In 1963, now-retired radio DJ Barry Bowman of CFQC 600 lived with three of his friends in downtown Saskatoon, Canada.[2] During that summer, Bowman and his friends met and befriended Joni Mitchell, who at the time was still going by her birth name of Joni Anderson. The group would frequently congregate with Mitchell at the large house they were renting, the local swimming pool, or the South Saskatchewan River, where they "drank beer and ate hot dogs."[2] One of Bowman's friends and co-tenants, Danny Evanishen, referred to that period of time as being "the summer that Joni came to [them]."[2] Evanishen is also attributed as being the person who encouraged Mitchell to take up playing the guitar, loaning her his guitar to play in lieu of her ukulele. Encouraged by Mitchell's budding talent, Bowman invited her to the radio station to record nine traditional folk songs over the course of two nights. He gave her a copy of the audition tape and kept the masters, which were later unearthed by his ex-wife in 2015.[2]
Credits adapted from Discogs.[3]
- Performers
- Joni Mitchell – vocals; guitar
- Production and recording
- Allison Boron – project assistance
- Barry Bowman – recording
- Marcy Gensic – project assistance
- Bernie Grundman – mastering; lacquer cutting
- Joni Mitchell – reissue producer
- Patrick Milligan – reissue producer
- Jane Tani – project assistance
- Design
- Barry Bowman – liner notes
- Sheryl Farber – booklet editor
- Lisa Glines – art direction; design
- Joni Mitchell – cover illustration
- Doran Tyson – product manager
- Shannon Ward – packaging manager
