Happy 45th: Joni Mitchell, COURT AND SPARK

45 years ago this week, Joni Mitchell released the album that remains – at least to a certain percentage of the population – the one for which she’s best known, owing to the fact that it contains the song which remains the biggest hit single of her career.

Co-produced by Mitchell with Henry Lewy, COURT AND SPARK held a particular distinction at the time of its release: since kicking off her career, she’d never gone more than a year between albums, and her fans had to wait two years for this particular LP to hit record store shelves. In the interim, Mitchell’s fanbase only grew, and the individuals who’d already been fans to begin with, well, they just became all the more devoted. Both camps, meanwhile, were excited as all get-out to hear what the illustrious Ms. Mitchell would deliver unto them.

What they got was an album which was rapturously received by both critics and fans at the time, and it continues to be viewed as a seminal album in her career, having made the cut for Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Better yet, mainstream audiences absolutely ate up the song “Help Me” when it was released a single, sending it all the way to #7 on the Hot 100.

You may have noticed how we led with the acclaim and followed with the commercial success. That was intentional. Don’t ever dismiss COURT AND SPARK just because it was recognized by the masses. It’s still a classic LP, and it still holds up in a big, big way.