The Joni Mitchell album that Dolly Parton said would scare herself to death if she thought that deeply

Tried-and-true Southerner and country music icon Dolly Parton has always been one to speak her mind with wit and kindness, and her hilarious reaction upon listening to a Joni Mitchell album is certainly no exception. Although the exact record varies by account, Parton’s answer remains the same.

Interestingly, Parton wasn’t the only Southern songwriter who seemed to give Mitchell an impressed, if uncomfortable, “bless your heart” response to her music, particularly her 1970s works.

Dolly Parton’s reaction to a Joni Mitchell album

Memories are nothing but fleeting, which is why the story of Dolly Parton listening to a Joni Mitchell album with the Canadian singer-songwriter likely varies in the exact details.

According to an interview Mitchell did with Capital Radio in 1988, this was the album in question Hissing of the summer grass. But in the liner notes for Archives, Vol. Volume 4: The Asylum Years (1976–1980)Mitchell had played Hejira for Parton. Mitchell released the albums within a year. So it’s likely that both fading memory and creative crossover play a role in changing accounts.

In both cases, however, Parton’s reaction is consistent. In each story, Mitchell Parton played her album from front to back. (According to the Archive (Retelling, Bonnie Raitt was there too.) Mitchell told Capital Radio: “[Dolly] said to me very shyly after the record was played: ‘My God, if I thought that deeply I would be scared to death.'”

Whatever the exact album was, it’s clear that Mitchell had no aversion to Parton’s honest reaction. In the late 1980s she told the radio station: “To write poetry, it is an introspective process. Some of the process is actually a bit scary, you know.”

Another Southern songwriter had a similar reaction to “Blue”

As anyone who grew up or lived in the South can attest, Southerners have a keen sense of how to tell the truth without being disrespectful. Dolly Parton directed her comments about Joni Mitchell’s music back at herself. She was somewhat self-deprecating and said that she would never “think that deeply.” Southerner and songwriter Kris Kristofferson did the same.

In a 1996 interview with Acoustic guitar Joni Mitchell revealed this after playing her 1971 album to Kristofferson BlueHe replied, “God, Joan, save some of yourself.” Mitchell continued, “He was embarrassed. I think in general people were embarrassed at first. In a way it was shocking, especially in pop.”

“People [usually sing]“I’m bad, I’m bad, I’m great, I’m the greatest,” Mitchell said. “It is a sham business and people accept the lie. It’s fluff, this week’s flavor. And it shouldn’t be anything more than that.”

Of course, for Mitchell, her songwriting has always been more than that – an unwavering testament to her poetry that has challenged both her fans and her contemporaries for decades.

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