Ladies of the Canyon is the title track off of Joni’s third album. She wrote it soon after arriving in LA about her friends in Laurel Canyon. She talks about three women specifically in this song:
Trina Robbins, Annie Burden, and Estrella Berosini.

Trina Robbins is a cartoonist, who has long been passionate about promoting women in comics.

“Robbins, known both for her work as a groundbreaking cartoonist and for her histories of female comics creators… her early days in New York during the 1960s, owning a clothing boutique and writing comics for the East Village Other; the creation of It Ain’t Me, Babe, the first all-female comic compilation, and Wimmen’s Comix, the long-running feminist underground comix series; and her work both as a “herstorian,” uncovering the overlooked role of women in comics production, and as a mentor to female creators.”

She lived and owned a small boutique in Laurel Canyon during the ‘60s. She was friends with many influential people there, including Jim Morrison and The Byrds.

Annie Burden was another friend of Joni’s living near Laurel Canyon at the time.

“I turned 20 toward the end of 1968. I had a toddler and a husband who designed album covers for the music business. Some of our friends lived in Laurel Canyon, but we lived down the hill from Sunset Boulevard in a little 1930’s bungalow nearly hidden by passionflower vines.

My husband, Gary, worked from his studio off the back of the house. This brought a constant parade of artists and musicians flowing through. Many became friends, and nine days out of ten I set extra places around the dinner table."

Lastly, Estrella Berosini was another friend and fellow songwriter of Joni’s.

“…music business had me going back and forth between the Grove and Laurel Canyon, every few months. It was during my second visit to the Canyon, in 1968, that Joni arrived, and wrote Ladies of the Canyon.”