A work of stunning virtuosity that is beloved by generations of listeners, Joni Mitchell’s Blue still sells 40,000 copies a year, more than three decades after its release. Will You Take Me As I Am is a unique journey through the genius behind the album and the age it came to represent. Michelle Mercer, a respected music journalist and a regular contributor to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, is the first author of a book about Joni Mitchell to gain access to the famously media-shy musician. Incorporating dozens of hours of interviews into an illuminating narrative heightened by rigorous reporting and compelling analysis of Mitchell’s craft, Mercer insightfully details the richness of the artist’s accomplishment: Mitchell’s innovative way of marrying lyrics to melody; how she plays with inventive, highly expressive chords to achieve her unusual blend of wonder and melancholy; and how she pioneered autobiographical songwriting and along with Bob Dylan brought a new literacy to the popular song. From the weeks living among the hippies in caves in the Greek islands and the other travels that gave birth to Blue, to the album’s influence on the explosive creativity of the 1970s, Will You Take Me As I Am offers a fascinating look into the personal life of a great artist and the culture she helped to shape

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