Mitchell wrote "Little Green" in 1966, shortly after she had signed the papers to place her daughter for adoption the previous year, while she was a poor folk singer in Toronto.
[1] The existence of her daughter, originally called Kelly Dale, was not publicly known until 1993, when a roommate from Mitchell's art school days in the 1960s sold the story of the adoption to a tabloid magazine.
At the Café Au Go Go in New York in 1967, there was (a reviewer later stated) "a raw, husky catch to her tender wishes for 'Kelly Green'" during the song.
[8] Writing for Rolling Stone in 1971, Timothy Crouse, said: Several of the lesser cuts on Blue give every indication of having sat in Joni's trunk for some time.
"[10] Bob Dylan played the song on the "Colors" episode of Season 1 of his Theme Time Radio Hour show in 2007.