{{short description|1968 studio album by Joni Mitchell}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox album | name = Song to a Seagull | type = studio | artist = [[Joni Mitchell]] | cover = Joni Mitchell - Song to a Seagull.png | alt = | released = March 23, 1968 | recorded = Early 1968 | studio = [[Sunset Sound Recorders]], Hollywood, California | genre = [[Folk music|Folk]]<ref name="Shumway2014">{{cite book|author=Shumway, David R.|title=Rock Star: The Making of Musical Icons from Elvis to Springsteen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkKXBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA161|date=August 21, 2014|publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]]|isbn=978-1-4214-1393-8|page=161}}</ref><ref name="Carlin2005">{{cite book|author=Carlin, Richard|title=Folk|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LluEHF1oT-wC&pg=PA242|year=2005|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6978-1|page=242}}</ref> | length = 38:11 | label = [[Reprise Records|Reprise]] | producer = [[David Crosby]] | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = [[Clouds (Joni Mitchell album)|Clouds]] | next_year = 1969 | misc = {{Singles | name = Song to a Seagull | type = studio | single1 = Night in the City | single1date = June 1968<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Spotlight Singles |magazine=Billboard |date=June 15, 1968 |page=70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zAoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Joni+mitchell+night+in+the+city&pg=PA70}}</ref> }} }} {{Album ratings | rev1 = [[AllMusic]] | rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r13206 |title=Song to a Seagull – Joni Mitchell |first=David |last=Cleary |website=[[AllMusic]] |year=2011 |access-date=January 17, 2022}}</ref> | rev2 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]'' | rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|chapter=Mitchell, Joni|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|location=London|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}</ref> | rev3 = [[MusicHound]] | rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Graff|first1=Gary|last2=Durchholz|first2=Daniel|year=1999|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|location=Farmington Hills, Michigan|publisher=Visible Ink Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/769 769]|isbn=1-57859-061-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/769}}</ref> | rev4 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' | rev4score = 6.7/10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17269-the-studio-albums-1968-1979/ |title=Joni Mitchell: The Studio Albums 1968–1979 | Album Reviews |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=November 9, 2012 |access-date=January 17, 2022|author= Hopper, Jessica}}</ref> | rev5 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' | rev5score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cn|date=June 2025}} }}
'''''Song to a Seagull''''' (also known as '''''Joni Mitchell''''') is the debut studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter [[Joni Mitchell]]. Produced by [[David Crosby]], the album was recorded at [[Sunset Sound]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Song to a Seagull {{!}} The Making of Joni Mitchell |url=https://hypercritic.org/collection/joni-mitchell-song-to-a-seagull-1968-review |access-date=2025-09-12 |website=Hypercritic |language=en-US}}</ref> and released in March 1968 by [[Reprise Records]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joni Mitchell - Song To A Seagull |url=https://jonimitchell.com/music/album.cfm?id=2&o=1 |access-date=2025-09-12 |website=jonimitchell.com}}</ref>
==Production== The album was recorded at [[Sunset Sound]] in [[Hollywood, California]].<ref name=Joni77>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVq9BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77|page=77|title=Joni: The Creative Odyssey of Joni Mitchell|author=Monk, Katherine |publisher=[[Greystone Books]]|date= September 7, 2012|isbn=9781553658382}}</ref> [[David Crosby]] was assigned as producer as part of the deal with Reprise Records, following meeting Mitchell in October 1967.<ref name=Joni77/> Crosby wanted Mitchell to sound pure and natural, so he asked her to sing into the studio grand piano, and set up extra microphones to capture her voice reverberating off the strings; unfortunately the set-up captured too much ambient noise, resulting in excessive [[tape hiss]], which could only be removed post-production at the cost of the high sounds in the [[Audio frequency|audio range]], which gives the album a flat feel.<ref name=Joni78>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVq9BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78|pages=78–79|title=Joni: The Creative Odyssey of Joni Mitchell|author=Monk, Katherine|publisher=[[Greystone Books]]|date= September 7, 2012|isbn=9781553658382}}</ref>
Mitchell had written songs that were hits for other artists (e.g., "[[Both Sides Now]]" and "[[Chelsea Morning]]" by [[Judy Collins]] and [[Dave Van Ronk]], "Eastern Rain" by [[Fairport Convention]], "Urge for Going" and "[[The Circle Game (song)|The Circle Game]]" by [[Tom Rush]]), but none of these songs were selected for inclusion on ''Song to a Seagull''.
==Content== Mitchell has said that "Sisotowbell" stands for "Somehow, in spite of trouble, ours will be ever lasting love".<ref>{{cite web|author=White, Timothy |date=December 9, 1995|url=http://jonimitchell.com/Library/view.cfm?id=49|website= JoniMitchell.com |title=JMDL Library: Joni Mitchell – A Portrait of the Artist|access-date = January 17, 2022}}</ref>
''[[Record World]]'' said of the single "Night in the City" that "The marvelous Joni Mitchell lights up the imagination with this provocative rock."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Single Reviews|magazine=Record World|date=June 8, 1968|page=8|accessdate=2023-06-02|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/60s/68/Record-World-1968-06-08.pdf}}</ref>
The album was dedicated to her [[Seventh grade|Grade 7]] English teacher, "Mr. Kratzmann, who taught me to love words".<ref>Album sleeve</ref>
==Release== This album was originally released as ''Joni Mitchell'' because the LP album covers were printed incorrectly, cutting off part of the ''Song to a Seagull'' title (spelled out by birds in flight).{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} The cut-off, as well as the publishers at [[Reprise Records]] not noticing that the birds spelled out the album name, caused the eponymous album title.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}
The two sides of the LP were labelled as Part 1 – "I Came to the City", and Part 2 – "Out of the City and Down to the Seaside".
On April 8, 2021, [[Rhino Entertainment]], the catalog arm of [[Warner Music Group]], announced that a new mix of the album overseen by Mitchell and mixer Matt Lee would be released on June 25, 2021 as part of a special remaster collection comprising the singer's first four albums. Commenting on the quality of the original mix, Mitchell called it "atrocious" and said it "sounded like it was recorded under a [[Jello]] bowl".<ref>{{cite web |title=Joni Mitchell Archives Series Continues |url=https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=4866 |website=jonimitchell.com |access-date=7 June 2021}}</ref> The remastered collection is part of the ongoing [[Joni Mitchell Archives]] project.
==Track listing== {{track listing | headline = Side one – ''I Came to the City'' | all_writing = Joni Mitchell | title1 = I Had a King | length1 = 3:37 | title2 = Michael from Mountains | length2 = 3:41 | title3 = Night in the City | length3 = 2:30 | title4 = Marcie | length4 = 4:35 | title5 = Nathan La Franeer | length5 = 3:18 }} {{track listing | headline = Side two – ''Out of the City and Down to the Seaside'' | title1 = Sisotowbell Lane | length1 = 4:05 | title2 = The Dawntreader | length2 = 5:04 | title3 = The Pirate of Penance | length3 = 2:44 | title4 = Song to a Seagull | length4 = 3:51 | title5 = Cactus Tree | length5 = 4:35 }}
==Personnel== * Joni Mitchell – guitar, piano, vocals, album cover, banshee * [[Stephen Stills]] – bass on "Night in the City" * Lee Keefer – banshee
'''Technical''' * [[David Crosby]] – producer * Art Crist – engineer * [[Ed Thrasher]] – art direction
==Charts== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |+ Chart performance for ''Song to a Seagull'' !scope="col"|Chart (1968) !scope="col"|Peak<br>position |- !scope="row"|US [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Joni Mitchell Chart History |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/joni-mitchell/chart-history/tlp/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |accessdate=December 6, 2020}}</ref> |align="center"|189 |- ! scope="row"| US ''[[Cash Box]]'' Top 100 Albums<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1968/CB-1968-06-22.pdf|title=Cash Box Top 100 Albums |magazine=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]|date=June 22, 1968|page=33|access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref> |align="center"| 88 |}
==Other versions and covers== {{unsourced|section|date=July 2025}}
[[Cass Elliot]] covered two songs from the album: "Sisotowbell Lane" and "I Had a King". Elliot sang "I Had a King" "live" on ''[[Andy Williams]]'s Kaleidoscope'' in 1968. Neither song has ever been released on any of Elliot's seven albums. "Sisotowbell Lane" can be found on the CD [[Compilation album|compilation]] ''The Complete Solo Collection – 1968–71'', released in 2005.
[[Judy Collins]] covered "Michael from Mountains" on her LP ''[[Wildflowers (Judy Collins album)|Wildflowers]]'', as did [[Gábor Szabó]] on his LP ''[[1969 (Gábor Szabó album)|1969]]''. [[Buffy Sainte-Marie]] recorded "Song to a Seagull" on her album ''[[Fire & Fleet & Candlelight]]'' issued in 1967.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Discogs master|220439}}
{{Joni Mitchell}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Joni Mitchell albums]] [[Category:1968 debut albums]] [[Category:Albums produced by David Crosby]] [[Category:Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders]] [[Category:Albums with cover art by Joni Mitchell]] [[Category:1960s concept albums]] [[Category:Reprise Records albums]]