Stories

Joni Mitchell - Blue

I remember being very stoked when Joni Mitchell asked me to do this cover with her. She was an artist herself and had painted the art for her first cover and all of them since have been her doing. She is one of my favorite poet/musicians and it was an honor to share in creating the artwork that held what I think is maybe her greatest album.

The photographer was a young guy, Tim Considine, who was an actor and the star of one of the biggest TV series of that time, Spin and Marty. I don’t remember if he was Spin or Marty.

Because of the title of the album it occurred to me to make the black and white photo we selected of her print in a blue color. Like old time Ferro cyanotype photos. It is a process that produces beautiful rich blue prints. I am proud of this cover and feel the power of it’s simplicity really represents well the music inside and is a good example of the benefits of staying out of the way of inspiration. It just occurred to me that when inspiration comes it is like those bumper stickers that say “Get in, sit down, shut up and hold on.”

Indeed…