Joni Mitchell Slates Bob Dylan

"He's a plagiarist" she says

It’s clash of the titans time – legendary singer Joni Mitchell has slated the equally legendary Bob Dylan in a new interview.

The 60s folk boom was dominated by fakes, charlatans and other chances masquerading as bohemians. Yet this element of role play allowed a number of talented individuals the space to really find themselves, the space to become the artist they desired to be.

Joni Mitchell is one of the era’s most enduring artefacts, a woman whose career has spanned decades. Refusing to stand still, her varied output moves from the pure folk of her early recordings to jazz, country and more.

Speaking to Los Angeles Times, Joni Mitchell reveals that there are some notable performers whom she has little respect for. Asked about Bob Dylan, the singer’s reply was curt and too the point.

“Bob is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I.”

Of course, Joni Mitchell is not her own name, either. “As for my name, my parents wanted a boy, so they called me Robert John; when I came out a girl, they just added two letter A’s to that. Then I married Chuck Mitchell; I wanted to keep my maiden name — I had a bit of a following as Joni Anderson — but he wouldn’t let me.”

Meanwhile, the singer also referred to the love lives of some famous female singers. “Grace (Slick) and Janis Joplin were (sleeping with) their whole bands and falling down drunk, and nobody came after them!”

“The ad for my first album said, “Joni Mitchell is 100% virgin”; the ad for the second one was “Joni Mitchell takes time,” which was also nod-nod, wink-wink in a way my material didn’t call for.”

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