Joni Mitchell, Wilf Carter to join Songwriters Hall of Fame

Folk music icon Joni Mitchell and Wilf Carter, the "father of Canadian country music," will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.

On Thursday, hall of fame organizers released a list of four songwriters and 25 songs to be honoured for their excellence at a black-tie gala in Toronto in January.

Raymond Egan, a Windsor, Ont.-born songwriter who wrote for Hollywood films and Broadway musicals in the 1920s and 1930s, and Quebec chanteur Jean-Pierre Ferland are also to be honoured.

Five of Mitchell's songs are included on the list of songs to be preserved in the Toronto-based hall of fame, including Help Me, Big Yellow Taxi and Woodstock.

Born in 1943 in Fort McLeod, Alta., Mitchell became a folk singer in the mid-60s and had her first big break when she sold Both Sides Now, another song that is to be inducted, to Judy Collins in 1968.

Since her early start in folk music, she has branched out into jazz and experimental music. A five-time Grammy winner, Mitchell was inducted into the Canadian Rock Hall of Fame in 1981.

Radio era star Carter, born in Port Hilford, N.S., in 1904,began singing on radio and the rodeo circuit in the 1920s.

He later moved to the U.S., where he wrote songs and was a radio star under the name Montana Slim. Carter died in 1996.

His hits to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fameinclude My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby, There's a Love Knot in My Lariat and My Old Canadian Home.

Eganworked in Tin Pan Alley in the 1930s. Hewas lyricist for inducted songs Ain't We Got Fun and Sleepy Time Gal, which feature music by close friend and collaborator, Richard Whiting.

Egan and Whiting also composed one of the greatest war tunes of all time, Till We Meet Again. Egan's works were recorded by greats such as Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. He died in 1952.

The other contemporary star to be inducted is Quebec's Ferland, who began recording in the 1950s and operated Chez Bozo, one of Montreal's "botes chanson."

He was one of the pillars of contemporary songwriting in Quebec in the 1960s and1970s and five of his songs are to be inducted, including Je Reviens Chez Nous and Ton Visage.

Also honoured at the 2007 gala will be Spinning Wheel, the David Clayton-Thomas song that has been recorded by more than 400 artists in 20 different languages.

Songs must be more than 25 years old to be considered for the awards, launched four years ago.

Canadian tenor Henry Burr andCanadian folk music impresario Sam Gesser will be honoured with legacy awards.

The full list of songs to be inducted:

• Ain't We Got Fun, Raymond Egan (co-wrote with Gus Kahn and Richard Whiting).
• Sleepy Time Gal, Raymond Egan (co-wrote with Richard Whiting, Joseph R. Alden, Ange Lorenzo).
• Un Canadien errant, Antoine Gerin-Lajoie.
• Dans nos vieilles maisons, Muriel Millard.
• How About You, Ralph Freed, Burton Lane.
• My Old Canadian Home, Wilf Carter (co-wrote with John Klenner, Bob Miller).
• My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby, Wilf Carter.
• There's a Love Knot in My Lariat, Wilf Carter (co-wrote with Clark Harrington).
• Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell.
• Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell.
• Help Me, Joni Mitchell.
• Woodstock, Joni Mitchell.
• You Turn Me on, I'm a Radio, Joni Mitchell.
• Comme j'ai toujours envie d'aimer, Marc Hamilton.
• Des croissants de soleil, Jean Robitaille, Lee Gagnon.
• Je ne suis qu'une chanson, Diane Juster.
• Je reviens chez nous, Jean-Pierre Ferland.
• Le petit roi, Jean-Pierre Ferland (co-wrote with Michel Robidoux).
• T'es mon amour, t'es ma maitresse, Jean-Pierre Ferland (co-wrote with Jean-Pierre Lauzon).
• Ton visage, Jean-Pierre Ferland (co-wrote with Paul de Margerie).
• Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin, Jean-Pierre Ferland.
• Le Frigidaire, Georges Langford.
• Paquetville, Lise Aubut (co-wrote with Edith Butler).
• Spinning Wheel, David Clayton-Thomas.
• You Were on My Mind, Sylvia Fricker (Tyson).

The Jan. 28 induction ceremony will be hosted by CBC's Andrew Craig and Radio-Canada's Sophie Durocher.