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Joni Mitchell I always considered myself a painter first. When I was 20, that’s what I wanted to be. I sort of got into music as a lark, with [my first husband] Chuck Mitchell. I never thought I’d make any money from music Having taught herself how to play the guitar, Joni Mitchell’s monumental career began with regular busking on the streets of Toronto and performing small gigs around town before eventually signing to Reprise Records. This kick-started a slew of successful albums, most notably the release of Blue in 1971 that Rolling Stone cites as the 30th greatest album ever made – the highest placing album by a female – demonstrating just how significant her presence in the music world was (and still is) in a time where female singer-songwriters were few and far between. Over the span of her career, Joni Mitchell’s success and lyrical talent has transcended genres, with subtle hints of jazz, rock and pop carefully weaving themselves amongst her folk roots. Sounds to a Seagull Song to a Seagull (also known as Joni Mitchell) is the debut studio album. Did Joni Mitchell paint cover of song to the seagull? The Album sleeve is original work by Joni Mitchell. Note the space left for the photograph section on the back cover. It was donated by Joni to a Democratic presidential campaign fundraiser in 1968. Produced by David Crosby the album was recorded in 1967 at Sunset Sound and released on March 23, 1968 by Reprise Records. includes tracks I had a KIng Night in the City The Pirate of Penance Clouds Clouds is the second album , released on May 1, 1969, After releasing her debut album, . She produced most of the album and painted a self-portrait for its cover artwork. (The red flower is a prairie lily the provincial flower of Saskatchewan) Clouds has subtle, unconventional harmonies and songs about lovers, among other themes. The album charted at number 22 in Canada and number 31 in the United States. Clouds was generally well received by music critics. Ladies of the Canyon Ladies of the Canyon is the third studio album released in 1970. It peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200. The title makes reference to Laurel Canyon, a centre of popular music culture in Los Angeles during the 1960s. The album includes several of Mitchell's most noted songs, such as " Big Yellow Taxi ", "Woodstock" and "The Circle Game" Blue Blue is the fourth studio album released on June 22, 1971, Written and produced entirely by Mitchell, it was recorded in 1971 at A&M Studios . Created just after her breakup with Graham Nash and during an intense relationship with James Taylor Blue explores various facets of relationships from infatuation on "A Case of You" to insecurity on "This Flight Tonight". The songs feature simple accompaniments on piano, guitar and Appalachian dulcimer The album peaked at number 3 on the UK number 9 in Canada and number 15 on the Billboard Today, Blue is generally regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time; the cohesion of Mitchell's songwriting, compositions and voice are frequent areas of praise. In January 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music. In 2020, Blue was rated the third greatest album of all time in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums the highest entry by a female artist. For the Roses For the Roses is the fifth studio album . It was released in November 1972, between her two biggest commercial and critical successes—Blue and Court & Spark . For the Roses is perhaps best known for the hit single "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio", which Mitchell wrote sarcastically out of a record company request for a radio-friendly song. The single was a success, peaking at number 25 on the Billboard chart, becoming Mitchell's first top 40 hit released under her own name (as a songwriter, several other performers had had hits with songs that she had written). "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire", a menacing and jazzy portrait of her then lover James Taylor's heroin addiction, which was also released as a single, backed with "Blonde in the Bleachers" and the Beethoven-inspired "Judgment of the Moon and Stars" were also popular. Court & Spark Court and Spark is the sixth studio album. It was an immediate commercial and critical success—and remains her most successful album. Released in January 1974, it has been described as pop but also infuses Mitchell's folk rock style, which she had developed through her previous five albums, with jazz inflections. It reached No. 2 in the US and No. 1 in Canada and eventually received a double platinum certification by the RIAA, the highest of Mitchell's career. It also reached the Top 20 in the UK In 2020, it was ranked at number 110 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The Hissing of the Summer Lawns The album initially received harsh criticism. In Rolling Stone, saying that the album's lyrics were impressive but the music was a failure. "If The Hissing of Summer Lawns offers substantial literature, it is set to insubstantial music... Four members of Tom Scott's L.A. Express are featured on Hissing, but their uninspired jazz-rock style completely opposes Mitchell's romantic style... The Hissing of Summer Lawns is ultimately a great collection of pop poems with a distracting soundtrack. Read it first. Then play it. However, the record's reputation has grown in stature over the years. Music writer Howard Sounes has called The Hissing of Summer Lawns Mitchell's masterpiece, "an LP to stand alongside Blood on the Tracks". Prince a lifelong fan of Mitchell, had loved the album, praising it in interviews. In 1977, Mitchell was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performancee for the album. Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 258 in the 2020 edition of its 500 greatest albums of all time Hejire Hejira is the eighth studio album The songs on the album were written during a series of road trips in 1975 and 1976, and reflect events that occurred during those trips, including several romantic relationships she had at the time. Characterized by lyrically dense, sprawling songs, as well as the overdubbed fretless bass playing of Jaco Pastorius (whom Mitchell had just met), Hejira continued the musician's journey beyond her pop records towards the freer, jazz-inspired music she would implement on later recordings. Some of the songs were written while Mitchell traveled as a member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, and she performed the album tracks "Coyote" and "Furry Sings the Blues" with The Band at their final concert (later released as Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz). The album did not sell as well as its predecessors, peaking at No. 22 in her native Canada. It reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart in the United States, where it was certified gold by the RIAA, and No. 11 in the UK, where it attained a silver certification. Critically, the album was generally well received, and in the years since its release, Hejira has been considered one of the high marks of her career. Don Juan's Reckless Daughter Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her ninth album, it is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz fusion sound of Mitchell's Hejira from the year before. Mitchell has stated that, close to completing her contract with Asylum Records, she allowed this album to be looser than anything she had done previously. Don Juan's Reckless Daughter was released in December 1977 to mixed reviews. It reached No. 25 on the Billboard charts and attained gold record status within three months. Mingus Mingus is the tenth studio album and a collaboration with composer and jazz musician Charles Mingus. Recorded in the months before his death, it would be Mingus's final musical project; the album is wholly dedicated to him. Mingus was released on June 13, 1979 The album is quite experimental, featuring minimalist jazz, over-plucked, buzzing acoustic guitars, and even wolves howling through "The Wolf That Lives in Lindsey". All of the lyrics are by Mitchell, while the music for four of the songs was composed by Mingus, three being new tunes, a fourth being his tribute to saxophonist Lester Young from his 1959 classic Mingus Ah Um, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", for which Mitchell wrote a set of lyrics. As with the release preceding, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mitchell hired personnel from jazz fusion group Weather Report, notably bassist Jaco Pastorius to play on the sessions. Mingus would also mark the first reunion of saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Herbie Hancock in the studio since recording together on Shorter's seminal Native Dancer album, featuring Milton Nascimento, released in September 1974. The album is spliced with excerpts, which are labelled "(Rap)", from recordings provided by Sue Graham Mingus, including a scat singing interplay between Joni and Mingus, and Charles and Sue arguing over his age at a birthday party. In "Funeral", Mingus and others discuss how long he will live and what his funeral will be like. He refers to the Vedanta Society and asserts that he is going to live longer than Duke Ellington, who died in 1974, aged 75, by saying, "I'm going to cut Duke!". "God Must Be a Boogie Man"—having taken shape two days after his death—was the only song Mingus was unable to hear. Mitchell suggests in the liner notes that Mingus would have found it hilarious. The song was re-recorded with orchestral accompaniment on Joni's 2002 album Travelogue.

Bossa nova is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovative syncopation of traditional samba from a single rhythmic division. The "bossa nova beat" is characteristic of a samba style and not of an autonomous genre. Beginning on the tropical beaches of Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s, when a small group of students, artists and musicians came together to create a new sound. ... It was a youthful celebration of romance, beach culture and sensual pleasure. Girl From Ipanema The song that lit the touch-paper for the bossa nova explosion in the US and the rest of the world was called “The Girl From Ipanema,” sung by Astrud Gilberto in a wispy but beguiling girlish voice, and which reached No.5 in the US pop singles chart in the summer of 1964. According to the Brazilian journalist Ruy Castro, the bossa beat – which was created by the drummer Milton Banana – was "an extreme simplification of the beat of the samba school", as if all instruments had been removed and only the tamborim had been preserved In line with this thesis, musicians such as Baden Powell, Roberto Menescal, and Ronaldo Bôscoli also claim that this beat is related to the tamborim of the samba school. BOSSA NOVA from GROOVE VINYL Bad, Gene Ammons Bossa Nova album was recorded in 1962 ,Throughout his spectacular career, tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons had several big hits, both singles and albums. One of those albums, Bad! Bossa Nova, paved the way for soulful players intent on exploring Latin music. 5 Clubs in Brazil that play Bossa Nova Beco das Garrafas Bip Bip Bar Vinícius Bar Bar do Tom Carioca da Gema In 1959, João Gilberto's bossa album was released, containing the tracks "Chega de Saudade" and "Bim Bom".Considered the landmark of the birth of bossa nova,[15] it also featured Gilberto's innovative way of singing samba, which was inspired by Dorival Caymmi With the LP Chega de Saudade, released in 1959, Gilberto consolidated the bossa nova as a new style of playing samba In 1960s, US jazz artists such as Stan Getz, Hank Mobley, Zoot Sims, Paul Winter and Quincy Jones recorded bossa jazz albums. Browse our collection of Bossa Nova Vinyls

(Taken from Queens official website) QUEEN’S “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” REACHES RARE RIAA DIAMOND STATUS WITH MORE THAN 10 MILLION U.S. SALES / STREAM EQUIVALENTS QUEEN BECOMES FIRST BRITISH BAND IN MUSIC HISTORY TO EARN RIAA DIAMOND SONG AWARD BAND’S LANDMARK PLATINUM COLLECTION, VOL. 1-3 EARNS 5X PLATINUM RIAA CERTIFICATION (Thursday, March 25, 2021) More than four decades after its release, Queen’s iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody” continues to reach new milestones. The iconic song has been officially certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing 10 million or more in sales and stream equivalents in the United States. Queen is the first British band in music history to earn the Diamond song award. “This is incredible news. At times like this I have to pinch myself to be sure it’s real,” said Brian May. “All those wild dreams we had - this is beyond any of them. Huge thanks to all who have believed in us over the years.” “It’s a wonderful and gratifying thought to know the song has reached out and connected with so many people!” said Roger Taylor. “We thank you all...onwards.” This is the latest in a long line of extraordinary achievements for “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was Queen's first Top 10 hit in the US. In the UK it went to #1 for 9 consecutive weeks, a record at the time, before returning to the top of the charts again in 1991. It was named the most-streamed song of the 20th century and its companion video recently passed one billion views on YouTube, making history as the first pre-1990’s video to reach one billion views on the platform. In 2004, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and Freddie Mercury’s vocal performance was named by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine as the best in rock history. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is also one of the many Queen hits featured on the band’s blockbuster compilation, Platinum Collection, Vol. 1-3, which was just certified 5X Platinum. This blockbuster compendium, which hit No. 6 on the Billboard 200, features tracks like “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Killer Queen,” “Under Pressure,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are The Champions” and so many more. On the heels of this momentous milestone, the band has also kicked off a year-long weekly YouTube series Queen The Greatest – a celebration of Queen’s Golden Jubilee that highlights 50 of the greatest moments from the Queen story so far. Beginning with the March 19 first episode, “Keep Yourself Alive” (WATCH HERE), and with five decades to explore, the series of weekly insights will highlight some of the biggest songs, most memorable performances, and incredible record-breaking achievements that Queen have brought us since it all began in 1971 - bringing fans, over the coming year, one of the greatest stories ever told. Upcoming: Episode 2 - “Live At The Rainbow-London, 1974” (3/26) and Episode 3 -“The ‘turning point’ single, “Killer Queen (4/2). Weekly episodes go live every Friday (HERE). In addition, the band just released their first-ever official Queen game on mobile, Queen: Rock Tour, the band’s first-ever official game for Android and iOS devices. Upon its release, Queen: Rock Tour went Top 5 on The Music Game App chart in over 20 countries. Queen remains one of the most popular groups in the world today, transcending multiple generations of fans, a position further buoyed by the phenomenal global success of their Academy Award-winning 2018 biographical film Bohemian Rhapsody, which tells the incredible story of the band’s historic career and quickly became the highest-grossing music biopic in history.