Joni Mitchell is presented with a birthday cake on stage at JONI 75: A Birthday Celebration on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) (Associated Press)LOS ANGELES — As an adoring-but-anxious crowd wondered if she’d appear at an all-star concert celebration on her 75th birthday, Joni Mitchell was stuck in traffic. Mitchell didn’t speak or say a word all night, but just showing up was a triumph. “Joni Mitchell is an inspiration to every girl who ever picked up a guitar,” Emmylou Harris said after singing Mitchell’s “Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire.” That inspiration apparently has its limits. Graham Nash sang “Our House,” his 1970 song about life with Mitchell when the two were dating in their 20s.

Source: Washington Post November 08, 2018 15:43 UTC