Blue is the most critically acclaimed and influential album of Joni Mitchell’s early, perhaps entire output - informing much of the nascent singer-songwriter movement. This melancholy, intimate collection explores the deeply personal yet universal facets of relationships - infatuation on “A Case of You” to self-doubt on “This Flight Tonight”. The instrumentation is spare and direct; the songs feature simple accompaniment on piano, guitar, and Appalachian dulcimer. Following the overwhelming success of her first few albums and generational anthem “Woodstock,” Mitchell took a hiatus from touring in 1970. She spent much of this hiatus in Europe where she learned to play the dulcimer and composed much of what became Blue. In 1971, Blue was exceedingly well received on both critical and commercial fronts, climbing to #15 on the Billboard Album charts. Single “Carey” peaked at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1979, Mitchell reflected, “The Blue album, there’s hardly a dishonest note in the vocals. At that period of my life, I had no personal defenses. I felt like a cellophane wrapper on a pack of cigarettes. I felt like I had absolutely no secrets from the world and I couldn’t pretend in my life to be strong. Or to be happy. But the advantage of it in the music was that there were no defenses there either.” In 1999, Blue was awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame award, a status given to elite recordings that are more than 25 years old and have “qualitative or historical significance.”

Official Joni Mitchell Website
Joni Mitchell’s Blue on AllMusic.com
Cameron Crowe on Blue
Time Magazine’s 100 Greatest Albums entry on Blue