California - OT

SoniaRose - Yep, Joni Mitchell relinquished her daughter, Kilauren Gibb, in 1965, when Joni was 21 years old. They were reunited in 1997. It's been a fairly intense reunion with many ups and downs, but I personally think it has a lot to do with both women being incredibly strong personalities. Joni's song Little Green was written about her relinquishment of Kilauren/Kelley. It was first released on the Blue album in 1971. Little Green by Joni Mitchell Born with the moon in Cancer Choose her a name she will answer to Call her green and the winters cannot fade her Call her green for the children who've made her Little green, be a gypsy dancer He went to California Hearing that everything's warmer there So you write him a letter and say "Her eyes are blue" He sends you a poem and she's lost to you Little green he's a non-conformer Just a little green Like the color when the spring is born There'll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow Just a little green Like the nights when the Northern lights perform There'll be icicles and birthday clothes And sometimes there'll be sorrow Child with a child pretending Weary of lies you are sending home So you sign all the papers in the family name You're sad and you're sorry but you're not ashamed Little green have a happy ending Just a little green Like the color when the spring is born There'll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow Just a little green Like the nights when the Northern lights perform There'll be icicles and birthday clothes And sometimes there'll be sorrow Copyright 1970; Joni Mitchell Printed from the official Joni Mitchell website: JoniMitchell.com You can find all the articles relating to their reunion at [url=http://jonimitchell.com/Library/reunion.cfm]JoniMitchell.com/JMDL Library[/url] On another note, I met Janis Joplin three months before she died. I was 15 years old, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven the night I met her. I even got to play my guitar for her, and she gave me some pointers on the music biz. I miss Janis, and I often wonder what she'd be doing today if she had lived. I have this recurring dream about her every so often, but I don't know what it means. There's a long dusty road leading to a rock festival that's about to begin. The road is lined with thousands and thousands of festival goers. And I'm sitting next to Janis on the side of the road, with legs crossed Indian-style. Janis is laughing and happy; her hair is so shiny and blowing gently in the breeze. And then we start singing together. I always wake up with the most wonderful feeling, but I just don't know what it all means... Oh, another musician I forgot to add was Kris Kristofferson. He was an everyday name in my house while I was growing up. His parents were my grandparents' best friends. It's still hard for me not to call him "Kristy"...that was what his mom, Mary, always called him. She was an amazing woman... :loveyou:

Raven - thanks for the song from Joni Mitchell. You mentioned Janis. This is probably going to sound strange you guys but when I think of Janis....such a brave woman in her day....standing up on stage to the world saying this is me? I think of Marilyn - or rather a picture I saw of her once. She was doing a USO tour in Korea and she's standing up there in front of thousands of men - this little tiny blonde woman (I'm not sure people realize how tiny Marilyn actually was). Anyway, she's reading this letter or something and all these GI's are staring at her. She's all alone up there on that stage before the world. Women like her and Janis........what must it have been like to try and be oneself and be accepted as a woman in a man's world? I know others might not see it this way, but I've always thought Marilyn was a brave woman too in her way. Hugs to all!:grouphug:

Thanks for the link to Joni Mitchell's site -- I'll have to read those articles. I have the "Blue" album (yes, I mean record album), and I can hear Joni singing "Little Green" as I read through the lyrics, but somehow I had never really thought before what the song was about. "So you sign all the papers in the family name/ You're sad and you're sorry but you're not ashamed". Now I will listen to the song in a new light. I was a big Joni fan until she turned to jazz, and I actually took a nice snapshot of her near the back door of a concert hall (oh dear, I sound like a paparazzo!) She was handing out daisies from a bouquet, and I still have my daisy preserved in a book. So that's my silly Joni story, but as a teenager, it was an exciting moment for me. Raven, you actually sat and talked to Janis -- amazing!!! You were probably cool and didn't take pictures. I like your dream -- I think dreams are definitely relevant, especially when they are recurring. It's a great dream full of happiness and promise. Wow -- you met a lot of young musicians. I lived in a neighborhood with a number of traditional movie and tv stars -- celebrities from my parent's generation. Not quite as cool. Janey and lovemy2boys, regarding the story of that Uniroyal tire, I am constantly reminded of the theory that there is a certain number of degrees of separation between seemingly unrelated people. Sometimes it seems that the world is so huge, but we all know someone who knows someone else who knows someone else, etc. Janey, even in my CA town, I think I would notice someone in a pink bunny suit, but of course I wouldn't say anything. LOL. I recently was walking down Hollywood Blvd., and that's where all the costumed people hang out. I've always been totally enamored with Marilyn too -- so beautiful, yet so vulnerable. As I walked down the Avenue of the Stars, I heard the Kinks' song "Celluloid Heroes" in my head: "Please don't tread on dearest Marilyn/cuz she's not very tough/She should have been made of iron and steel/But she was only made of flesh and blood". Poor Marilyn, poor Janis...

You were recently walking down Hollywood Blvd? Brave soul. :p That is the one street where every crazy stereotype of California parades itself around. It's a bit crowded and chaotic for me.:eek: Hey if there's a get together let me know. Sweden's coast, Jackie's (where is she again?), Las Vegas...I'm up for it! Heck I'll even go to rural PA if that's where the cool people are. ;)

I always also thought Chrissie Hynde was awesome! Love the song 'My City was Gone'. It's funny about Marily and Janis. Marilyn lived on everyone else's terms I think. Janis lived on her own terms. But they both ended up the same way. :-( I often wonder what kind of a toll fame takes on a person. It must be murder living in a fish bowl, ya know?

Janey, Chrissie is one of my heroes...love the woman! And, yes, I met her, too, in a nightclub on the Sunset Strip. I was in a San Diego-based rock band in the early thru middle 1970's, and we got to play at the Roxy up in L.A. for a few nights. Chrissie showed up and bought the band a round of drinks. So between sets, I got to talk to her for a bit. I think this was right before she left for London, where she lived for quite a while. She's one classy lady who carries a powerful punch and set of vocal chords. My favorite song that Chrissie sang with the Pretenders is Thin Line Between Love and Hate.As far as living in the limelight, I've heard that Janis adored it. I think she got a lot of her validation from her fans. I know that she loved being on stage, really craved it. I just wish she hadn't gotten into heroin, especially on top of the Southern Comfort. If you've never read it, you might want to pick up a copy of Love, Janis, which was written by her sister, Laura Joplin, Ph.D. It provides a great insight into Janis, the woman, the musician, the sister and daughter. :loveyou:

Janey, I could NOT do it. I could NOT live a life where people are hoping to the heavens that I will screw up... Where they're digging through my trash, ambushing my kids, calling and harrassing my family and friends. Blocking my car to where I can't even pull out of a parking lot... And love him or hate him - I have to give credit to Tom Cruise and the Jolie-Pitts for not hauling off on these people who insist on calling their kids "their adopted children" in every flippin article. ETA: Raven, I've had one celebrity encounter...I sold Burt Reynolds a hot dog when I was working a vendor counter at a Michigan State/Florida State football game...

Hey guys! LoveMy2Boys - I agree with you totally on how difficult it would be to live like that. I think that's why I would only want to be an author. Nobody's going through our trash! LOL! And it must be frightening. Can you guys imagine being Mick Jagger? Being that rich I don't know who I'd be more afraid for...myself or my kids. Scary stuff. Raven - thanks for the "heads up" on the book about Janis. How cool to have met all those musicians!

Janey, Anytime you come though Indy let me know I would love to meet you and anyone else close to Indy. I actually live South of Indy, Colombus is only about 40 minutes away. I have never been bothered by a commute, so just let me know. As far as Mario--Not that exciting. His brother Aldo is the nicest man you would ever meet. I forgot I also met Michael, but he was still a teenager so not driving in the Indy cars yet. Indy used to be a spectatcular race. It is not like it used to be and people don't come as early as they used to. It has lost a lot of its splendar.

Didn't Janis Jolin come from conneticut? I find that sometimes the huge talent that some peole have , and the non conformist thing comes with a tortured soul. I find it very sad! I was younger then Janis, but was old enough to watch what was happening. At the time she and her life style was very scary to me...coming from a very convential homelife. I was very much a confomist!!! LOL Actually I was only about 11 or 12.what more could I have been? My biggest claim to "protesting" was when in Jr. high we all walked out of class to protest school...I LOVED the excietment we chanted School sucks, school sucks....lol......we were badddddd. My best friend was next to me and she was freakin because her father was a fireman and would problay "catch her"...like I said we were baddddd....LOL.I was in 7th grade. Anyway, I knew someone who saw Janis when she went to an Er with an overdose....nobody recognized her as she was filthy, bugbitten and crawing with them.it was so very sad! That is a tortured soul.for sure...the fame is not worth it..IMO....The world lost her talent, her outlook and her....

Donna - Janis was a Texas girl, born and raised. The Joplin family descends from one of the original pioneer families of Texas - the Joplings. If I'm not mistaken, her ancestors (along with mine) were part of Stephen Austin's Colony, before the war for independence with Mexico and General Santa Anna (the guy who took down the Alamo).Anyway, she grew up in the town of Port Arthur, TX. Janis started playing the guitar in high school, and she was a folksinger during her early years in college. When things started heating up music-wise in the Haight District in San Francisco, she was offered a job singing with a new rock band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. She kicked the dust of Texas off her heels and headed for California. And the rest is history.Hmmm, I've never heard that Janis was ever seen being filthy and bug-ridden. But then I know that a lot of people viewed hippies and flower children as "dirty" and "filthy". It didn't matter if we took baths 3 times a day or not...the "long hairs" rubbed conservatives the wrong way.What was so surprising to everybody when Janis died is that she had been off of heroin for quite a while. Nobody ever did find out why she decided to use that night. She was in a good frame of mind; many people that knew her said she was the happiest they had seen her in a long time. There have been conspiracy thoughts throughout the years, and I wouldn't doubt if some of them are true. I saw G. Gordon Liddy debate Abbie Hoffman when I was in college, and Liddy talked about how the government tried to knock off John Lennon around the same time. Liddy also made some insinuations about Janis' death. A lot of people have always thought it very strange that Janis, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison all died within months of each other. The government really did view the youth movement as evil back then. And it viewed the rock musicians as our "leaders".Anyhoo, Janis was an amazing woman, despite her heroin addiction, at least in my mind. She knew what she was talking about when she sang the blues. :loveyou:

Ah raven, Probuly one of those horrible rumors that got sent around, and your right it was the thought of the time.....I happened to have loved her music and still do! (But I was still afraid of you hippies:love: )

Just wanted to add....in terms of the consprisy thoughts. Nothing would surprise me.it was a time of huge conflict in this country.

Getting back to Joni Mitchell: I did read some of the stories regarding her reunion with the daughter she relinquished. It's sad to see that the reunion has not gone well. It appears that the daughter has psychological problems and difficulties in relationships. I suppose it lends some support to the idea that adoptees might have more personal problems than non-adoptees. But what bothers me most about the articles are the statements that the daughter was raised by wealthy parents, attended private schools and clubs, and took expensive vacations...as if money can erase all personal pain. Back to Janis again: all morning I have been hearing the Joan Baez song "In the Quiet Morning" (written for Janis) in my head...a pretty song and a nice tribute.

SoniaRose - I love In the Quiet Morning by Joan Baez. I did a thread about a year ago in memory of my childhood friend Julie, who was a lifelong heroin addict. I think it's called "In Memory of Julie, Or What Is Addiction Really About??" I remember citing the lyrics to Joan Baez's song on that thread. About Joni and Kilauren, yep, I agree with you. It's sad how their relationship has gone sour. I know that Kilauren lived with Joni for a year or two. She also worked for her in some capacity with her music- I don't remember exactly as what. I've always been kind of surprised that Joni's official website put the links to ALL the articles about the two of them, whether negative or positive. I think both women are pretty complex souls, with very strong personalities. It also sounds like there were some very high expectations on both of their parts.