Fort Macleod · Saskatoon · Chelsea · Laurel Canyon · Matala
She tuned the guitar differently for almost every song, and wrote each tuning as a letter and five numbers. Here every place has its numbers: turn the pegs further down the page and the places open.
Alberta and Saskatchewan, 1943 to 1964
She was born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, on 7 November 1943. She began classical piano at seven, then moved on to drawing.
The Louis Riel, Broadway Avenue · Halloween 1962
On Halloween 1962 Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee did not show; she filled in, her first paying gig.
As a teenager she bought a baritone ukulele for $36. She waitressed at the Louis Riel Coffee House and played its Sunday night hootenanny. A plaque to the coffee house was unveiled here on 10 June 2018.
The plaque is on Broadway Avenue in front of the Broadway Theatre; the coffee house was in the building next door, roughly where Calories is now.
The Joni Mitchell Promenade · named 2018
Her family moved to Saskatoon, where she caught polio as a child and made a full recovery. She walked through River Landing on her way to Riversdale Pool, which she said had the best jukebox in the city.
On 10 June 2018 the riverside path between 2nd and 3rd Avenues was named the Joni Mitchell Promenade. She did not come, but said she felt honoured by the city’s gesture.
A riverside path on the south side of Spadina Crescent East, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.
The Bessborough · her painting, 1969
The hotel is the background of her self-portrait on the cover of Clouds.
She usually stayed here when she came back to Saskatoon. A château-style landmark on the South Saskatchewan River, it has paused operations for a full renovation, with reopening expected in February 2027.
Closed for a full renovation and not taking bookings; it is expected to reopen in February 2027. See it from the river path.
The guide, by ear
She writes a tuning as the lowest string’s note and five fret numbers; standard tuning is E 5 5 5 4 5. Since Song to a Seagull she has used more than 50 tunings, starting with open D and open G learned from blues players. Pick a song, then turn each string up or down until the guitar matches the tuning she used. The place where the song was made opens.
NowE 5 5 5 4 5E A D G B E
Her tuningD 7 5 4 3 5D A D F# A D, capo 2
Tuning for “Chelsea Morning”: 2 of 6 strings in tune. Now E 5 5 5 4 5.
0 of 3 places opened by ear.
Chelsea, Manhattan · late 1960s
By her own account she wrote “Chelsea Morning” in Philadelphia, after girls who worked in a club found coloured slag glass in an alley.
They made glass mobiles with copper wire and coat hangers; she took hers home and hung it in her window on West 16th Street. The sun hit the mobile and sent moving colours round the room.
Morning sun on the glass. Turn the mobile.
West 16th Street, Chelsea · named, not mapped
The transcriptions on her site tune “Chelsea Morning” D A D F# A D with a capo at the second fret. Clouds comes out, with “Chelsea Morning” on it and her self-portrait in front of the Bessborough on the cover.
Her apartment was a private home: the street is named here, the building is not mapped.
New York
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Hotel Chelsea · the other story
A 1993 New York Times piece tied “Chelsea Morning” to the Chelsea Hotel, where, it said, she was staying.
A 1992 Times piece pointed instead to a ground-floor window on 16th Street. Today it lists hotel rooms and suites, Café Chelsea, the Lobby Bar and El Quijote.
A working hotel: rooms, suites, the Lobby Bar and El Quijote.
Chelsea, Manhattan · Book direct · rooms and suites
Rooms and suites at 222 West 23rd Street, with the Lobby Bar and El Quijote downstairs. A 1993 New York Times piece tied “Chelsea Morning” to the hotel; she said she wrote it in Philadelphia.
See rooms
August 1969 · Manhattan or Bethel
August 1969. The Cavett taping is the day after the festival. Choose.
Bethel Woods · the field she never saw
She did not play Woodstock: her manager Elliot Roberts and David Geffen decided she could not miss The Dick Cavett Show the day after.
They watched the news from Geffen’s New York apartment; other accounts say the Plaza Hotel. She wrote “Woodstock” from what she heard and imagined; she said missing it gave her an intense angle.
The Museum at Bethel Woods
The Museum at Bethel Woods stands on the 1969 festival site; adults pay $22.69 at the door, $19.69 in advance.
The Museum at Bethel Woods is open daily, 10am to 5pm, 1 April to 31 December; show days may differ.
Bethel, New York · Adults $19.69 in advance · $22.69 at the door · ages 6–17 $5
The 1960s museum on the 1969 festival site she watched on television. Open daily 10am to 5pm, 1 April to 31 December.
Plan a visitBethel, New York · $19.69
A guided golf-cart tour of the festival field and other festival locations, Wednesday to Sunday at 10:45am, May to October; not on show days.
Check tour daysLos Angeles, 1968 to 1976
Lookout Mountain Avenue, Laurel Canyon · named, not mapped
In spring 1968 she bought a house on Lookout Mountain with the royalties from her first album.
Graham Nash came to visit; by July they were living there together. Canned Heat’s house next door burned down in 1969. She wrote “Ladies of the Canyon” while sharing the house with Nash.
Her house is a private home: the canyon is named here, the house is not mapped. Pictured: the canyon from a public corner.
Los Angeles
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A&M Studios, 1416 North La Brea · 1971 and 1976
Blue was captured in intimate sessions at A&M Studios in Hollywood, and released on 22 June 1971.
Her early albums were cut mostly in Studio C, the smallest room; when it was booked she moved to Studio B. A brown Steinway, one of A&M’s four nine-foot grands, was wheeled into whichever room she used.
Wheel the Steinway: it is in Studio C, the smallest room, where she liked to work.
A&M engineer Steve Katz worked with her and Henry Lewy on Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and Mingus. John Mayer and McG bought the lot; the Henson name has come off the arch. It now trades as Chaplin Recording Studios, with rooms A, B, D and M.
A private working studio lot: see the front from La Brea Avenue. No public tours are listed.
Crete, 1970
She buys an Appalachian dulcimer, light enough to backpack round Europe with a flute, and writes most of Blue on it. She had never seen one played, so she slaps it with her hands.
Slap it here: each slap is one night she told the story of “Carey” on stage, and no two match.
Four tellings, one song. Slap the dulcimer.
The caves of Matala
She spent time here with Cary Raditz, who worked at a local taverna, and wrote “Carey” about him.
The caves are rock-cut tombs; the plaque at the site calls them Roman. Hippies moved into the tombs in the 1960s. The transcriptions on her site give “Carey” three different guitar tunings: C# C# C# C# G# C#, D A D D A A and D A D A A D.
A fenced archaeological site with a ticket booth. The paths are rough: wear proper shoes, not flip-flops.
Crete
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Afton Down, Isle of Wight · August 1970
More than 600,000 people came; she played a mid-afternoon slot on day four.
The 1970 festival ran from 26 to 31 August on the small hill of Afton Down, near Freshwater. During “Woodstock” an acquaintance, Yogi Joe, sat drumming at her feet, then grabbed the microphone and was dragged away. She told the crowd off for behaving like tourists, and asked for some respect; it went quieter. She sang “California”, from Blue, nearly a year before the album came out.
The 1970 festival field is farmland below Afton Down: look from the down and the road above Freshwater Bay.
Newport, 1967 and 2022
On 24 July 2022, with Brandi Carlile, she performed at Fort Adams as part of the Newport Folk Festival.
Her 1967 Newport appearance was at Festival Field, a different site from Fort Adams. It was her first full-length public concert since 2000, after years recovering from a 2015 brain aneurysm. She sat in a Louis XIV-style chair among friends, and the set began as a singalong of “Carey”. The night came out on 28 July 2023 as At Newport, produced by Carlile and Mitchell.
A state park on the harbour, home of the Newport Folk Festival on its July weekend.
10 places you can visit, from Fort Macleod to the caves of Matala. Her West 16th Street apartment and her Laurel Canyon house are private homes, named but not mapped.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A small southern Alberta town: walk its historic Main Street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The plaque is on Broadway Avenue in front of the Broadway Theatre; the coffee house was in the building next door, roughly where Calories is now.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A riverside path on the south side of Spadina Crescent East, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Closed for a full renovation and not taking bookings; it is expected to reopen in February 2027. See it from the river path.
Fort Macleod, Alberta
She was born Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, on 7 November 1943.
A small southern Alberta town: walk its historic Main Street.
Broadway Avenue beside the Broadway Theatre, Saskatoon
As a teenager she bought a baritone ukulele for $36.
The plaque is on Broadway Avenue in front of the Broadway Theatre; the coffee house was in the building next door, roughly where Calories is now.
River Landing, Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon
Her family moved to Saskatoon, where she caught polio as a child and made a full recovery.
A riverside path on the south side of Spadina Crescent East, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.
601 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon
The hotel is the background of her self-portrait on the cover of Clouds.
Closed for a full renovation and not taking bookings; it is expected to reopen in February 2027. See it from the river path.
Stay
The Hotel Chelsea on West 23rd Street. The Bessborough in Saskatoon reopens in 2027.
Chelsea, Manhattan · Book direct · rooms and suites
Rooms and suites at 222 West 23rd Street, with the Lobby Bar and El Quijote downstairs. A 1993 New York Times piece tied “Chelsea Morning” to the hotel; she said she wrote it in Philadelphia.
See roomsGo there
The museum and field at Bethel, and tours of Laurel Canyon, downtown Manhattan and south Crete.
Bethel, New York · Adults $19.69 in advance · $22.69 at the door · ages 6–17 $5
The 1960s museum on the 1969 festival site she watched on television. Open daily 10am to 5pm, 1 April to 31 December.
Plan a visitBethel, New York · $19.69
A guided golf-cart tour of the festival field and other festival locations, Wednesday to Sunday at 10:45am, May to October; not on show days.
Check tour daysLos Angeles
Live marketplace results for music-history tours of Laurel Canyon and Hollywood. Check each itinerary for the stops it really makes; private homes are seen from the road only.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursNew York
Live marketplace results for folk and rock walking tours of downtown Manhattan. Check each itinerary for the streets it covers.
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Compare toursCrete
Live marketplace results for day trips to Matala and the Messara coast. Check each itinerary for time at the caves.
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Compare toursWhat’s on
Her official site lists tribute nights by other musicians, not shows by her.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
An original poster from our store, two books, and records made in these places.
An original promotional poster for her 1998 album. 18.6 × 22.5 in, rolled, mint.
Sold out · archive reference
View posterDavid Yaffe
A full biography, by David Yaffe.
Find the bookAnn Powers
By the critic who reported the Newport return for NPR.
Find the bookJoni Mitchell · LP, Reprise, 1969
With “Chelsea Morning”, and her self-portrait in front of the Bessborough on the cover.
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Find a copyJoni Mitchell · LP, Reprise, 1970
Written in the Lookout Mountain house she shared with Graham Nash.
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Find a copyJoni Mitchell · LP, Reprise, 1971
Recorded at A&M; most of it written on the dulcimer she carried to Matala.
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Find a copyJoni Mitchell · LP, Asylum, 1976
Made at A&M with Henry Lewy.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
13 of 13 places · 24 of 24 Moments
Fort Macleod, Alberta
Roberta Joan Anderson is born in Fort Macleod, Alberta.
Broadway Avenue beside the Broadway Theatre, Saskatoon
As a teenager she buys a baritone ukulele for $36.
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee fail to show; she fills in, her first paying gig.
She writes a tuning as the lowest string’s note and five fret numbers; standard tuning is E 5 5 5 4 5.
Since Song to a Seagull she has used more than 50 tunings, starting with open D and open G learned from blues players.
Sorted by letter names her songs use more than 60 tunings, more than 80 with the capo, but only about 45 distinct patterns.
River Landing, Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon
Her family moves to Saskatoon, where she catches polio and recovers fully.
Saskatoon names the Joni Mitchell Promenade and unveils a plaque on Broadway; she watches from home.
601 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon
Clouds comes out, with “Chelsea Morning” on it and her self-portrait in front of the Bessborough on the cover.
West 16th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
Slag glass from a Philadelphia alley becomes a mobile in her West 16th Street window, and a song.
222 West 23rd Street, New York
200 Hurd Road, Bethel, New York
Her managers keep her in Manhattan for The Dick Cavett Show; she misses Woodstock and writes the song.
Lookout Mountain Avenue, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles
She buys a house on Lookout Mountain with the royalties from her first album.
Graham Nash visits; by July they are living there together.
Canned Heat’s house, next door, burns down.
1416 North La Brea Avenue, Hollywood
Blue, recorded in intimate sessions at A&M in Hollywood, is released.
She makes Hejira with Henry Lewy and A&M engineer Steve Katz.
John Mayer and McG buy the old A&M lot; the Henson name comes off the arch.
Matala, south coast of Crete
She buys an Appalachian dulcimer, light enough to backpack round Europe with a flute, and writes most of Blue on it. She had never seen one played, so she slaps it with her hands.
She stays among the caves with Cary Raditz, a cook at a local taverna, and writes “Carey”.
At Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia and two Troubadour nights she introduces “Carey” with a different Matala story each time.
Afton Down, near Freshwater, Isle of Wight
Before 600,000 people, a man grabs her microphone; she tells the crowd off, then sings “California”.
Historical Festival Field site, Newport, Rhode Island; exact 1967 stage position unestablished
Joni Mitchell participates in a Sunday afternoon songwriters workshop at Festival Field in Newport.
Fort Adams State Park, Newport, Rhode Island
Her first full-length concert since 2000, seated among friends, opening with “Carey”.
The 2022 set is released as At Newport.
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