Ladies of the Canyon

Joni Mitchell turned her gaze outward for an album sketching the post-hippie landscape at the dawn of the '70s. The title track gently pokes fun at her fellow Los Angeles bohemians, while the wistful "For Free" finds a successful singer-songwriter shown up by a street busker and "Woodstock" celebrates the gathering of her tribe. Singing in a new, slightly lower register that lends warmth to her vocals, Mitchell adds strings, reeds and percussion to her arrangements, giving tracks like "Conversation" and "The Circle Game" a richer, jazz-influenced sound.