Quote of the Day (Joni Mitchell, on Her Unresolved ‘Chords of Inquiry’)

"The chords I like are complex. They're fresh in the history of harmony. They're mostly suss [suspended] chords. It's still taught in the schools not to stay on a suss chord too long. I didn't know the term suss chord, I called them chords of inquiry. They're unresolved. So, traditionally in the laws of harmony, even at the end of the 20th century, it wasn't good to go from a suss chord to a suss chord, and not to stay on them too long. I guess it's because men like to bring that to harmonic resolution. It went against the grain of normal composition."—Canadian-born singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell quoted in Alexandra Gill, “Joni Mitchell in Person,” Toronto Globe and Mail, February 17, 2007

She was given the name Roberta Joan Anderson upon her birth 75 years ago today in Fort Macleod, Alberta. But the world knows her far better as Joni Mitchell.

Biographers such as Karen O’Brien (Shadows and Light), Sheila Weller (Girls Like Us), and, most recently, David Yaffe (Reckless Daughter), have been fascinated for years by all aspects of her career and non-musical skills: her painting, her confessional style of songwriting, and her romantic partners. 

But her guitar prowess cannot be overlooked in any fair assessment of her. There is so much in today’s quote that captures her essence: her lack of pretense about her own skill set in starting out; her restless creativity; and her simmering annoyance at the males who did not understand her art. (Why, oh why, did it take so longer for them to elect her to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame?) And it’s all filtered through her attitude toward her chosen instrument.

In a Rolling Stone ranking three years ago of the 100 greatest guitarists, Ms. Mitchell ranked 75^th. Some may wonder why she didn’t rank even higher.

(The photo of Ms. Mitchell accompanying this post came from an Asylum Records ad from 1974.)