Janis Ian: Still Learning

What do you do when you’re 19 and have done it all? You stop. You take stock.What do you do when you’re 19 and have done it all? You stop. You take stock.

Most people haven’t won the game at that age; in fact, most haven’t even figured out how to play it, but by the time Janis Ian was 19 she was already in her first retirement period.

Before her third birthday, Ian had discovered the magic of piano, by the time she was ten she was strumming a six string and by the time she hit 12 she was writing her own material. Her first success came two years later when she wrote and recorded “Society’s Child.” It was released a year later and became a hit.

“It was a different time then,” laments Ian, “we forget that 15 or 20 years ago, it was rare that I was allowed to play on or arrange my own album. Women just didn’t do that much arranging or producing at that time. What was even stranger was that I was 15 and had this hit and suddenly all these 30 year olds thought that I was wise… it’s a weird feeling… when you know you’re not.”

The music industry as a whole was different then, but Ian wasn’t what you’d call your typical star. Born on a New Jersey farm, Ian had her first song published in Broadside magazine. Impressed by her lyrical insight, the editors invited her to sing at a showcase. It was about this time that her father stepped into inform them that she was only 12. A little surprised perhaps, but not uninterested, they said it didn’t matter. Ian played and was promptly invited back for another performance. The bug had bitten. She kept writing; she wanted to be famous.

“It all seems like a thousand years ago,” says Ian of those early days. “I had just written “Society’s Child” and was playing at the Gaslight Café in New York and, literally a man came backstage and said ‘Kid, I’ll make you a star.’ The next day he took her to visit a lawyer and a producer who took her to a studio and cut her song. To some it would seem like a fairytale, to Ian it just seemed right.

“I didn’t know that the whole deal was unusual, you’re fearless when you’re 14… you don’t have a clue.”

Sitting in a Nashville Deli, Ian is every bit as intense and articulate as her songs suggest. She is also warm and friendly and still, wise beyond her years.

In some ways Ian has been bucking the system all along. Few performers have the courage to walk away from a successful career, but at 19, having realized what was happening to her, Ian did just that.

“I had gone pretty crazy and I figured I might really go off the deep end if I kept going,” she observed. So, one evening after a successful show at Philharmonic Hall, she made her decision. “I walked off the stage and didn’t feel anything,” Ian recalls. “Some healthy part inside of me said it was time to quit.”

Ian’s manager didn’t believe her at first, but she was very serious. She had wanted to become famous; she wanted to meet Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Having achieved those initial goals, Ian decided it was time to learn about music, orchestration, and how to be a songwriter.

For Ian, songs were what she did and enjoyed. It was a long time before she realized just how seriously people took what her songs were saying.

“I found that whole idea very frightening,” she admits. “A lot of my writing was just automatic and I didn’t know where it was coming from, it was just there.”

She’s quick to point out that those automatic ideas didn’t always work. “I felt like I had no control over it and the whole writing thing was a farce… people were really believing in something that didn’t exist and I needed to go away for a while and find out if I really had something or if I was just an overachiever.”

Reflecting back, Ian claims that walking away for a couple of years probably saved her life. She regrouped and came back stronger, writing hits like “Stars” and “Jessie” at the age of 21. Back in the spotlight, she began recording again and scored a mega hit with “At Seventeen” in 1985 off her critically acclaimed Between The Lines LP. She continued touring though 1982 and once again decided to kick back. In 1986, she got back to serious songwriting.

Soon after, Ian came back to Nashville to participate in a Nashville Songwriters Association International showcase. Backstage someone mentioned to her that Kye Fleming wanted to meet her. It was rare coincidence, since Ian had asked someone to convey the same message to Fleming. The two got together shortly thereafter for a breakfast meeting and ended up spending the day writing together at Fleming’s house.

“It’s rare to meet somebody where you just click,” Ian recalls the meeting. “We both looked at each other and decided this might be special.” The two began turning out songs that Ian describes as “not the kind of songs that everyone in Nashville is searching for. So we hit a point early on where we had to make a commitment to writing what we felt were great songs or simply writing for the market.”

The line can be thin at time, but the two chose to write what they felt would be great songs. “It may be a little harder to get the cuts,” notes Ian. “but they’re more meaningful… more exciting.”

Ian is quick to praise Fleming for her talent and ability to create great twists (Fleming had a long association with Tom Collins and wrote such hits as “Nobody” for Sylvia and “Years” for Barbara Mandrell).

Having the experience as both a successful performer and writer, Ian takes a critical stance on some of the projects coming out of Nashville. “I know a lot of people these days in my position who would never do a 10 or 12 song album of co-written material. They’d sneak in a couple of their own tunes just to make the extra money. Artists need to take stock, a lot of people could really use that co-writer, but won’t.”

From her own point of view, Ian’s collaborations with Fleming are “Always better than if I had just written alone.”

The union of the two writers has brought them success with cuts by Kathy Mattea, Michael Johnson, Judy Rodman and Amy Grant. Both continue to work with other co-writers, which Ian feels gives her both feedback and growth.

Ian doesn’t commit to a definite answer when asked about her future as a recording artist, but she doesn’t rule it out. It will probably happen, she indicates, adding that when she’s said all she has to say for now she’ll probably take some time off… to take stock, regroup and learn.