Happy Birthday Joni Mitchell & An Ode to Her Musical Journey

Neil Young & Joni Mitchell w/ Elliot Roberts- ~1985
Recording Session for "Tears Are Not Enough"

 

Today, November 7, is Joni Mitchell's birthday.

The musical journey of Joni Mitchell is nothing less than totally legendary.  And today we learned quite a few things about her and her song "Carey" from the 1971 album Blue.

 

But before we get to the incredible  back story of Mitchell's song "Carey", here are a few highlights, reeling in the years.

 

Most recently, Joni Mitchell performed at the Newport Folk Festival -- just this past summer -- playing her first full set in more than 20 years.

 

Joni Mitchell - 2022 Newport Folk Festival

 

 

And Joni's associations with musicians Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young are quite well documented.

 

Joni Mitchell w/ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Wembley Stadium, London, 1974-09-14
(click photo to enlarge) 

 

Joni Mitchell and Neil Young - December, 1969
Heathrow Airport, England

(see Joni Mitchell and Neil Young: Here They Are, In The Years)

 

Joni Mitchell & Neil Young - 1976.01.18
Elliott Hall of Music, Purdue Univ. W. Lafayette, IN

Neil Young & Joni Mitchell - 1975
"Tonight’s The Night" Album Release Party
Studio Instrument Rentals, Los Angeles, CA

Joni Mitchell & Neil Young
Photo from The Last Waltz, 1976

Joni Mitchell and Neil Young
2012 Grammy Event
Los Angeles, CA - Feb 11, 2012

Portrait of Neil Young by Joni Mitchell - ~1974

"Sweet Joni
From Saskatoon
Here's a ring for your finger
Burns like the sun
Shines like the moon..."
-- "Sweet Joni" by Neil Young, performed with Stray Gators at the Civic Auditorium in Bakersfield, on 3-11-73.

More on Joni Mitchell and Neil Young.

Also, see Analysis of Neil Young's song “Sugar Mountain“ and Joni Mitchell's “Circle Game”: Facing Adulthood.

So back to Joni Mitchell's song "Carey"  and our ode to her musical journey.

"Carey"

Cary Raditz & Joni Mitchell

image via  “I didn’t want anyone to know it was me”: on being Joni Mitchell’s “Carey” | New Statesman

 

In an interview with Cary Raditz -- the man in the song "Carey" -- we learn quite a bit about all of the key players of the exploding 1960's/ 70's musical scene.

Read all about it “I didn’t want anyone to know it was me”: on being Joni Mitchell’s “Carey” | New Statesman by Kate Mossman.

Fascinating Joni. So Happy Birthday, Roberta Joan!

Long may she run.

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Mo Ostin: 1927 - 2022 (UPDATED: Statement by Neil Young)

Mo Ostin: 1927 - 2022  via Inventing David Geffen (October 7, 2009) |  PBS | American Masters

Mo Ostin (1927 - 2022) has passed.

Mo Ostin, record executive for Reprise Records, Warner Bros. Records, was highly respected and had quite a few dealings with Neil Young over the years. 

UPDATED: Statement by Neil Young on T-C | NYA:

My old friend Mo Ostin has passed away.

I am so sad that he is gone from this earth, but so happy for our life-long friendship. Mo was a hero. Supporting artists and their work all the way through his long life, Mo, the giant among Record Business leaders, backed us all up and let us do what we wanted with our music. He was always there for me and I really appreciate that. Thanks Mo.

Without Mo, my life in music could never have been the same. Every time we put a record out, it started with me bringing it in to Mo and playing it for him and Lenny Warnoker. Playback for Mo and Lenny. This tradition continued right up to just last month when Rick Rubin and I played our latest Crazy Horse record for him at his home. We must have done that at least 40 times over the years. This last time was so special, as I sat between Mo and Lenny on his couch, listening to the new recording in his living room. Mo loved it, referring to ‘Harvest Moon’ and other records we had made together between songs while the record played. Michael Ostin, Mo’s wonderful son, was with us that day as always making sure everything was good.

Mo’s passing at 95 has touched me in a deep way, as I realize how fortunate i was to have him and Elliot Roberts at my side. They are both gone now, but their spirits will never be gone.

Thank you Mo. You are a champion for the creative artists who made music during your time. Now you can be with Evelyn and listen to Harvest Moon.
love,
ny

 

As noted previosly, a rather significant announcement, PBS American Masters Archive Releases 1,000+ Hours of Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interviews: Patti Smith, David Bowie, Neil Young, Mo Ostin & more. 

 

David Geffen, Elliot Roberts, & Neil Young
Frame from  'Inventing David Geffen': American Masters

(See So What Makes Neil Young's Muse Tick?) 

 

From the unaired interview with Mo "The Sleaze" Ostin, Warner Bros Executive, (listen to song "Surfer Joe And Moe the Sleaze") on working with Geffen and his clients, Neil Young and his manager Elliot Roberts. (Ed. note, unedited raw transcript @ ~2:43:00) (See PBS for full, raw unaired interview & transcript)

Mo Ostin:  [Geffen] sued Neil [Young] because he thought that Neil wasn't making commercial records.

[Geffen] was so intense and so passionate about having successful records. That he might have become myopic, you know? And Neil turned in a record that [Geffen] thought was not commercial. And he was paying him [Young] a huge advance. And [Geffen] thought "I shouldn't be paying that kind of advance for the records he's delivering."

And he told Neil to make another record. I don't know whether Neil made an effort at that or not. But Neil continued to record.

I guess he didn't feel Neil was making the change. And so he stopped funding the record. And sued him.

Interviewer: How do you think that a move like that affected his image in the music business?

Mo Ostin: You know, Neil was revered. And musically respected, not only on the critical level, but by all of his musical peers. [The lawsuit] could not have sat well with them.

Interviewer:  I mean, how do you think what David did affected his image? I'm dumbfounded he'd do that.

Mo Ostin: I guess he didn't think about it. I mean, I guess he was just so involved. Having realized that he had been losing money. He hated the idea of losing money, including other people's money. He never wanted to lose money.

And there was these jokes going on about the Titanic, who had a better band, you know, that kind of stuff.

And so, you know, I think he just was doing everything he possibly could to rectify and right the ship

...

Interviewer: A number of people have told us that there's one thing that David Geffen probably regrets most is suing Neil Young.

Mo Ostin: Yeah. And I believe that they made up.

That's also what's great about him [Geffen] is the fact that he owns up to his mistakes.

In December 2012, PBS | American Masters broadcast the documentary film "Inventing David Geffen. American Masters: Inventing David Geffen is "an unflinching portrait of Geffen, who narrates his unorthodox rise from working class Brooklyn boy to billionaire entertainment power broker in extensive interviews."

Also, see Neil Young's Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

 Neil Young - November 29, 2011

'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS | American Masters

 

Also, see Elliot Roberts Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

Elliot Roberts - July 22, 2009

'Inventing David Geffen' |  PBS | American Masters(Also, see Elliot Roberts Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive)

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"The Manager: ELLIOT ROBERTS" - Essay by Bill Bentley | NYA

Neil Young, Jonathan Demme & Elliot Roberts
(See Neil Young Journeys Film Premiere) 

 

"Roberts, who would have been 78 on February 25, was someone who saw into the deepest center of life, behind the big curtain, and discovered that all things are possible. 

 

If you dream."

 

A major essay on Neil Young Archives on Elliot Roberts by Bill Bentley.

 

An excerpt follows.

 The Manager: ELLIOT ROBERTS 

by Bill Bentley

I'd already known Elliot twenty years during my time at Warner Bros./Reprise Records, where I was luckily a publicist for so many of the great artists of our time. 

David Geffen, Elliot Roberts, & Neil Young
Frame from  'Inventing David Geffen': American Masters

(See So What Makes Neil Young's Muse Tick?) 

 

During those two decades I came to understand that Elliot Roberts had cracked open his own code for how to live, and been able to find a perfect balance between chaos and order. And the day in '06 I was informed my Warner Bros. Records job was over, Elliot called and asked me to come to work for him and Neil Young. That's what we call winning the lottery in the music business. Nothing is worse in that profession than being unemployed, and to walk from a record label into Lookout was a time to shine. 

When I asked Elliot what I would be doing, he just laughed his mischievous laugh and said, "Don't worry. Neil and I will find something."

Joni Mitchell w/ Elliot Roberts
Carnegie Hall, 1969 - Photo by Joel Bernstein

I had always been enamored by how Elliot Roberts' career had followed such a unique curve. His beginnings with Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, then the awe-inducing success of the Geffen-Roberts company, which included the start and quick ascent of Asylum Records as a record label of the future, were storied. David Geffen with Elliot Roberts had birthed a place that let them establish a new community for not only those they represented, but even better allowed them to fashion their own universe, one where they could define the limits of life in the 20th century and enjoy a view very few others had seen. It reminded me of some of the eccentric cowboys I once met as a child at the YMCA summer camp in the Texas hill country in the 1950s. These wise travelers had lived on their horses their whole lives, and weren't about to adapt to a place where they'd have to answer to others. They'd created a way of seeing their place in life, based on an honor system of hard work and virtue. I'd hang around them in the horse stalls when they were working, listening to how they talked and what they had discovered. It wasn't that different when I worked at Lookout Management. I'd listen to Elliot talk and watch how he interacted with people, and think of those Texas cowboys. 

They had something no one else did, and were envied for it because of the freedom they'd earned and how they used it.

The Geffen-Roberts management company had created its own perch in the music business, where they could build the community they wanted to be in and let others come to them there. The pair would wade into a business full of old attitudes and out-of-date practices, and turn it around to how they felt it should be. Where the artist was at the top of the decision-chain, and their freedom ranked above all else. It didn't happen overnight, but that was the beauty of what Roberts and Geffen and others in the new brigade were building. They did it because it was right, and they did it because it was fun. The money was no doubt important in the equation, but it wasn't driving the train. No one could have predicted where the business of music was going, but the early pioneers in this new gestalt were going to be the ones who took it there.

There is a well-told legend of how Elliot Roberts first came to be Neil Young's manager in 1968. Near the end of Buffalo Springfield, Roberts took over the manager position with the band. But at a group meeting in 1968, Young told the manager he was fired. Gone. The next morning Elliot heard a knock on his Laurel Canyon front door, and there was Young, who came in, told Elliot he was leaving Buffalo Springfield and asked if Elliot would manage him. Which he did for more than 50 years. Without a written contract. 

As Elliot once told me, "Contracts can just be torn up, and then everyone ends up suing each other. What's the point of that?" 

Elliot Roberts w/ Neil Young

photo by Jay Blakesberg

 

Full essay on Neil Young Archives on Elliot Roberts by Bill Bentley.

Also, see Elliot Roberts: 1943 - 2019.

Also, see Neil Young News: "The greatest manager of all time": Neil Young’s Statement on Elliot Roberts.

Neil Young, Tour Manager Eric Johnson, Manager Elliot Roberts - 2011
Plan9 Music, Richmond, Virginia
Photo by Emaleigh Franzak(See Neil Young Supports Vinyl & Independent Record Stores) 

Elliot Roberts - July 22, 2009

'Inventing David Geffen' |  PBS | American Masters(Also, see Elliot Roberts Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive) 

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Mo Ostin Discusses Neil Young & David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive

Mo Ostin - October 7, 2009 Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters

As noted recently, a rather significant announcement, PBS American Masters Archive Releases 1,000+ Hours of Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interviews: Patti Smith, David Bowie, Neil Young & More. 

 

David Geffen, Elliot Roberts, & Neil Young
Frame from  'Inventing David Geffen': American Masters

(See So What Makes Neil Young's Muse Tick?) 

 

In December 2012, PBS | American Masters broadcast the documentary film "Inventing David Geffen. American Masters: Inventing David Geffen is "an unflinching portrait of Geffen, who narrates his unorthodox rise from working class Brooklyn boy to billionaire entertainment power broker in extensive interviews." 

Interviewees include Neil Young, Elliot Roberts, David Crosby, Henry Diltz, Gary Burden, Mo Ostin and many others.

From the unaired interview with Mo "The Sleaze" Ostin, Warner Bros Executive, (listen to song "Surfer Joe And Moe the Sleaze") on working with Geffen and his clients, Neil Young and his manager Elliot Roberts. (Ed. note, unedited raw transcript @ ~2:43:00)

Mo Ostin:  [Geffen] sued Neil [Young] because he thought that Neil wasn't making commercial records.

[Geffen] was so intense and so passionate about having successful records. That he might have become myopic, you know? And Neil turned in a record that [Geffen] thought was not commercial. And he was paying him [Young] a huge advance. And [Geffen] thought "I shouldn't be paying that kind of advance for the records he's delivering."

And he told Neil to make another record. I don't know whether Neil made an effort at that or not. But Neil continued to record.

I guess he didn't feel Neil was making the change. And so he stopped funding the record. And sued him.

Interviewer: How do you think that a move like that affected his image in the music business?

Mo Ostin: You know, Neil was revered. And musically respected, not only on the critical level, but by all of his musical peers. [The lawsuit] could not have sat well with them.

Interviewer:  I mean, how do you think what David did affected his image? I'm dumbfounded he'd do that.

Mo Ostin: I guess he didn't think about it. I mean, I guess he was just so involved. Having realized that he had been losing money. He hated the idea of losing money, including other people's money. He never wanted to lose money.

And there was these jokes going on about the Titanic, who had a better band, you know, that kind of stuff.

And so, you know, I think he just was doing everything he possibly could to rectify and right the ship

...

Interviewer: A number of people have told us that there's one thing that David Geffen probably regrets most is suing Neil Young.

Mo Ostin: Yeah. And I believe that they made up.

That's also what's great about him [Geffen] is the fact that he owns up to his mistakes.

Also, see Neil Young's Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

 Neil Young - November 29, 2011

'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS | American Masters

 

Also, see Elliot Roberts Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

Elliot Roberts - July 22, 2009

'Inventing David Geffen' |  PBS | American Masters(Also, see Elliot Roberts Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive)  

 

David Crosby - May 14, 2012 Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters(See more on full David Crosby: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive)

 

Gary Burden - November 12, 2012

Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters (See more on full  Gary Burden: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.) 

Henry Diltz - November 13, 2009

Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters(See more on full Henry Diltz: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive)

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Henry Diltz: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive

Henry Diltz - November 13, 2009

Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters

 

As noted recently, a rather significant announcement, PBS American Masters Archive Releases 1,000+ Hours of Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interviews: Patti Smith, David Bowie, Neil Young & More. 

 

David Geffen, Elliot Roberts, & Neil Young
Frame from  'Inventing David Geffen': American Masters

(See So What Makes Neil Young's Muse Tick?) 

 

In December 2012, PBS | American Masters broadcast the documentary film "Inventing David Geffen. American Masters: Inventing David Geffen is "an unflinching portrait of Geffen, who narrates his unorthodox rise from working class Brooklyn boy to billionaire entertainment power broker in extensive interviews." 

Interviewees include Neil Young, Elliot Roberts, David Crosby, Henry Diltz, Gary Burden and many others.

From the unaired interview with Henry Diltz on working with Geffen and his clients, Neil Young and his manager Elliot Roberts. (Ed. note, unedited raw transcript)

Henry Diltz: It seems amazing that so many huge artists came out of that one little office [Geffen-Roberts], you know, with Hoagy Carmichael upstairs, you know, who wrote, Stardust and Skylark and Old Buttermilk Sky was one of my favorites. 

And downstairs, you had these amazing this new generation of songwriters, you know, of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne and Henley and Fry and Dan Fogelberg, you know, and Joe Walsh and a fellow David Blue (?). They didn't stick around long enough to get famous. But he was kind of a Dylanesque character and a good friend of Elliot Roberts. But it's amazing that all these huge artists came out of that that one little club house office, you know.

Photographer Henry Diltz, with his iconic photograph of Crosby, Stills and Nash 1969 debut album cover is featured prominently in the exhibit at the Grammy Museum exhibit "California Dreamin': The Sounds of Laurel Canyon, 1965 - 1977"

(See Laurel Canyon Exhibit at Grammy Museum: California Dreamin' Explores Music Scene in the ’60s, ’70s)

 

"Unpainted Faces"
by Henry Diltz
(See "Unpainted Faces" by Henry Diltz )

 

 

David Crosby - May 14, 2012 Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters(See more on full David Crosby: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive)

 

Gary Burden - November 12, 2012

Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters

(See more on full  Gary Burden: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.)

 

Also, see Neil Young's Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

 Neil Young - November 29, 2011

'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS | American Masters

 

Also, see Elliot Roberts Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

Elliot Roberts - July 22, 2009 'Inventing David Geffen' |  PBS | American Masters 

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David Crosby: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive

David Crosby - May 14, 2012 Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters

As noted recently, a rather significant announcement, PBS American Masters Archive Releases 1,000+ Hours of Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interviews: Patti Smith, David Bowie, Neil Young & More. 

 

David Geffen, Elliot Roberts, & Neil Young
Frame from  'Inventing David Geffen': American Masters

(See So What Makes Neil Young's Muse Tick?) 

 

In December 2012, PBS | American Masters broadcast the documentary film "Inventing David Geffen. American Masters: Inventing David Geffen is "an unflinching portrait of Geffen, who narrates his unorthodox rise from working class Brooklyn boy to billionaire entertainment power broker in extensive interviews." 

Interviewees include Neil Young, Elliot Roberts, David Crosby, Henry Diltz, Gary Burden and many others.

From the unaired interview with David Crosby on working with Geffen and his clients, Neil Young and his manager Elliot Roberts. (Ed. note, unedited raw transcript)

David Crosby:  At some point, he [Geffen] and Elliott [Roberts] parted ways and we went with Elliott and and I don't even remember if there was a specific issue or if it was just a drift in directions.  

We certainly were no party. We were not easy to handle.  

And we would periodically, you know, argue with ourselves and Neil. Neil was a lot like David.  

Neil came in to see us and was planning to leave. We were a vehicle. We made that record. He knew what that record would do and he had every intention of making a solid record right afterwards and going on.  

And Elliott managed him extremely well, very diligently, and still does.  

Elliott handles Neil extremely well. It's that thing of building something with the intention of, you know, leapfrogging it. That was always there in their plan, you know. And on one level, here he was building a community, was building something that they could be proud of, it was building, you know, the most successful artists and the best singer songwriters. On another level, he was building something he could sell. 

David, multi-level guy.

Full David Crosby: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

More on Neil Young & David Crosby and their tangled relationship.

Neil Young & David Crosby 

(See PODCAST: David Crosby Talks Neil Young & More | ‘Freak Flag Flying’)

 

Gary Burden - November 12, 2012

Inventing David Geffen |  PBS | American Masters

 

Full  Gary Burden: Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

Also, see Neil Young's Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

 Neil Young - November 29, 2011

'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS | American Masters

 

Also, see Elliot Roberts Uncut, Never-Before-Seen Interview | 'Inventing David Geffen' | PBS American Masters Archive.

 

Elliot Roberts - July 22, 2009 'Inventing David Geffen' |  PBS | American Masters 

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