Janis Ian at Cadogan Hall
Cadogan Hall, 5 November 2011
I've wanted to see Janis Ian live for years now. My aunt introduced me to her as a teenager but, heavily into my punk phase, I sort of scoffed at anything I deemed "middle of the road". But somehow, despite my prejudice, the songs At Seventeen and From Me To You crept into my heart.
Later at college a lecturer laughed at me for professing my love for At Seventeen saying that "every teenage girl loves that song". Certainly an over-generalisation, many girls were the beauty queens Janis Ian sings of too, who couldn't possibly relate to the song, but the fact that so many girls could certainly isn't a bad thing, it just speaks to the universal truth of the track. And that's an impressive thing to achieve in songwriting. Janis tonight tells us of a recent interview she did where she was asked if she was fed up playing her most famous song and she admitted that, no, she wasn't, because to have a song that connects with people in that way and is such a huge hit is surely every songwriter's dream and a blessing.
Later at college a lecturer laughed at me for professing my love for At Seventeen saying that "every teenage girl loves that song". Certainly an over-generalisation, many girls were the beauty queens Janis Ian sings of too, who couldn't possibly relate to the song, but the fact that so many girls could certainly isn't a bad thing, it just speaks to the universal truth of the track. And that's an impressive thing to achieve in songwriting. Janis tonight tells us of a recent interview she did where she was asked if she was fed up playing her most famous song and she admitted that, no, she wasn't, because to have a song that connects with people in that way and is such a huge hit is surely every songwriter's dream and a blessing.
That someone of Janis Ian's stature realises this, is pretty lovely to hear but then she has experienced as many lows in the business as highs, telling us "I wrote my first song at age 12, I was published at 13, I was signed at 14, I had my first hit at 15 and I was a has-been at 16". Having read about all this in her autobiography I was familiar with the story and knew she was pretty cool but I still was surprised at just how funny and down to earth she is in person. She actually reminded me a lot of Judy Collins, if a little less grand, but equally graceful in her own way. Dressed in a beautiful Japanese-style bed jacket, she said she felt too dressed up for Sloane Square (I don't think she realised just how posh that area is) and after the interval came back dressed in a plaid shirt and some rather cool painted boots, which actually suited her unpretentious manner better.
Despite the church-like appearance of Cadogan Hall (which I have to say is becoming one of my favourite venues) the show was so warm and good feeling it was more like a visit to a old friend, full of good humour, interesting stories and great songs. She spoke about how her first hit Society's Child, about an interracial romance (a then taboo subject), caused much unrest when it was first released in 1966 and spoke of a traumatic event when a group of bigots came to her show solely to disrupt it in protest of the song's subject matter. It made her following stripped-down performance all the more powerful. There was also a very emotional story told about the death of her mother that had me close to tears. But it wasn't all sadness, there were lots of funny moments too particularly the tales of writing her book which inspired a fantastic new song called My Autobiography and another song called Married In London, all about the fact she and her wife were only legally married in certain parts of the world where gay marriage is legal, which got a great response and a lot of laughs from the audience. There was also an amusing tale of playing with Joan Baez in the States and comparing all their wrinkles and ailments. She then described being thrilled to see Baez at the side of the stage singing along to one of her songs before the realisation hit her: Joan had recorded the song herself! That's the reason she knew all the words.
One thing I didn't expect, I knew her voice was fantastic, on that she certainly didn't fail me and it was particularly evident on the unmiked performance of Jesse at the end, but I didn't know what a good guitarist she is, it's something female artists rarely get credited with sadly, but she really rocked that acoustic guitar.
After a show filled with classics like From Me To You (I was particularly glad to hear that one!), When The Party's Over, Light A Light and even a smoky, jazzy version of The Beatles' Love Me Do (which she introduced as "an old English folk song"), the show ended on an audience request, the spellbinding Stars, the song that back in the early 70s ended her writer's block and started her second career in music. It was utterly beautiful and somehow appropriate to end the show there. Afterwards she stuck around to sign things for people but unfortunately I had to leave to catch my train but as I left I saw her in the foyer with a big queue forming in front of her and a welcoming smile to the fan at the very front. I would have loved to have met her. The world definitely needs more artists like Janis Ian.
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