The Reprise Albums

On June 22nd, 1971, Joni Mitchell released "Blue", concluding her prolific 4 album run for Reprise Records with an album considered by many to be one of the greatest of all time. Its stirring, confessional songs have been celebrated by music lovers and critics alike for decades while inspiring a wide variety of artists as diverse as Prince and Taylor Swift. Even today, its stature as a masterpiece continues to grow. Just last year, the album was named #3 on Rolling Stone’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums Of All Time”.

To celebrate the album’s 50th anniversary, Rhino Records is releasing "The Reprise Albums 1968 - 1971", the next installment of the Joni Mitchell Archives series, featuring newly remastered versions of "Blue" and the 3 albums that came before it, "Song To A Seagull", "Clouds", and "Ladies Of The Canyon". In the case of "Song To A Seagull", the original mix has been recently updated by Mitchell and mixer Matt Lee. “The original mix was atrocious”, says Mitchell. “It sounded like it was recorded under a jello bowl, so I fixed it”.

The box set will be available on June 25th in 4 CD and 4 LP versions, as well as digitally. The cover art features a previously unseen self portrait Mitchell sketched during the time period. The collection also includes an essay by Brandi Carlile, another artist who’s been influenced greatly by Mitchell. She writes, “in my opinion 'Blue' is the greatest album ever made. 'Blue' didn’t make me a better songwriter. 'Blue' made me a better woman. No matter what we are dealing with in these times we can rejoice and know that of all the ages we could have lived through, we lived in the time of Joni Mitchell”.

These box sets will be followed later this year by "Joni Mitchell Archives Vol 2", the 2nd installment in the extensive archival series that began last year. Each one promises a deep dive into unreleased studio and live recordings from different eras of Mitchell’s storied career. "Vol 2" will focus on the timeframe when she recorded the albums included in "The Reprise Albums 1968 - 1971". Mitchell continues to be intimately involved in producing these collections, lending her vision and personal touch to every element of the projects. Future releases in the archive series will arrive in a similar manner, with a boxed set focused on studio albums from a specific era, followed by an official “Archives” release looking at unreleased audio from the same period.