>>I don't know if I would be such a huge fan if she appeared for the first time today.

Why is that?

I would guess that if Joni Mitchell had been born in say 1980 but had had the same compulsion to write paint and do all the stuff she's done (which she might or might not have done but that's a different thread), then she would have still have had something to say but it's unlikely that it would have been in the same style.

I have a sneaking suspicion though she would probably still have been an excellent artist. Might not have had bare feet or played a dulcimer - or slapped a guitar because the action was so bad and it was the only thing she could play in Matala - but I think she would still have done some good stuff. She might have been a rap artist who knows?