(Credits: Far Out / Marjut Valakivi / Public Domain / Alamy)
Thu 25 September 2025 23:00, UK
“Arrived in Ottawa – Beautiful hotel – Strange people – Beautiful dinner.” This is the first line taken from Jimi Hendrix’s diary on March 19th, 1968. The night he recorded Joni Mitchell.
When we talk about the greatest guitar players in the world, we often talk about the guitarists who shred, who play flamboyantly and produce sounds that we can’t quite wrap our heads around. Subsequently, it isn’t long until Hendrix’s name is brought up, as his improvisational, speedy, and melodic playing style, paired with his animalistic stage presence, was pretty hard for people to ignore.
I have nothing wrong with this idea of the guitarist. I, too, believe that Hendrix was one of the greatest to ever pick up a six-string, and when other common names are mentioned, such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Slash, I nod along happily. However, I also believe this idea is fundamentally flawed, as there are totally different kinds of guitar player, and just because someone might not shred, it doesn’t mean they’re not doing something groundbreaking.
I’m of course talking about Joni Mitchell. She isn’t the kind of musician you saw playing a solo behind her head, but what she was able to do with a guitar was truly unlike anything anyone else has been able to accomplish since. Her use of tuning, tone, her inflexions, use of rhythm and ability to put emphasis on different notes is something that even the most skilled of guitarists sit and ponder over.
You can learn a Joni Mitchell song on guitar, sure, but it’s pretty unlikely you’re going to be able to make it sound like her. You can play along with the notes, strum a chord or two, but a lot of her brilliance was less what she was playing and more the way she was playing it. It’s really no surprise that Hendrix was fascinated by her, and as such, when he got the chance to see her play live, he was keen on recording her set in a bid to listen to it over and over again.
“They came and told me, ‘Jimi Hendrix is here, and he’s at the front door.’ I went to meet him,” recalled Mitchell. “He had a large box. He said to me, ‘My name is Jimi Hendrix. I’m on the same label as you. Reprise Records.’ We were both signed about the same time. He said, ‘I’d like to record your show. Do you mind?’ I said, ‘No, not at all.’”
It seems that the classic Mitchell sound was difficult to capture on a live recording. Hendrix spent the majority of the gig playing around with his tape recorder, ensuring everything was in the right place for him to pick up the beautiful combination of Mitchell’s voice and her individualistic approach to the guitar.
“All during the show, he kept twisting knobs. He was engineering it, I don’t know what he was controlling, volume?” Said Mitchell, “He was watching the needles or something, messing with knobs. He beautifully recorded this tape. Of course I played part of the show to him. He was right below me.”
Hendrix got the recordings he wanted, and even made a note of the night in his diary. He wrote about his day, the shows he played, and getting to see Mitchell. We’ll close this out with his words, so you can feel as though you have spent a day in the life of Jimi Hendrix.
“Arrived in Ottawa – Beautiful hotel — Strange people — Beautiful dinner. Talked with Joni Mitchell on the phone — I think I’ll record her tonight with my excellent tape recorder (knock on wood) Hmm — can’t find any wood — everything’s plastic,” he wrote. “Beautiful view. Marvellous sound on first show – Good on 2nd. Good recording – went down to the little club to see Joni – Fantastic girl with heaven words – we all go to party – OK millions of girls – listen to tapes and smoked back at hotel.”
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