Of course bought this when it came out too and dedicate it to all women everywhere
in this week of International Women's Day and today being the adopted (really purloined by the secular aspects of society and usually the other way around this fascinates me but enough of that about which more later) Mother's Day from the Church's Mothering Sunday. One of the most creative talents and sisterhood's most distinct unique voices and peerless artists on the planet

On this day in music history: March 10, 1970 - “Ladies Of The Canyon”, the third album by Joni Mitchell is released. Produced by Joni Mitchell, it is recorded at A&M Studios in Hollywood, CA from December 1969 - February 1970. After the success of her sophomore release “Clouds”, Joni Mitchell returns to the studio near the end of 1969 to begin work on her third album. With technical assistance from engineer Henry Lewy, who becomes a trusted and long time studio collaborator, Joni produces herself entirely on her own for the first time. The title refers to Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills area where Mitchell is living at the time, and one of the creative centers of L.A.’s thriving rock music scene. “Ladies” features mostly Joni accompanying herself on guitar or piano, singing nearly all of the vocals, with minor instrumental accompaniment from other musicians. The twelve tracks on the album are a combination of newly written material, and drawn from Mitchell’s already vast back log of songs that had not yet been recorded. The opening and closing songs “Morning Morgantown” and “The Circle Game" date back to Mitchell’s days on the coffeehouse circuit in Toronto, Canada, Detroit and New York City. Others like “Woodstock” and “Willy” are more recent. The former being inspired by the legendary rock festival which Joni is originally scheduled to perform, but backs out at the last minute when her manager David Geffen is worried that she might miss making her national television debut on “The Dick Cavett Show” the day after. Instead, Mitchell stays in her hotel room, watching coverage of the festival on television, then sitting down at the piano and writing “Woodstock”. She debuts the song the next night on the Cavett show on August 19, 1969. “Willy” is written for singer and songwriter Graham Nash who is Mitchell’s boyfriend at the time, and becomes the inspiration for several songs she composes during this period. The album is an immediate critical and fan favorite, becoming Mitchell’s biggest seller to date. It spins off the classic single “Big Yellow Taxi” (#67 Pop), a commentary on the destruction of the environment, and the need to preserve nature. It is written while on a trip to Hawaii, when the musician looks out her hotel window and sees vast stretches of parking lots in the foreground,with lush green mountains behind them. In time, it becomes one her most popular and widely covered songs. The albums outer and inside gatefold cover art is also painted and illustrated by Mitchell. Originally issued on CD in 1990, it is remastered and reissued in 1998 as an HDCD encoded disc, restoring the original cover artwork, illustrations and handwritten lyrics included on the original LP release. The album is also reissued as a 180 gram vinyl LP by Rhino Records in 2009. “Ladies Of The Canyon” peaks at number twenty seven on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.