The time Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash duetted with a Bob Dylan classic on TV

22 June 2021, 13:46 | Updated: 11 March 2026, 09:11

Joni Mitchell was a regular guest on The Johnny Cash Show and this was maybe her finest moment on it.

Joni Mitchell's return to live performance has been a revelation, but she has been a legend long before her very welcome comeback.

Every Joni record has something worth listening to, but it's her classic late 1960s and early 1970s era that really marked her out as something very special.

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As well as releasing a clutch of perfect albums and performing live around the world, Joni also found the time to make not one, not two, but THREE performances on The Johnny Cash Show.

She appeared on the first episode on June 7, 1969, and impressed so much that Johnny Cash invited her back the following month, and again for a performance on the second (and last) season, on October 7, 1970.

Joni Mitchell - Girl of the North Country (Johnny Cash Show)

It was on that final appearance that she and Johnny duetted on one of Bob Dylan's most tender songs, 'Girl From The North Country'.

The song was originally written by Bob Dylan, of course, and first featured on his second studio album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963.

Dylan re-recorded the song as a duet with Johnny Cash a few years later, and that version kicked off Dylan's 1969 country rock album Nashville Skyline.

Around the time of her performance on the show, Mitchell would have likely been writing songs for Blue, the album she would record and release the following year,

To mark the 50th anniversary of Blue in 2021, The Joni Mitchell Archives released some special demos and outtakes from the album.

Joni Mitchell - Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes)

Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes) featured five special versions of songs that were recorded during the sessions for the album.

1. A Case Of You (Demo)
2. California (Demo)
3. Hunter (Outtake)
4. River (Outtake with French Horns)
5. Urge For Going (Outtake with Strings)

The songs were included in the massive Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) box set, which is made up of nearly six hours of unreleased home, studio and live music leading up to the release of Blue.