| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 05/05/2013 : 16:30:21
JANIS IAN
At Seventeen...live 1975...."for the cheerleaders"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMUz2TNMvL0
Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink, April 7, 1951) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist and science fiction author.[1] Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties. Most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century. She has won two Grammy Awards, the first in 1975 for her song "At Seventeen", and the second in 2013 for Best Spoken Word Album, for her autobiography, Society's Child (nearly 40 years later).
Childhood
Born to a Jewish family in New York City,[2] she was primarily raised in New Jersey, initially on a farm, and attended East Orange High School in East Orange, New Jersey[3] and the New York City High School of Music & Art. Her parents, Victor (a music teacher) and Pearl, ran a summer camp in upstate New York. In that Cold War era they were frequently under government surveillance because of their left-wing politics. Ian would allude to these years later in her song "God and the FBI". Young Janis admired the work of folk pioneers such as Joan Baez and Odetta. Starting with piano lessons at the age of 6 or 7, by the time she hit her teens, Ian had learned the organ, harpsichord, French horn, flute and guitar.[4] At the age of 12, Ian wrote her first song, "Hair of Spun Gold," which was subsequently published in the folk publication Broadside and was later recorded for her debut album. In 1964, she legally changed her name to Janis Ian, using as her new last name her brother Eric's middle name.
Music career
At the age of thirteen, Ian wrote and sang her first hit single, "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)", about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl's mother and frowned upon by her peers and teachers: the girl ultimately decides to end the relationship, claiming the societal norms of the day have left her no choice. Produced by George "Shadow" Morton and released three times between 1965 and 1967, "Society's Child" finally became a national hit upon its third release after Leonard Bernstein featured it in a TV special titled Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution.[2] The song's lyrical content was taboo for some radio stations, and they withdrew or banned it from their playlists accordingly; in her 2008 autobiography Society's Child, Ian recalls receiving hate mail and death threats as a response to the song, and mentions that a radio station in Atlanta that played it was burned down. In the summer of 1967, "Society's Child" reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, the single having sold 600,000 copies, and the album 350,000.[5]
Ian relates on her website that, although the song was originally intended for Atlantic Records and the label paid for her recording session, the label subsequently returned the master to her and quietly refused to release it.[6] Years later, Ian says, Atlantic's president at the time, Jerry Wexler, publicly apologized to her for this. The single and Ian's 1967 eponymous debut album were finally released on Verve Forecast; her album was also a hit, reaching #29. In 2001, "Society's Child" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honors recordings considered timeless and important to music history. Her early music was compiled on a double CD entitled Society's Child: The Verve Recordings in 1995.
"Society's Child" stigmatized Ian as a one-hit wonder until her most successful single in the United States, "At Seventeen", a bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the perspective of a 24-year-old, was released in 1975. "At Seventeen" was a smash, receiving tremendous acclaim from critics and record buyers alike — it charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It won the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance - Female beating out Linda Ronstadt, who was nominated for her Heart Like a Wheel album; Olivia Newton-John; and Helen Reddy.
Ian performed "At Seventeen" as a musical guest on the debut of Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975. The song's album, Between the Lines, was also a smash and hit #1 on Billboard's Album chart. It was quickly certified Gold and later earned a 'Platinum' certification for sales of over one million copies sold in the US. Another measure of her success is anecdotal: on Valentine's Day 1977, Ian received 461 Valentine cards, having indicated in the lyrics to "At Seventeen" that she never received any as a teenager.[7]
"Fly Too High" (1979), produced by disco producer Giorgio Moroder, was her contribution to the soundtrack of the Jodie Foster film Foxes, also featured on Ian's 1979 album Night Rains. It earned her a Grammy nomination and became a hit single in many countries, including South Africa, Belgium. Australia, Israel, and the Netherlands.
Another country where Ian has achieved a high level of popularity is Japan. She had two top 10 singles on the Japanese Oricon charts, "Love Is Blind" in 1976, and "You Are Love" in 1980; and her album Aftertones topped Oricon's album chart in October 1976. "You Are Love (Toujours Gai Mon Cher)" is the theme song of Kinji Fukasaku's 1980 movie Virus, which was the most expensive Japanese film ever made at the time. Ian has cut several other singles specifically for the Japanese market, including 1998's "The Last Great Place". Even now, she's still regarded as the Godmother of Japanese singer-songwriters, and has a thriving career there and in Europe.
By contrast, in the U.S., Ian made the pop charts only once more after "At Seventeen" ("Under the Covers", #71 in 1981), though she had several more songs reach the Adult Contemporary singles chart through 1980 (all failing to make the Top 20, however). She walked away from her CBS contract in 1982, while it still had three albums to go. Ian deliberately spent much of the 1980s and early 1990s without a record deal. During the 1982–1992 period she continued to write songs, often in collaboration with songwriting partner Kye Fleming, which were covered by the likes of Amy Grant, Bette Midler and Marti Jones. She also studied under acting coach Stella Adler and struck up a close friendship with her, which continued until the latter's death in 1992.
Ian finally became one of the first "indie artists," resurfacing in 1993, with the worldwide release of Breaking Silence and its title song about incest. She also came out as a lesbian with that release. On 6/25/1993, Janis made her The Howard Stern Show first appearance, where she performed a "new" version of "At Seventeen" about Jerry Seinfeld. Since then Ian has released several albums.
Ian's most recent album, Folk Is The New Black, was released jointly by the Rude Girl and Cooking Vinyl labels in 2006. It is the first in over twenty years where she did all the songwriting herself.
She still tours and has a devoted fan base. Her autobiography, "Society's Child," was released by Penguin in mid-2008 to critical acclaim.
Other artists have recorded Ian's compositions, most notably Roberta Flack, who had a hit in 1973 with Ian's song "Jesse", [dead link] also recorded by Joan Baez and Dottie West; Ian's own version is featured on her 1974 album Stars (the title song of which has also been oft-covered, including versions by Cher, Nina Simone and Barbara Cook). Other artists who have recorded or performed songs written or co-written by Janis Ian include Amy Grant, Jeanette Dimech, Sheena Easton, Michele Pillar, Mel Torme, Michelle Wright, Bette Midler ("Some People's Lives," a song written by Ian and her then-partner Kye Fleming, became the title song of her 1990 album), Jann Arden, and Japanese singer Shiina Ringo (covered Ian's breakthrough Japanese hit, "Love Is Blind").
Criticism of the RIAA
She is an outspoken critic of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a record industry organization which she sees as acting against the interests of musicians and consumers. As such, she has willingly released several of her songs for free download from her website. Along with science fiction authors Eric Flint and Cory Doctorow, she has argued that their experience provides conclusive evidence that free downloads
dramatically increased hard-copy sales, contrary to the claims of RIAA and NARAS. Ian's signature tune "At Seventeen" sold over two million singles in the United States alone yet was never certified.
"I've been surprised at how few people are willing to get annoyed with me over it," she laughs. "There was a little backlash here and there. I was scheduled to appear on a panel somewhere and somebody from a record company said if I was there they would boycott it. But that's been pretty much it. In general the entire reaction has been favorable. I hear from a lot of people in my industry who don't want to be quoted, but say 'yeah, we're aware of this and we'd like to see a change too.'"
Writing and editing
In addition to being an award-winning singer-songwriter, Ian writes science fiction. A long-time reader of the genre, she got into science fiction fandom in 2001, attending the Millennium Philcon. Her short stories have been published in anthologies, and she co-edited, with Mike Resnick, the anthology Stars: Original Stories Based on the Songs of Janis Ian, published in 2003 (ISBN 978-0-7564-0177-1). She also occasionally attends science fiction conventions.
Ian has been a regular columnist for, and still contributes to the LGBT news magazine, The Advocate. She has a selection of her columns available on her website. She also contributed a column to Performing Songwriter magazine from 1995 through 2003.
On July 24, 2008, Janis Ian released her autobiography Society's Child (published by Penguin Tarcher) to much critical acclaim. An accompanying double CD, The Autobiography Collection, has also been released with many of Ian's best loved songs.
Personal life
Janis married Portuguese filmmaker Tino Sargo in 1978; they divorced in 1983. Details of Sargo's physical and emotional abuse were discussed in Ian's autobiography, Society's Child. Janis Ian came out as a lesbian in 1993 with the worldwide release of her album Breaking Silence. Patricia Snyder and Janis Ian were married in Toronto on August 27, 2003. Ian has a stepdaughter by Snyder, and two grandchildren.
Ian's mother, Pearl, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1975. To deal with her disease, Ian and her brother convinced Pearl to pursue her lifelong dream of going to college. Pearl eventually enrolled in Goddard College's adult education program, ultimately graduating with a Master's degree. After Pearl's death, Ian decided to auction off merchandise and raise money to endow a scholarship at Goddard specifically for older continuing education students. This began what became the Pearl Foundation. To date, it has contributed over $700,000 in scholarship funds to various educational institutions, including Warren Wilson College.
Albums
Janis Ian (1967) #29 US (Verve)
For All the Seasons of Your Mind (1967) #179 US (Verve)
The Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink (1968) (Verve)
Who Really Cares (1969) (Verve)
Present Company (1971) #223 US (Capitol)
Stars (1974) #83 US, #63 (Columbia)
Her masterpiece....
[size=18]Between the Lines (1975)[/size] #1 US, #22 Japan (Columbia, Festival)
Aftertones (1976) #12 US, #1 Japan (Columbia)
Miracle Row (1977) #45 US, #26 Japan (Columbia)
Janis Ian (1978) (Columbia)
Night Rains (1979) (Columbia)
Restless Eyes (1981) #156 US (Columbia)
Uncle Wonderful (1983) (Festival) (Australia only)
Breaking Silence (1993) (Morgan Creek)
Simon Renshaw Presents: Janis Ian Shares Your Pain (1995) (not released until 12.09)
Revenge (1995) (Beacon)
Hunger (1997) (Windham Hill)
god & the fbi (2000) (Windham Hill)
god & the fbi (3 Bonus Tracks) (2000) (JVC Japan)
Lost Cuts 1 (2001) (Rude Girl)
Billie's Bones (2004) (Oh Boy, Rude Girl Cooking Vinyl US)
Breaking Silence (Bonus Track) (2003) (Rude Girl, Cooking Vinyl UK)
Hunger (Bonus Track) (2003) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
Stars (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl)
Between the Lines (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
Aftertones (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
Miracle Row (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
Janis Ian (1978) (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
Night Rains (Bonus Track) (2004) (Festival, Cooking Vinyl UK)
Billie's Bones (Bonus Track) (2004) (JVC Japan)
Folk is the New Black (2006) (Rude Girl)
Folk is the New Black (With DVD) (2006) (Evasound)
Revenge (Bonus Track) (2006) (Cooking Vinyl UK 2003) (WEA)
Compilation albums
Remember (1978) (JVC Japan)
The Best of Janis Ian (1980) (CBS)
My Favourites (1980) (CBS)
Stars/Night Rains (Double Album) (1987) (CBS)
At Seventeen (1990) (CBS)
Up 'Til Now (1992) (Sony)
Society's Child: The Verve Recordings (1995) (Polydor)
Live on the Test 1976 (1995) (BBC World Wide)
Unreleased 1: Mary's Eyes (1998) (Rude Girl)
The Bottom Line Encore Collection (1999) (Velvet)
The Best of Janis Ian (2002) (Festival)
Live: Working Without a Net (2003) (Rude Girl)
Souvenirs: Best of 1972-1981 (US CD) (2004) (Rude Girl)
Souvenirs: Best of 1972-1981 (Japan CD) (2004) (JVC Japan)
Souvenirs: Best of 1972-1981 (CD/DVD) (2006) (Evasound)
Unreleased 2: Take No Prisoners (2006) (Rude Girl)
Unreleased 3: Society's Child (2006) (Rude Girl)
Ultimate Best (2007) (JVC Victory)
Best of Janis Ian: Autobiography Collection (2008) (Rude Girl)
The Essential Janis Ian (2009) (Sony reissue of "The Best of Janis Ian: Autobiography Collection")
Janis Live in Greenwich Village 1968 (at seventeen...years old)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpG3xjF8obk
Stars..live 1974
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5OcI2Z-Vk8
Between The Lines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8bQD7TDAH4
[size=18]Society's Child[/size]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QPF-duKQro
From Me To You....powerfully brilliant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoeougL63k8
When The Party's Over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhkTic8--NU
Tea & Sympathy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9-EMi87--Y
Lover's Lullaby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cKgVzquWDY
________________________________________________
Old hippies never die, they just ramble on.
-lk |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| markk |
Posted - 10/05/2013 : 21:13:57
At 13 she wrote the unforgettable Societys Child, just incredible.
And then came, At Seventeen. Gee, I didn't know squat at seventeen.
An unbelievable talent, but i have to admit i don't know any other of her songs, but I'll take the hit on that. Many thanks LK for putting this out there. |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 10/05/2013 : 16:36:59
Janis Ian's Listening Room
Janis provides us a free listen anytime at her listening room...listen to many of her fine albums in full, day or night.
Billie's Bones 2004
http://www.janisian.com/albums/billie.php
Decades after their initial burst on the pop scene certain serious artists conjure up special recordings deserving of extra attention. A Jackie DeShannon will deliver something stunning like her wonderful You Know Me disc while Ian Hunter strikes hard with his powerful Rant. Janis Ian takes a more restrained approach, but the result is just as masterful on Billie's Bones, a collection of 13 songs recorded over three days in Nashville at Sound Emporium from June 9-11, 2003. Dolly Parton adds a complementary vocal to "My Tennessee Hills" as Janis takes the listener all over the world -- the beautiful "Paris in Your Eyes" preceding the instrumental "Marching on Glasgow," the poet taking the journey from the Southern states to Amsterdam as well. This is not a "folk" album, the always creative Janis Ian finding different melodies on her guitar giving a distinct flavor to each tune and the bevy of thoughtful lyrics. The title track is inspired by a previous work the artist published in her 1968 book Who Really Cares, Poems by Janis Ian. The lyrics to it open up the 14-page booklet while the original poem closes out the insert. "Billie is my idol, I wander through the desert of her later years," she writes in the earlier version concluding with "Tell them I am ash...and I have no tongue." The song has another perspective for the story: "All these years and all I've learned is just how brilliantly I fail." There is no failure here on this successful light rock collection displaying all sorts of musical elements -- the touch of country in "My Tennessee Hills," a jazz feel on "Matthew," the soft introspection of "Amsterdam." As the great Jimmy Miller put the Blind Faith album together in three days after the supergroup tried for months to record, Ian takes her paint brush and in three days creates an album that contains multiple ideas that entertain as they unravel in a unique and impressive fashion. It is a beautiful and fulfilling disc from her vast repertoire. -allmusicguide 4 out of 5 stars
________________________________________________
Old hippies never die, they just ramble on.
-lk |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 05/05/2013 : 16:44:54
STARS 1973--from her comeback album
After six years away from the music business, Stars gave Janis her career. "I stopped because I was writing rubbish. I went away to find out if I could ever be the kind of writer I wanted to be. I wrote "Stars" one night during 1971, and decided I had a shot." Having finished that, she moved from Philadelphia to California, where she wrote "Jesse," a song she'd begun at the age of thirteen as an elegy to a Vietnam vet. Despite the quality of her writing, Janis couldn't get a recording contract to save her life until Herb Gart convinced Festival Records, Australia, to put up the money for this album. She teamed up with Brooks, who had engineered "Society's Child," and moved from California to Blauvelt to be near Brooks' studio. She got her contract with Columbia when Charles Koppelman took a chance and sent her to Nashville to perform at CBS Records' annual meeting, saying, "If you can get a standing ovation from these guys, you're signed." She did.
Stars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA8LwUBNdXc
Janis Ian
* Also recorded by Mel Torme
I was never one for singing
what I really feel
except tonight, I'm bringing
everything I know that's real
Stars, they come and go
They come fast or slow
They go like the last light of the sun, all in a blaze
And all you see is glory
Hey, but it gets lonely there,
when there's no one here to share
We can shake it away, if you'll hear a story
People lust for fame.
Like athletes in a game,
we break our collarbones and come up swinging
Some of us are downed.
Some of us are crowned
and some are lost and never found
But most have seen it all
They live their lives in sad cafes and music halls
They always have a story
Some make it when they're young,
before the world has done its dirty job
And later on, someone will say -
“You've had your day. “You must make way”
But they'll never know the pain
in living with a name you never owned,
or the many years forgetting
what you know too well
That the ones who gave the crown
have been let down
You try to make amends,
without defending
Perhaps pretending you never saw the eyes
of grown men of twenty-five,
that followed as you walked, and asked for autographs
or kissed you on the cheek -
and you never could believe they really loved you
Some make it when they're old.
Perhaps they have a soul they're not afraid to bare
or perhaps there's nothing there
Stars, they come and go
They come fast or slow
They go like the last light of the sun, all in a blaze
And all you see is glory
Hey, but it gets lonely there,
when there's no one here to share
We can shake it away, if you'll hear a story
Some women have a body men will want to see
so they put it on display
Some people play a fine guitar.
I could listen to them play all day
Some ladies really move across a stage
and gee, they sure can dance
I guess I could learn how, if I gave it half a chance
But I always feel so funny when my body tries to soar
And I always seem to worry about missing the next chord
I guess there isn't anything to put out on display
except the tunes, and whatever else i say
And anyway, that isn't really what I meant to say...
I meant to tell a story I live from day to day
Stars, they come and go
They come fast or slow
They go like the last light of the sun,
all in a blaze,
and all you see is glory
But those who've seen it all
live out their lives in sad cafes and music halls
We always have a story
So if you don't lose patience
with my fumbling around
I'll come up singing for you
even when I'm down
Stars--album play
http://www.janisian.com/albums/stars.php
________________________________________________
Old hippies never die, they just ramble on.
-lk |
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