was the pandemic, and, later, he was ailing. But here’s this titan of Canadian folk. In a sense, you can look at that clip as the triumph of the Canadians. There are images from Joni’s life and career that echo in that scene. For example, the famous photograph of Eric Clapton sitting on the grass at Cass Elliot’s house staring at Joni as she plays guitar trying to figure what she’s doing.
I think the Coyote scene is particularly poignant because her time on the Rolling Thunder Revue, as so many things with her life, was complicated. I think she really loved being on that tour, but she didn’t quite feel she made the connection with Dylan.
As she documented on her song Talk to Me.
It’s one of my favourites. I think she would have had liked to have more time with him, and just have spiritual community with him, let’s say. I don’t think she was trying to hook up with him romantically. I always wish for more for her in those circumstances, even though on the surface it seems like she’s owning the world.
This interview has been edited and condensed.