31-Track Career Overview Spans "Hair of Spun Gold" And "Society's Child" - To Album And Single Versions Of Gramming-Winning "At Seventeen" - Through Tracks From 2006's Folk Is the New Black

Multi-Label Package Spans 1964 To 2008 On Verve/Forecast, Columbia, Morgan Creek, Beacon, Windham Hill, Her Self-Owned Indie Rude Girl Label, And Others

Available at both physical and digital retail outlets Starting September 8, 2009, through Columbia/Legacy

Coincides with September 3rd release of softcover edition of Janis Ian's Society's Child: My Autobiography

North American tour dates announced - August 2009 through April 2010

From her recording debut at age 15 with "Society's Child" (1966), Top 40's first nod to interracial teen dating in the heat of the Civil Rights and Black Power era - to her wistful reflections on those years a decade later with "At Seventeen" (1975) - to coming out as a gay woman nearly two decades after that on her Breaking Silence album (1993) - culminating with the July 2008 publication of her autobiography Society's Child: My Autobiography (Tarcher/Penguin Books) - singer-songwriter Janis Ian (b. 1951) has never shied away from controversy and the real-life issues that have shaped her world.

In conjunction with the book publication last year, a new double-CD anthology was issued on Janis' self-owned indie Rude Girl Records label (via its affiliate Cooking Vinyl), entitled Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection. Contained were 31 [non-chronological] tracks ranging from a 1963 demo ("Hair of Spun Gold") and her self-titled 1966 debut LP (with "Society's Child") all the way to a pair of songs newly re-recorded in 2008, from Breaking Silence. The 2008 Autobiography Collection featured several new as well as vintage tracks which, at the time, were all previously unreleased ("Hair Of Spun Gold" demo, "I Long For You," "Today You're Mine").

One year later, in conjunction with the softcover publication of Society's Child: My Autobiography and the announcement of new North American tour dates extending into 2010, Janis joins Legacy Recordings' best-selling Essential series - as Autobiography Collection now becomes THE ESSENTIAL JANIS IAN. The double-CD, including a personal introduction written by Janis, will be available at all physical and digital retail outlets starting September 8th through Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. The softcover release of Society's Child: My Autobiography is set for September 3rd.

THE ESSENTIAL JANIS IAN represents every nook and cranny of her career, with tracks that were originally issued on a host of labels, including Verve/Forecast, Columbia, Morgan Creek, Beacon, Windham Hill, and, of course, Rude Girl (formed in 1992), which now distributes some 30 Janis Ian album titles, new and old.

Apropos, THE ESSENTIAL JANIS IAN begins with "Hair of Spun Gold," from her Verve/Forecast debut LP, produced by Shadow Morton (of Shangri-La's fame). The song was written when Janis was 12, and was published in the venerable Broadside magazine, where the early writings of Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Eric Andersen, Buffy Ste. Marie, and many others first appeared. The track was recorded when Janis was 15 years old and still attending New York's High School of Music & Art. The antique-sounding demo for "Hair of Spun Gold" is reprised on disc two.

"Society's Child" (from that same LP) is part '60s folk protest, and part classic girl-group yearning. Released three times as a single, it (and the album) went unnoticed until 1967 when a tv producer for Leonard Bernstein saw Janis at the Gaslight Café on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. Bernstein had her perform the song on the CBS-TV News special, Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution (in the company of Frank Zappa, Brian Wilson, Roger McGuinn, Tim Buckley, and others). "Society's Child" finally took off, hitting #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 that summer, with notorious fallout - many radio stations blacklisted the song; and according to Janis' autobiography, a station in Atlanta was torched for playing it. "Society's Child" was named to the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2001.

It is equally appropriate that THE ESSENTIAL JANIS IAN is released under the Columbia/Legacy imprint, since she spent such a significant chunk of her career at the label. She was signed to Columbia in 1972, at age 21, after recording three albums for Verve and one for Capitol. Janis stayed with Columbia for a decade, releasing seven LPs through 1981, starting with Stars in 1974 ("Jesse," "Stars," "Thankyous"). The album was not an immediate hit, but "Jesse" was famously recorded by Roberta Flack (a Top 30 hit single from Killing Me Softly, 1973), Joan Baez (Diamonds and Rust, 1975), and saxophonist Phil Woods (Floresta Canto, 1976).

The stage was set for Janis Ian's greatest commercial breakthrough when "At Seventeen" broke out of Between The Lines in the summer of 1975. The album hit #1 and was certified platinum by the RIAA. "At Seventeen" went to #3 on the Hot 100 (and #1 AC) and Janis performed it on the premiere of NBC's Saturday Night Live in October. The following year, Between The Lines earned Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording (winning for engineer), and "At Seventeen" earned nominations for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year (winning Best Female Pop Vocal Performance). Since then, "At Seventeen" has taken on a life of its own. In 1997, it was heard in a Simpsons episode titled "A Streetcar Named Marge." In the 2004 film Mean Girls, the song was heard and a character named 'Janis Ian' was featured. In 2008, "At Seventeen" was used in the director's cut DVD of the film Zodiac. "At Seventeen" was named to the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2008.

THE ESSENTIAL JANIS IAN presents two takes of "At Seventeen," the 4:42 LP version and the 3:55 single edit. The collection then makes room for two more high points from the Columbia discography: "Love Is Blind" from Aftertones (1976), which solidified her popularity in Japan as a #1 single (for six months) and #1 album, respectively; and "Fly Too High" from Night Rains, co-written by Ian and Giorgio Moroder, a song that was used as the theme to the soundtrack of director Adrian Lyne's Foxes, starring Jodie Foster.

Janis Ian parted ways with Columbia in 1982 - but not before lending her talent to the Sesame Street: In Harmony II benefit album ("Ginny The Flying Girl"), in the company of James Taylor, Billy Joel, Carly and Lucy Simon, and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (to name a few contributors).

Like her friend Joan Baez, Janis spent the next decade or so without a major label record deal, though she kept busy as a songwriter, acting student (with the great Stella Adler in New York until Adler's death in 1992), and performing artist around the world. By the time Janis re-emerged in 1993, she had relocated to Nashville, started a record label (Rude Girl), come out as a gay woman, and recorded one of her greatest albums, the Grammy-nominated Breaking Silence ("His Hands," "Some People's Lives," "Through The Years"). She had also acquired a new co-writer, Kye Fleming (leading to the provocative 'Ian-Fleming' song credit on their many compositions).

Revenge followed in 1995 ("When Angels Cry," "Stolen Fire"). Two years later, Janis released the first of two albums on the New Age-tinged Windham Hill label, Hunger, followed in 2000 by god & the fbi ("Days Like These"). The latter showcased her prodigious guitar skills, which had won many Music City devotees and opened up a side career for Janis on the busy studio session circuit.

At the same time, Janis had begun to utilize Rude Girl as a means of releasing tracks from her personal archive of studio and live recordings - several decades worth. Unreleased 1: Mary's Eyes was issued in 1998; then Unreleased 2: Take No Prisoners in 2000 ("Arms Around My Life"), and Unreleased 3: Society's Child in 2001 ("Every Love"). Janis Ian Live: Working Without A Net (2003) was a double-CD compilation of 24 live performances from around the world, spanning 1990 to 2003. "Tattoo," for example, was recorded at the Schouwburg Concordia in Holland, while "God And The FBI" was recorded live at the Birchmere outside Washington, DC in 2000. All royalties from the Unreleased series go to The Pearl Foundation, a non-profit organization named for Ian's mother that supports scholarship funding.

Her next studio album, 2004's Billie's Bones (whose title alluded to a long-time fascination with Billie Holiday) boasted a guest appearance by Dolly Parton on "My Tennessee Hills." Janis accessed the Woody Guthrie archive for the unpublished poem, "I Hear You Sing Again," which benefited from a lovely melody by one of Woody's biggest fans. The most recent studio album by Janis Ian is 2006's Folk Is The New Black, a co-venture on the Rude Girl imprint ("Haven't I Got Eyes," "Joy," "My Autobiography"). In 2007, Janis contributed the traditional anti-war ballad "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye," to Song of America, the comprehensive historical 3-CD box set, executive produced by former Attorney General Janet Reno.

THE ESSENTIAL JANIS IAN
(Columbia/Legacy CK 756196)

Disc 1:
1. Hair of Spun Gold - 1966 Janis Ian Verve/Forecast 1967
2. God And The FBI 2000 - live @ Birchmere, Alexandria, VA Rude Girl 2008
3. Silly Habits 1991 - Live: Working Without A Net Rude Girl 2003
4. Society's Child 1966 - Janis Ian Verve/Forecast 1967
5. Haven't I Got Eyes - Folk Is The New Black Rude Girl 2006
6. Jesse - 1973 Stars Columbia 1974
7. Stars - 1973 Stars Columbia 1974
8. Thankyous - 1973 Stars Columbia 1974
9. This Train Still Runs - 1995 Live: Working Without A Net Rude Girl 2003
10. At Seventeen (LP version) - 1974 Between The Lines Columbia 1975
11. Love Is Blind - 1975 Aftertones Columbia 1975
12. Fly Too High - 1979 Night Rains (from movie, Foxes) Columbia 1979
13. Arms Around My Life - Unreleased 2: Take No Prisoners Rude Girl 2006
14. His Hands - Breaking Silence Morgan Creek 1993
15. When Angels Cry - Revenge Beacon 1995

Disc 2:
1. My Tennessee Hills - Billie's Bones - 2004
2. Every Love - 1986 Unreleased 3: Society's Child Rude Girl 2001
3. Some People's Lives - 2008 Breaking Silence Morgan Creek 1993
4. Stolen Fire - Revenge Beacon 1995
5. Days Like These - 2008 god & the fbi Windham Hill 2000
6. Tattoo - 1991 Live: Working Without A Net Rude Girl 2003
7. Through The Years - 2008 Breaking Silence Morgan Creek 1993
8. I Hear You Sing Again - Billie's Bones - 2004
9. Joy - Folk Is The New Black Rude Girl 2006
10. My Autobiography - Folk Is The New Black Rude Girl 2006
11. Hair Of Spun Gold - 64/65 demo - bonus track
12. I Long For You - 1978 bonus track - previously unreleased
13. Ginny The Flying Girl - 1981 Sesame Street: In Harmony II Columbia 1981
14. Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye - 2005 Song of America, Janet Reno project 31 Tigers 2007
15. Today You're Mine - 2008 previously unreleased
16. At Seventeen - 1974 single version Columbia 1975

Note: The following titles (and many others) are now available through the Rude Girl Records catalog:
Night Rains (1979)
Breaking Silence (1993)
Revenge (1995)
god & the fbi (2000)
Billie's Bones (2004)
Working Without a Net: Live (2003)
Folk Is The New Black (2006)

JANIS IAN ON TOUR For the latest info visit www.janisian.com Date City Venue July
24-26 Hillsdale, NY » Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

Aug.
13 - Seattle, WA » Triple Door
14 - Carson, » WA Skamania Perf. Arts Foundation
16 - Bend, OR » The Courtyard Athletic Club of Bend - with Joan Baez

Oct.
9 - Newberry, SC » Newberry Opera House
11 - Savannah, GA » Savannah Folk Festival - Grayson Stad.
23 - Woodlands, TX » Dosey Doe
30 - Oakland, CA » World Institute on Disability

Nov.
6 - Glen Allen, VA » The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen
7 - Vienna, VA » The Barns at Wolftrap
8 - Chapel Hill, NC » Community Church Concerts
9 - High Point, NC » High Point Theater
19 - Bergen, NJ » Ciccone Theater - Bergen Comm. College
20 - Reading PA » Miller Center for the Performing Arts

Dec.
10 - Elyria, OH » Stocker Art Center - with Susan Werner
11 - Kent, OH » Kent Stage - with Gretchen Peters
13 - Wilmette, IL » Wilmette Theater - with Gretchen Peters

2010:
Mar.
3-4 - Las Cruces, NM » NMSU Music Recital Hall
19 - Sanibel Island, FL » Schein Hall
21 - Stuart, FL » Lyric Theatre
27 - Sherwood Park, Alb. » Festival Place

Apr.
4-9 - Boston, MA » Berklee College
15 - Woodstock, VT » Woodstock Town Hall
16 - Keene, NH » Colonial Theater - with Karla Bonoff
17 - Pittsfield MA » Colonial Theater - with Karla Bonoff
24 - W. Milford, NJ » W. Milford Presbyterian Church

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