#11 Blue by Joni Mitchell

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

11

2011 Album Rank

21

Total Points

2330

Year Released

1971

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

15

Weeks at #1

N/A

RIAA Sales Certification

1,000,000 (Platinum)

Buy Album

Apple Music Amazon

Blue Album Details

Released on June 22, 1971, Blue is widely considered Joni Mitchell's defining work and one of the most emotionally raw albums ever made. Crafted during a period of intense personal upheaval, it strips away much of the ornate production of her earlier albums in favor of spare arrangements built around piano, dulcimer, and acoustic guitar. Mitchell bares her soul across the album, addressing love, loss, freedom, and vulnerability with stunning openness.

Featuring songs like "River", "A Case of You", and "Carey", Blue captures the longing and complexity of human emotion in ways that few records have matched. Its minimalist instrumentation and fearless introspection have made it a touchstone for generations of songwriters and listeners alike.

Interesting Facts about Blue

• Much of Blue was written during and after Mitchell's breakup with Graham Nash and her subsequent travels through Europe, including time spent on the Greek island of Crete.
• Mitchell played a mountain dulcimer on several tracks, an instrument she taught herself to play during her travels and which became a defining sound of the album.
• The emotional rawness of Blue was so intense that Mitchell later said she felt "exposed" and likened the experience to "laying herself open to attack."
• "A Case of You" is believed to draw on her relationships with both Leonard Cohen and Graham Nash, blending real experiences with poetic license.
• Stephen Stills contributed bass and guitar to the track "Carey".
• The album cover photo, showing Mitchell with closed eyes and a blue overlay, was taken by photographer Tim Considine and designed to reflect the album's stark emotional tone.
• "River", now one of Mitchell's most beloved songs, was not released as a single at the time but has since become a modern standard, especially around the holidays.
• Mitchell recorded the album almost entirely live in the studio, with minimal overdubs, aiming to preserve the vulnerability and immediacy of the performances.
• She used an alternate tuning for her guitar on several tracks, a technique she often employed to create richer harmonic textures and emotional nuance.
• Despite its now-iconic status, Blue had a modest commercial impact upon release, reaching only No. 15 on the Billboard 200, but it steadily grew in reputation over the decades.
• The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 for its cultural and historical significance.

Blue Track List

1. All I Want
2. My Old Man
3. Little Green
4. Carey
5. Blue
6. California
7. This Flight Tonight
8. River
9. A Case of You
10. The Last Time I Saw Richard

The River Music Video

• Next Album: #10 Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
• Previous Album: #12 Exile on Main Street by The Rolling Stones