Joni Mitchell - For Free (1970)

[@MaddRezz]

look at you kids and your vintage music

[@beckyquinlan3101]

yeah look at us.

[@robbydelrey]

Yesssss!

[@strawberrygashesuspiria]

kinda scary

[@fleeko180]

chills

[@baldw1n]

chemtrails ✈️

[@neilpiper9889]

I saw this live on the BBC with my mum while I was still living at home in 1970. I am 78 now and still love it ❤️

[@duskwatcher2153]

God, this is heartbreakingly beautiful

[@alicelester6339]

Yes, it is. Joni perfection, heartbreaking.

[@leffphield]

Repunzel

[@czrad8125]

Joni was in a class of her own. I use this song for listening comprehension. I make up questions according to the lyrics

[@czrad8125]

What a voice

[@rschiel50]

Oh...the day the mailman delivered "Ladies of the Canyon" to my doorstep via The Columbia Record Club was the beginning of my being conscious...I would rush home from school every afternoon-shut my bedroom door-put it on my turntable-throw myself across my bed and wile away the hours dreaming...I was 17.

[@annblacker6401]

OMG Yes! The Columbia Record Club introduced me to so much wonderful music! What an amazing memory

[@angelnumber2002]

Beautiful

[@chikoazul]

U just made that up😂

[@rschiel50]

@@chikoazul No...I didn't make that up. It was the beginning of my love affair with Joni Mitchell...

[@HenryHarvey]

My favorite part: "Nobody stopped to hear him, though he played so sweet and high" (plays stacatto high notes) I like how Joni Mitchell has this mix of elegance and roughness, grace and humor.

[@Mr05Chuck]

Best female song writer of all time.

[@janhammer39]

Thanks for checking in with us.

[@youtooaromatherapy1897]

Best singer songwriter of all time not just female.

[@spinningreelsofrhyme]

Truth

[@DC-js4gk]

@@youtooaromatherapy1897 I'm beginning to think so. Will live on forever no doubt. This song is now 50 and sounds as fresh ss it did in 1969. A fantastic statement on the importance of music in our lives

[@BJane58]

No doubt about it.

[@elizabethlinsay9193]

Joni Mitchell brought me here, many years ago. I'm still here and will never leave.

[@robscott8464]

Exactly... don't know lana... but if you don't know joni mitchell on her own merit you were not raised right

[@ClassicalJams]

This is music of the soul. My God, how beautiful :-))))) They don't write like this anymore. This is Joni at the pinnacle of perfection. What an artist....brings tears.

[@missRbeckett]

absolutely

[@Bestbuddy719]

check out weyes blood ;)

[@michael-q8w3r]

Ahh shut up

[@keithwardonline]

So funny. I've been playing on the street for many years. I enjoy it so much because of the people I meet and, usually, how favorably they respond. While I was traveling through Ouray, Colorado in September 2018, a woman came up to me excitedly while I played my clarinet and told me about this song. Surprisingly, I had never heard it. I'm so glad that has now been remedied. It's so beautiful and touching, and I feel Joni's longing in this song. I've heard her talk about wrestling with the issues that fame brings an artist, and she truly is a great artist. I'll probably not play the street again without thinking of this song. Thank you, Joni. Thank you, Jan.

[@chipwalter4490]

Joni was inspired most likely by seeing Lol Coxhill, the clarinet player in the time & place cited in this song. Kieth Ward Thank you for bringing music to the people. And r.i.p. Lol Coxhill. I got to see him in London in 2007...truly a master musician, he certainly "was plying real good"

[@scoubidoubidou76]

I'm french, I was in New York last winter, living in Brooklyn ,and walking endlessly in the streets.This beautiful song of Jony brings me back there, in this huge, windy, dirty, cold, noisy city that I fell in love with... Her notes reminds me the color of the walls, the smell of the pavements, the noises of the traffic , this song is an instant picture of the big Apple....like a photo for me, like a Time machine if I close my eyes... A delicious moment between two walking green....

[@treeheartnyc]

Exactement! Merci beaucoup!

[@tatasrevoluce4825]

Joni, I know you will never read this or even know it was written, but I have to thank you for being alive. Thank you for all the memories and life's lessons your music brought us all. Because of you and this song I realised the best music is to be found on the streets and not on TV... or KZbin. I can not put on a melody with those I find that play real good for free, But I can leave them a $100 dollar tip from you by proxy. I always write on the bill "From Joni, You play reel good for free"

[@janhammer39]

Thanks for vising the channel and for taking the time to express your thoughts.

[@dazie6187]

Parking lot!

[@totalt6600]

Joni and you made me cry. TY💛🙏

[@Lori_Kirstein]

That gives me chills. Thank you, Tatas!!

[@donnabittner69]

I certainly appreciated everyone who played for free after this!! And I definitely stop to hear them....

[@margaretwhitmer2715]

Every cut on Ladies of the Canyon is a gem. The title song has been my life's anthem.

[@janhammer39]

Thanks Margaret for checking out the channel.

[@lisaletto7337]

It is timeless

[@joevs21001]

One of my favorite Joni Mitchell songs. That piano playing is so beautiful as well as Joni herself and that magical voice she has. The world has truly been blessed to have her and her music for the past 50 years!

[@catheyqueen8834]

Spot on Joivs21001! Mesmerizing,...Steller!.

[@janhammer39]

Cathey Queen Thanks Cathey for checking out my site.

[@tomer8]

I slept last night in a good hotel I went shopping today for jewels The wind rushed around in the dirty town And the children let out from the schools I was standing on a noisy corner Waiting for the walking green Across the street he stood And he played real good On his clarinet for free Now me I play for fortunes And those velvet curtain calls I've got a black limousine And two gentlemen Escorting me to the halls And I play if you have the money Or if you're a friend to me But the one man band By the quick lunch stand He was playing real good for free Nobody stopped to hear him Though he played so sweet and high They knew he had never Been on their T.V. So they passed his music by I meant to go over and ask for a song Maybe put on a harmony I heard his refrain As the signal changed He was playing real good for free Joni added these lyrics to the song during the 1983 tour: Playing like a fallen angel Playing like a rising star Playing for a hat full of nothing to the honking of the cars

[@DeniseLaFranceCDNpainter]

Poignant song about importance of appreciating buskers & how fame is not a meter of value. Sad & beautiful song. Joni's beloved. This song's a favorite.

[@carollipton4584]

As well as a song on what fame, wealth and class do to an artist, that she decided against her spontaneous desire to join him in a song, and how sad that made her

[@johnjarou2357]

carol lipton oh pleeeese. it's just a song. quit trying to read all that nonsense into it.

[@janhammer39]

Thanks for visiting The Hammer Works,

[@swinde]

@@johnjarou2357 You may not like it but Carol is right. As much as she noticed the talent not rewarded by fame, she also had no time to stop and thank the man. She thanked him with this song. I hope he managed to hear it.

[@johnjarou2357]

@@swindewell, i think you are trying to read to much into the song. i remember the song from when it came out. and i always really liked it. and i think i got the message of the song, way back then. but, thanks anyway.

[@TriocerosJacksonii]

I didn't know this beautiful song existed until lana introduced it to me. Lovely song.

[@ML-kp3jd]

Lana Del Rey

[@pessimist131313]

You missed a lot of incredible songs. Get with it.

[@pianosurfdoc]

Listened to this album hundreds of ti,es in the early 70’s. A masterpiece.

[@thomaskelly6182]

I love her and her music. always have am I am 72

[@litterbyy]

i love how simple this song is. it’s just a story about how someone learned something valuable from watching a stranger play the clarinet. just shows you how a simple interaction could teach you so much

[@elliotmann8882]

This will always be my favorite song by Joni. I remember hearing it played all the time when I was in college in 1974.

[@eimer_moehren]

A masterpiece...

[@mechinithappen9710]

LOL yeah thats what it is

[@elizabethlinsay9193]

She and the song.

[@georgeduhon]

This beautiful song is one of my top 10 all time favorites. Joni's music has been such a gift to all of us throughout the years.

[@janhammer39]

Thanks for checking out my site and for sharing your thoughts.

[@FightingRimbaud]

Have been into Joni for a long time but recently discovered Lana. Glad to see she is turning the younger generations onto real music. If you’re just getting into Joni, you’ll really love the harmony of Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

[@Patricia-xo5vj]

same! when i first listened to this song on chemtrails i thought to myself “wow this sounds like something joni mitchell would sing” so i was so happy when i found out this is actually her song

[@prayatna7109]

I started listening to joni last year and I'm also a lana fan so I'm so happy she put this on cocc

[@lolamoonlight8194]

I suggest you her cover of “chelsea hotel” of Leonard Cohen

[@anthonygemayel9429]

and what is unreal music miss eustis

[@liebeasta3332]

This would be a right banger at a party

[@StandUp555]

Timeless and Priceless ... a true artist ... we are blessed to able to hear her. I have pity for the Children of today .... thoroughly lost in this beautiful world being destroyed by evil people. Joni was a visionary ... her text 45 years ago warned us then. Thankyou

[@janhammer39]

Thanks for checking in with us and for sharing your thoughts.

[@dennisopihory9194]

oh jeez lighten up. the world isn't anymore evil now than it ever was. remember hitler, stalin ,mao, genghis khan. old people shouldn't start rewriting history standup555. just listen and enjoy. she wasn't a visionary warning about an apocalyptic world. she is just a great singer and songwriter.

[@melodiusthud4536]

+Dennis Opihory She definitely had some sagely advice in her songs, should one hear it. And you can choose not to listen. And as for good and evil, I'm pretty sure that if humanity disappeared from the planet, the universe wouldn't miss us. We're all just people with opinions -- you, me, all of us.

[@dennisopihory9194]

she just has a knack of taking an ordinary slice of life and turning it into a melodious gem

[@asa_rayder]

Here after Lana Del Rey performed it on her tour😍

[@aprilclemmer6128]

And it was phenomenal!!!

[@eliasvelasquez5729]

I was there live...fuckin amazing

[@RAYMUFC8]

The reason I'm here lol never heard this song before

[@LucasDelReyBanks]

And now there'll be a cover of it on Lana's new record "Chemtrails over the Country Club"!

[@asa_rayder]

@@LucasDelReyBanks can march come sooner

[@wunziesmum]

This makes me cry for some reason. It's my favorite JM song. Her voice and the piano are perfect together.

[@g.stephens263]

Mitchell's voice was an instrument in and of itself!

[@janhammer39]

Thanks for tuning in.

[@ladygaga5728]

Lana is covering this song on Chemtrails!!

[@roberthurley6860]

This song still takes my breath away a little, 51 years after first hearing it. We will never see the likes of a Miss Joni Mitchell on this earth again. How sweet that she is been part of our time.

[@davebcleadon]

Just an amazing performance of probably my favourite Joni song. Appreciate her talent more now than I ever did.

[@markknopflerisnot]

Brilliant songwriter, story teller, singer, musician, living legend.......her lyrics all tell great stories, a lot of truth and can stand alone as wonderful poetry......when will we see her like again

[@paulliane49]

reminds me of the 70's I miss those days !!!! '

[@carollipton4584]

I have such vivid memories of playing this song on my friend's parent's piano at Christmas time in Massachusetts. Used to love playing Joni for my friends.

[@jameslawson6245]

Just so Beautiful singing about How Human Nature should be, Doing things for the Common Person.. For Free!

[@AndreaMoonMusic]

still love this song after over 40 years.

[@JoanneVanGenderenArt]

This some is my very favorite Joni song. It underlines the randomness of privilege and Joni sings it beautifully.

[@malcolmhunt2904]

Loved this in those heady days of the 60's and 70's,still loving it now,even more so,incredible artiste,so talented,who quite simply wrote wonderful songs which can transport you back to those times when we were young and the world was a better place,and happiness reigned all the year round.A lovely post Jan,thanks!

[@janhammer39]

Thanks Malcolm for visiting my site and for sharing your thoughts.

[@drothberg3]

One of my favorites -- the song, the voice, the piano are all stellar. Listening to Joni makes me want to live in Laurel Canyon in the 70's.

[@cachickadee]

I was looking for a copy of this song from her BBC concert in 1970. So glad I found it. Such an absolutely lovely song.

[@tonylopez8266]

goddamn , those chord structures. . .this song just slays me to this day

[@markpittman2521]

My friends Phil and Mary and their sister Jane put this on the stereo in 1971, I have been enamored with her music ever since. How do you thank someone for such a gift?

[@bratachban]

I have loved Joni for years but just discovered this beautiful song now.

[@janhammer39]

thanks David for visiting the channel.

[@ivansantos9717]

me too

[@bobg525]

one of THE most beautiful songs of my life ... tears

[@kathydegroote6567]

She lifts us all up to a celestial plane.

[@Steffisews]

My favorite..bought the album when it was released and promptly wore it out. I tried to sing along, but I’m not vocally gifted. Instead, I simply enjoy this beautiful song that makes me cry..every time. Thank you for your gift.

[@aleleeinnaleleeinn9110]

And old lesson in music vs. fame. Joni's musical and personal honesty has made her a legend.

[@johntibbles1251]

I read of David Crosbys passing today and his iconic line -'only a child laughing in the sun' with Joni Mitchell harmonising in the background. It prompted me to search Joni and up popped 'For Free'. A more beautiful song was never written nor a more beautiful voice to sing it. Nostalgia for all those years ago brought tears to my eyes and reminded me I was lucky to see her live in London where she played real good , for money and those magic curtain calls.

[@ChuloDavidcito]

Love, love, love Joni, and this song breaks my heart more than almost any of her many gems. Thanks for posting this version.

[@janhammer39]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[@payank505]

One of the most beautiful and haunting songs ever: the performance, the music and, especially, the lyrics.

[@jmshaw357]

I heard this for the first time just now--WOW! Why is this not more well known? VERY rich, deep, meaningful--artsy as hell. I love it!

[@dazie6187]

Very popular about thirty years ago. She dated Steven Stills, then left him for Neal Young...big scandal of the time. Look them up..Wikipedia, Crosby, Stills & Nash, then they added Young. The harmonies are the result of two of the guys being in church choirs. Very tight four part harmony. My favorite songs are Wooden Ships and Carry On.

[@ShunyamNiketana]

It's great you like it. I'm 60, and I remember Joni's early work, but she didn't really grab me until about 30 years ago. And then I found myself liking her various new incarnations, the jazzy vocals, all that stuff. I'm guessing you were born after the hippy-folk-rock era?

[@jmshaw357]

I was born in 1950, raised in Montana, we had no music scene of any account then.

[@drothberg3]

You got it wrong. She was first with David Crosby and then with Graham Nash -- never with Stephen Stills or Neal Young.

[@romonae.7896]

One of my all time favorites of Joni, hope she gets well soon.....love you dear lady, your music and lyrics got me through so many times thanks to your voice....play on forever lady

[@The333Wanderer]

Romona Eggenberger I grew up with her music, from a young 17 to an old man. Till the day I die, I'll never stop listening to Joni. Her music and her voice let me see deep within myself. She is an angel.

[@ZIVCOOL100]

So beautiful and so real sad. The reality is that we admire those who aren’t really play for us, that only care about hundreds things but music, and we don’t stop and listen to those who play just for us and nothing else. I love this song, and his message❤️

[@Nautilus1972]

No thumbs down for Joni.

[@PsyVen]

One of the greatest albums ever recorded in SoCal -- which is saying something. Brilliant work by a genius.

[@rebeccabecerra3117]

Heard this son on the radio today 11-22-2018 just flippin thru stations. Im so glad I did. One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. It's crazy how certain songs can make u feel some kinda way.

[@garyboyer3800]

We love Joni at www.885fm.org

[@s.i.witkacy3946]

Thank you Lana for your recommendation! Simply amazing. xx

[@BTLFAEN]

One of the greatest live performances ever

[@RealDapperDude]

I listen to these old Joni songs, and a small part of me longs for a return to 1970 and being in high school again. But in reality, the only good thing was the music, and though I'm a week from 67 with skin cancers from the California sun and a broken eye, I can return to those days in my heart and mind, and dream again. I'm glad the times aren't the same, but thank God the music is still here.

[@NoelKerns]

There aren't many songs or songwriters that can reach into your heart as viscerally as Joni and this masterpiece.

[@saludanite]

That last word - free - can tear a living heart from dead body

[@richardbrucemusic]

Oh. My. Gosh. I almost forgot about this beautiful song. Love Joni!

[@tim7096]

Thanks Joni, you have make people take a second look at what is important. Influence so many other musicians Thanks for your heart felt feelings in your music. I believe how you missed. Thanks Mr. Gilmour for the article. And I look forward to your next work?

[@spudcustardx1]

Joni still give me goose bumps, randomly I can forget a song of hers and suddenly its the most important noise I understand. I'm a 60s guy, I was lucky to have access to lots of great music. Joni peels the layers off me like an onion and reminds me what it takes to be less of a bastard. She never needed a brush to paint fabulous pictures.Love Spud Custard

[@janhammer39]

Thank you for visiting my site and for taking the time to comment.

[@angelrubio5816]

thanks to Lana I discovered this amazing artist

[@barbaravanna]

Thanks lana ♥

[@waxon2]

"And I'll play if you have the money, or if you're a friend to me." The honesty is humbling.

[@richardkatz6157]

Hey Jan thank you for finding this and posting it showing Joni playing the piano. Miss you and the guys on that decent synth group. Cheers, Rich Katz

[@barrybostwick11]

I'm getting goosebumps listening to this, so good.

[@stevenantosofsky154]

Such a beautiful song !! Timeless !!

[@janhammer39]

Thanks for tuning in.

[@Nautilus1972]

About Joni's struggle with being a rich artist, and made Dave Gilmour's Desert Island because of that. She'd make my island too. I spent the last month listening to nothing but Joni on the train everyday. It was wonderful.

[@marywoodward7855]

I always loved her music. I actually learned to sing her songs! Beautiful music.

[@mgoodwin56]

I love this beautiful song It so reflective of Joni.... One who, at heart, was an artist who just wanted to express her art. Whether others liked it or not, really didn't matter. She wasn't going to try to fit into the mold of who the music execs said she should be. This street musician was making beautiful music... and no one (other than Joni) really cared or took notice. He had not become a cog in the music making machine. I think, in some ways, she longed for the days of not being shackled by the trappings of success (Free Man in Paris, I'd like to skate away, etc). She, as much as any musical artist I know, stayed true to her self.

[@markthompson4804]

A profoundly beautiful song by our greatest songwriter

[@thunderpuppy6719]

I've loved this song since the first time I heard it oh so many years ago.

[@anitatoledo481]

Que belleza de voz y música!!!!!!!.....

[@penelopestapleton6965]

Sending feel better wishes beautiful Joni XX

[@ThePatri06]

super extraordinary artist Joni what a beautiful song she come so deep in my hart and saw, i love the melody the lyrics and the way she sing with such a feeling ,thx Jan H.

[@YewtBoot]

Such a powerful message. Saw Crosby and Nash perform it at an outdoor concert in 1974. A treasure.

[@colin25250]

one of the most beautiful songs in the world - along with many others by Joni

[@alexandramoore2515]

Thanks to Lana and her love for the greats - now I will buy this record - this song is so beautiful! xxx

[@calebmurdock2028]

Lana's voice is just a shadow of Joni Mitchell's voice.

[@nugg3t.z]

@@calebmurdock2028nobody asked!

[@memaseven]

P.S. I almost made it to the Woodstock reunion in 1994, and have a poster from it hanging in my den. I was on a cross-country camping trip driving across Canada to upstate NY, and was two days late for it....Again, thank you SO MUCH!! EM

[@rhondakiefer2042]

Brilliant artist! Love you, Joni...

[@martinschell4212]

Sublime. How did one person have such talent, at so many things? I'll never fathom it. We lived at the same time as her, how lucky are we?

[@bigbandsrock1]

So hard for me to discuss Joni. She’s simply a beautiful miracle and I treasure her and her incredible music and poetry. ❤️

[@memaseven]

Thank-you so much for the beautiful rendition of Joni's song, "For Free"...I am so touched. I love the editing and the great video you posted. It gives it so much meaning and the images you portray, remind me of what I had pictured in my mind when I heard her play the song. I have memories of that song, and where I was when I first heard it....(I'm almost in tears). I have a copy of the album that was given to me by someone who was involved with the 25th anniversary of Woodstock" ....EM

[@billbuchanan2150]

I saw this on Top of the Pops (the BBC's mainstream music program back then) in 1970 then didn't hear it again until I fell in love with Joni's music a few years later when I heard "A Case of You" and bought all her existing albums in one go. What a treasure trove. I still have the vynyl.

[@lauragroce3816]

This my stay fav of Joni’s. Soo many more but this one. Mercy. I’m 74

[@dannygriffith6185]

Classic & beautiful.

[@steveverdick2632]

I first saw Joni open for CSNY at the Greek (or was it the Bowl?). I was 13 & it was my first concert. I had the good fortune to see her 2 more times, each time simply music as my friends and I realized this was something special. Joni, You have brought us a realization that life is not about the things you accumulate but how we treat others and keep things spiritually right. Several times in the last few years I have had close calls medically. But somehow, someway I think you were watching out for me, Sounds crazy, how?.No, I believe in my Guardian angel even if it Is simply in my mind. But faith is all it takes. Thanks Joni for being there for me. You stood up all night watching over me.

[@ItisMoody]

Who else is here for a preview of Lana Del Rey's new album?

[@MarkSeibold]

Hearing this originally on the studio version recording from the early 1970s, was impressive enough. I later purchased the double vinyl disc Miles of Isles, I think she performs it on there equally as well. I see somebody mentions that Lana del Rey performed it, so that must mean something, as she is also a fine young vocalist. What I'm impressed with when Joni performs this as her original number, is her superb ability to accompany herself with instrumentation, as you don't often see a woman playing a piano this well to accompany their vocals. As if watching her use over 50 different drop style personally invented guitar tunings, isn't enough to identify her as one of the most genius composing musicians, poets, and instrumentalists of the 20th century. She was just seen accepting the Les Paul guitar award last year, and struggle to the stage with the help of being escorted by Herbie Hancock, as she was still recovering from her brain aneurysm that inflicted her several years ago. I always felt that she was due so many more Grammy Awards. Here's that recording that's on the Miles of Ailes album, that I have had that vinyl disc for over 40 years and just read the details on it this particular number. It was recorded in the Berkeley Theater in March of 1974. Whereas I believe most of the numbers on the album are recorded in the Hollywood Bowl which shows in the photo on the cover of the album. This version is a little more uptempo and I think it's a higher quality recording, as her voice has also become deeper four years later than in this recording above from 1970. I believe it's Tom Scott of the LA Express playing clarinet in the final verse here, yes his Jazz group is shown inside the opening cover of the album, and credited with most of the accompanyment of the Joni Mitchell songs on the two vinyl discs. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYbSanZnq7qnZqM And here's the original studio cut for the Ladies of the Canyon album. There is an accompaniment of cello at the end of the second verse, and in the final verse, and then in the final verse you'll hear the clarinet played by Paul Horn. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWKQeYl4eZiCg9U

[@SDuties]

At 66, lived through a lot of great, great, artists. Joni Mitchell and James Taylor are two of the few able to cause me to tear up. Maybe Tom Rush and Child’s Song. And possibly Linda Ronstadt’s pure talent on Faithless Love and Blue Bayou live.

[@wolfstar675]

So glad Lana included her cover of this song on the new album!

[@millarstoke]

It's been nearly fifty years since I first heard this song, thank you Joni, you are a revelation still.

[@janhammer39]

Hi David. Thanks for tuning in.

[@millarstoke]

It's more than a pleasure Jan, best wishes, David.

[@bobg525]

1970.. a very dark year for me.. her wonderful music was such a comfort..

[@juandominguez9167]

La máxima expresión humana de amor a través del arte( tienes todo: del dolor más profundo, a la alegría más intensa), poesía, artista plástica y un ser humano que supo superar todas las barreras. Felicitaciones Joni Mitchell!!!

[@sanderson9515]

An artistic genius who overcame childhood illness, devised a unique style and became a luminous star.

[@2K10stang]

This is beautiful

[@richardwieder2354]

Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Mary Travers.... we sure had some angelic voices back then!!!

[@edschneider1780]

Thanks for sharing magic

[@janhammer39]

Thanks Ed for tuning in.