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Janis Ian

From page 88 of Classic Rock Magazine April 2004

Cover of April 2004 issue.

‘Billie’s Bones’ (Cooking Vinyl) Singer songwriter Janis Ian deserves a prize for perseverance as she started her career in the mid-1960s when she scored a hit with ‘Society’s Child’, an astute rite of passage song made more poignant by the fact that she was only 15. Since then her career has had its ups and downs — this her 23rd album — but she has always returned. Now based in Nashville, Ian has fashioned another collection of songs that deal with the responsibilities that age confers, love affairs going right (and going wrong) and social issues.

However, in that very Nashville way, she has started collaborating with other writers like Buddy Mondlock on ‘Amsterdam’ and Skip Ewing on ‘When I Lay Down’, among others; and Ian has even enlisted Dolly Parton to help out with the vocals on ‘My Tennessee Hills’.

The arrangements, too, reflect the advantages of living in Nashville for the acoustic instrumentation – including some excellent dobro and steel guitar fills – complements the enquiring intimacy of the lyrics; ‘Mockingbird’ (dedicated to Nashville) has a superb guitar solo, too. ‘Billie’s Bones’ is one of Ian’s most consistent albums to date.

★★★★ ★

Hugh Gregory