ZS: Do you remember the first time you met Joni Mitchell? NY: I was twenty. She was about twenty two. Maybe one year older than me. I think we were in Winnipeg at the 4th Dimension club. ZS: Do you remember the conversation? NY: I was listening to her. I was local in Winnipeg and she was just passing through on the road with her husband Chuck. They were a duo playing. So we talked a little bit and I got to know her. I played her Sugar Mountain. I told her I'd just been in Canada in Toronto and I played that for a group called The Dirty Shames. There was this guy named Chick Roberts in The Dirty Shames who said, "That's a special song Neil. That song is going to be around for a while." And I'm saying to Joni, "this guy Chick Roberts, he told me that this was a special song, so I'll play it for you and see what you think." Then she wrote Circle Game after she heard Sugar Mountain because it got to her and she felt it. She felt it in her own unique way as well, obviously. ZS: That's incredible, but so special. Do you stay in touch today with her? NY: I just spoke to her the other day. ZS: That's a real friendship. NY: I love Joni. She's wonderful. She's one of the greatest artists of our generation - she may be the greatest artist of our generation. Neil Young The Zach Sang Show November 18, 2022