Hey Emilia,
(i apologise in advance if you've already heard all of this, and i'm hoping
someone will pick up the pieces and fill in the blanks for you)
i just know that i've read all sorts of things in the vein you seem to
belooking for. the biography section of jonimitchell.com would be a good
place to start, and of course the articles on jmdl.com.
if you let us know more specifially what you're interested in, you could
probably gather all the info you need right here on the list.
a lot of her influences were, of course, musical. she loved rock n roll as
a yougner teenager didnt she? chuck berry in particular, i think. and
then she got more into jazz. Coltrane, Davis (particularly Davis!!! there
is an article from Grammy magazine with some great details about this, go to
the section of the article subtitled Isles of Miles at
http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/9703g.cfm) and so on.
well, my point is she had long admired the famed artist Georgia O Keeffe,
and Joni finally got up the courage to visit her in the early eighties
(dates anyone??). this visit was extremely inspirational for Joni, and it
resulted in a major increase in the number of paintings she produced.
OKeeffe called her " a pretty curious visitor" after she started leaping
around and chanting because she had bought some Indian accessories for
herself:-D
i think the story goes to the effect of O Keeffe waking Mitchell up early
the next morning and insisting they go on a long coiuntry walk. or desert
walk as teh case may have been. so, OKeeffe surprised Joni by being very
energetic for someone in their 90s and Joni surprised OKeeffe with her chain
smoking ((((it's that smoking thread back to haunt the list!!)))). so,
OKeeffe told Joni she shouldnt smoke, lol, telling her that she should
live!! (i guess if Georgia O Keeffe cant get Joni to quit smoking, noone
will!lol)
http://www.ellensplace.net/okeeffe1.html at this place you'll find a very
good, detailed bigraphy of Georgia O Keeffe. of particular interest if the
section about Alfred Stieglitz. you'll also find some great examples of
okeeffe's pictures!!
dylan also had an influenced Joni, and it could be argued that it's his
fault
*(mot juste??)* that Joni began writing songs. others on this list can tell
you what Dylan song and probably what *lyric* of his inspired her so!!
off the top of my head, i think that Cameron Crowe interview from rolling
stone has something about her influences . you can find that at
http://www.jmdl.com/articles/docs/790726rs.cfm no promises there though, it
was a few weeks ago when i read that!!
it might be a good idea to gather the names of joni's influences etc, and
whatever other information you can force out of the list members, and then
go to http://www.jmdl.com/articles/index.cfm, where you can do a "text
search" and search for those names!! you never know!!
and while i'm rambling on and on and on i'll just add VanGogh!! listen to
the song turbulent indigo!!!! and the painting on the cover of the TI album
is very similar to Van Gogh's "self portrait with bandaged ear" from 1889.
while the background on the TI painting is just like that from VanGogh's
"self portrait: saint-remy" from later in 1889!!
