This is one of those moments you can hardly believe was caught on film. In 1975, during the Rolling Thunder Revue, Joni Mitchell sat down at Gordon Lightfoot’s home and performed “Coyote” for a room that included Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn. The footage comes from Martin Scorsese’s Netflix documentary ‘Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story,’ and it’s pure magic. Mitchell delivers the song with the singular phrasing and unmistakable chord work that set her apart from everyone in her era, and the look on every face in the room says it all, a circle of legends watching one of the greatest songwriters of her generation at the height of her powers. It’s an intimate, electric glimpse of a “Hejira” classic taking shape among friends.


