SHE'S A LADY OF THE CANYON

Joni Mitchell was under the name Roberta Joan Anderson in Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada on November 7, 1943.  Her mother, Myrtle Anderson was a school teacher while her father Bill Anderson, was a flight lieutenant and a new air force pilot instructor for the Royal Canadian Air Force who worked at  Fort Macleod.  After World War II, the Anderson family relocated from the Canadian state (They call them Provinces over there in Canada) of Alberta to the Canadian state (Again, Canadians call them Provinces) of Saskatchewan.  Working in a grocery store, Bill Anderson had his family live in the small Saskatchewan, Canada located towns such Maidstone and North Battleford.  The Anderson family home in Maidstone, Saskatchewan, Canada didn't have running water nor indoor plumbing with an outhouse.  Before 1951, Roberta Anderson wanted to become a professional athlete.  After 1951 and nearly becoming crippled and dependent on an iron lung following a near fatal bout with Polio disease, she devoloped an interest in music and dancing.  It helped that her father Bill Anderson was an amnateur musician and loved classical music.  Nearly becoming dependent on an iron lung after a near fatal bout of Polio Disease didn't stop Roberta Anderson from becoming addicted to smoking starting at the age of nine.  She never stopped smoking. 
Bill Anderson moved his family to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.  Being the largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada, Saskatoon was a far cry from the small towns of Maidston and North Battleford.  Drawing, poetry and music was the only school subjects that Roberta Anderson was interested in, but she was a bad student who frequently got flunking grades from her refusal to study, take notes or pass any of her exams.  She chose a life of a rock star playing for Waskesiu Lake based bonfire parties, bars and cappuccino cafes while still in high school.   She eventually graduated high school at Aden Bowman Collegiate Institute.  She traveled back to the Canadian State (They call them Provinces over there) of Alberta to attend the Alberta College of Art & Design where she finally started getting good grades in mostly art classes, but never majored in anything.  Playing rock concerts in cappuccino cafes were still her only source of income.  She eventually didn't need a college education because she got her rock star career to fall upon.  She relocated to Ontario, Canada where she got pregant by a guy who was only in it for the sex in 1964, gave birth to Kelly Dale Anderson in February 1965 before giving her child up for adoption.  The guy who got her pregnant, Brad MacMath, never contested the choice to give up the baby to adoption.  With a Green Card in hand, Roberta Anderson aka Joni Mitchell relocated first to Detroit, Michigan where she played cappuccino cafes before relocating to New York City, New York.  Joni Mitchell relocated to Coconut Grove, Florida where she was discovered by David Crosby (A member of the rock band Crosby, Stills and Nash (And sometimes fellow Canadian Neil Young) and the Byrds.  David Crosby got a recording contract for Joni Mitchell in 1968 for her debut album entitled Song to a Seagull.  She became a successful acustic guitar folk and breakup balad musician and from 1975 to 1980 started to incorporate jazz music into her albums.  The years 1981 to 1993 started branching out to pop music and dance music.  She returned to breakup balads and folk music and released her latest album in 2007.  She continues to be one of the most influential rock stars in the music industry.