Listen to Joni's 1969 performance of Chelsea Morning from Carnegie Hall. Released today.

Posted August 26, 2021

LOS ANGELES - On February 1, 1969, almost a year after Joni Mitchell released her debut album Song to a Seagull, the 25-year-old singer-songwriter was standing on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City playing the first major concert of her young career for a sold-out crowd that included Bob Dylan. Graham Nash, who was Mitchell's partner at the time, was there too, along with her parents visiting from Canada. Her performance that night earned glowing reviews, including this one from Billboard's Fred Kirby:

"Joni Mitchell charmed a packed Carnegie Hall audience on Saturday...Miss Mitchell doesn't merely sing a song, the fine folk artist effectively interprets her material. And what a lineup of material! Beginning with 'Chelsea Morning" and ending with a medley of 'The Circle Game' and the new 'Little Green,' the outstanding material flowed."

Fatefully, her label Reprise Records recorded the entire concert with plans to release it. More than 50 years later, the show will finally make its long-awaited debut on November 12 as part of JONI MITCHELL ARCHIVES VOL. 2: THE REPRISE YEARS (1968-1971). On the same day, the performance will be released separately as a 3-LP set on 180-gram vinyl for $59.98, with an exclusive 180-gram, white vinyl version, limited to 3,000 copies, available at www.JoniMitchell.com. The vinyl showcases the full audio across five LP sides with the sixth side featuring an etching of the American eagle that donned Mitchell's skirt at the Carnegie Hall show. As a preview, Mitchell's performance of "Chelsea Morning" from the show is available today digitally. Listen here.