To celebrate the 50th anniversary of her seminal album Blue, Joni Mitchell has unveiled a previously unreleased EP of demos and outtakes. The five-track collection features demos of ‘A Case of You’ and ‘California’, alternate versions of ‘River’ and ‘Urge for Going’, and the rarity ‘Hunter’, which Mitchell played live but never officially released. The songs on Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes) will also be included on Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971), a compilation documenting the period leading up to Blue that comes out in October via Rhino Records.
The Reprise Years (1968-1971) set will also include a full 1968 Ottawa coffee house performance recorded by Jimi Hendrix as well as a 1970 BBC broadcast featuring James Taylor. The box set is the latest in Mitchell’s archival series, which launched last year with the release of The Early Years. This Friday (June 25), Rhino will issue The Reprise Albums (1968-1971), featuring remastered versions of her prolific four-album run for Reprise Records — 1968’s Song to a Seagull, 1969’s Clouds, 1970’s Ladies of the Canyon, and Blue.