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Joni Mitchell - Germany 1968 (1968)

Track listing:
  1. Marcie 4:34
  2. Nathan La Freneer 3:26
  3. Intro To Dr Junk 2:54
  4. Dr Junk The Dentist Man 2:39
  5. Roses Blue 4:03
  6. Circle Game 10:08
  7. I Don't Know Where I Stand 4:04
  8. Go Tell The Drummer Man 3:32
  9. Michael From Mountains 3:40

Notes

Unknown Venue, supposedly (West) Germany (?) 1968 (?)

The origins are completely mysterious -- it circulates as "Germany 1968", but Joni didn't play in Germany in 1968. During the intro to "Dr. Junk" she talks about her visit to Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, and since she first played Fayetteville on January 3rd, 1967 and again in May of that year, her remark that the visit was "about 2 years ago" suggests that this performance took place in 1969. I think the presence of "Dr Junk" in the setlist would argue against the show being far into that year, since it's a throwaway song that didn't stay in her repertoire for very long. The best guess, then, would be very early 1969, but where is more of problem -- although perhaps it COULD be Germany (did she play there in 1969? the jonimitchell.com chronology has no record of any European dates between London Sep 1968 & London Jan 1970 -- which can't be right, surely?) -- her phrase "my country's capitol" in the "Roses Blue" preamble seems to refer to Washington DC rather than Ottawa, which places the performance outside of North America (and that song itself, though not an easy one to decipher, was probably written after the darker events of 1968 -- the King & RFK assassinations, Chicago and the election of Nixon).

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