Joni Mitchell releases digital EP featuring 'Blue' sessions rarities, unveils details of new archival box set

Rhino

Joni Mitchell‘s acclaimed fourth studio album, Blue, was released 50 years ago this Tuesday, and to mark the milestone, a digital EP featuring five unreleased recordings from the Blue sessions was made available today.

Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes) features demos for the songs “California” and “A Case of You,” the latter of which boasts some different lyrics than the studio version; an alternate take of “River” that includes French horns; an alternate take of Mitchell’s early tune, “Urge for Going,” recorded during the Blue sessions, but not featured on the record; and a Blue outtake titled “Hunter.”

The five tracks also will appear on the upcoming expansive archival compilation Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971), which will be released on October 29.

The five-CD collection features a selection of previously unreleased live, studio and demo recordings from Joni’s early career leading up to Blue‘s release.

Archives Vol. 2 features home recordings from 1967 and 1968; tracks recording during the making of Mitchell’s first four studio albums — 1968’s Song to a Seagull, 1969’s Clouds, 1970’s Ladies of the Canyon and ’71’s Blue; performances and an interview from Joni’s August 1969 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show; and several full-length concerts.

The concerts include a March 1968 show at the Le Hibou Coffee House in Ottawa, Canada, that was recorded by guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, a February 1969 performance at New York City’s historic Carnegie Hall, and an October 1970 concert at London’s Paris Theatre, during which Joni was joined by James Taylor for part of the show.

Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2 also will be available as a limited-edition 10-LP vinyl set.

Visit JoniMitchell.com to check out the full Archives Vol. 2 track list and more details.