SPARE CHANGE: Where Joni Mitchell's appearance ranks among Newport Folk Festival moments

Some oddznendz snatched up as summer hits the end (for me, summer ends after July 4)

• Let’s make no mistake about what happened at the Newport Folk Festival two weeks ago. Joni Mitchell’s surprise performance to close the festival drew national coverage.

It’s the second-biggest stunning folk fest moment since it debuted in 1959.

I’ll own up to dismissing the rumor that Mitchell would play. She suffered a severe stroke in 2016 and had not performed a full set of music in 20 years, hadn’t played Newport since 1969.

Now you see why I don’t gamble.

And I haven’t even mentioned the Paul Simon surprise the day before. This is bar-setting of a high order.

I didn’t attend the folk fest (95-degree heat isn’t great for transplant patients), though I’ve seen clips of Mitchell’s performance. Her friend Brandi Carlile served as the catalyst for the one-day comeback. Folks told me Mitchell struggled a bit with Carlile and then found firm footing.

Find the emotional rendition of “Both Sides Now” online to get a taste.

The folk festival has transcended that of previous eras. It sells out before an act is announced (it still would even if it booked me playing a kazoo alongside Dolly the Singing Dog).

It’s hard to recall, but the folk fest nearly folded in the early part of this century. I’m 64. I expect it will long outlast me.

• Oh, the biggest Newport music event? Bob Dylan changing the game by “going electric” at the 1965 folk fest, drawing boos.

Dylan’s bold move signaled the end of the folk boom and ushered in the folk-rock era of the Byrds, Lovin’ Spoonful and Buffalo Springfield.

Newport Folk Festival: Watch Joni Mitchell’s, Paul Simon’s surprise performances

Dylan and the Hawks (later the Band) endured booing throughout 1966 until a motorcycle accident took Dylan off the road until 1974.

By then, nobody much cared about anyone going electric.

• This was the first Newport Jazz festival since co-founder George Wein died last year at age 95. But his presence was felt with a shrine as you walked into Fort Adams State Park.

Best was an all-star lineup of contemporary jazz greats, all of whom had played Newport, including some who’d played with Wein (an occasional pianist) in configurations of the Newport All-Stars.

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Jon Faddis, Hiromi, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash and Anat Cohen consistently dominate Downbeat Magazine polls.

They were all on hand to honor Wein. Trumpeter Faddis and piano gymnast Hiromi excelled on a poignant “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with Faddis adding snippets of “All of Me.”

It was the perfect way to honor Wein’s amazing life and to close a fine festival.

• The streak lives on. Burt Jagolinzer, 83, of Cranston, made it to the jazz festival. He’s attended all of them, starting with the first in 1954.

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That includes from 1972-80 when the festival temporarily relocated to New York City.

• Nothing could make me feel older than seeing Angelique Kidjo’s dazzling tribute to Talking Heads’ Remain in Light on Sunday … and do you recall the Providence stop on the Talking Heads’ Remain in Light tour in 1980?

Jim Gillis is a Daily News columnist. Send him email at jimgillis13@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Joni Mitchell's Newport Folk Festival appearance only behind Bob Dylan