Brow Beat

Joni Mitchell Recalls Traveling With Wigs and Fake Names in a Charming Animated Interview

“I like to do my own grocery shopping,” says Joni Mitchell in Blank on Blank’s newest animated interview. The audio is from a 1986 conversation between Mitchell and record executive Joe Smith, which covers topics ranging from Mitchell’s naiveté about drugs as a young musician to her refusal to make a purely commercial album. The bulk of the video, however, focuses on Mitchell’s desire to live a normal life in spite of her fame, a desire that led her to wear wigs and use fake names to avoid attention on her cross-country road trip.

Considering the scrutiny Mitchell has attracted since she was hospitalized in late March, her desire to live anonymously seems sadly unrealized. That irony notwithstanding, Mitchell’s forthrightness and insight into her own motivations, combined with Blank on Blank’s charming animations, make this video a delight to watch.

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