Janis Fink Ian - what a folk singer!

Janis Fink (1951-) the American singer, was born and raised on a New Jersey farm,  Fink was raised by Jewish parents; her father Victor taught music, inspiring her early interest in the piano, which she began studying at a very young age. Then she learned to play acoustic guitar and harmonica. Mother Pearl worked in an eduational career, and in that Cold War era, both parents were frequently under FBI surveillance because of their progressive politics.

She later attended New York City High School of Music & Art. Young Janis admired the work of folk pioneers such as Joan Baez and Odetta. Her youth included a diverse range of singers and musicians who were popular between the 1930s and 1960s, among them American blues-folk singer French singer and actress Edith Piaf, and American jazz singer Billie Holiday. At 12, Janis wrote her first song, Hair of Spun Gold, which was later published in the folk publication Broadside then recorded for her debut album. She legally changed her name to Janis Ian in 1964, taking her brother Eric's middle name as her new surname.

Janice Ian (centre), Bruce Springsteen (left) and Billy Joel (right)

Janis’ concert in Philadelphia in 1974

miamiartzine

At 13 she legally changed her name to Janis Ian. In that same year, perhaps coincidentally, Ian wrote and sang her first hit single, Society’s Child, about an interracial romance forbidden by a girl’s mother and rubbished by her school colleagues. The girl DID decide to end the relationship, believing the social morals then had given her no other choice. Produced by George Morton and released thrice between 1965-7, Society’s Child became a national hit only on its third release, after Leonard Bernstein highlighted it in a television special. However the lyrics were still intolerable for some radio stations, and they withdrew it from their playlists; in her 2008 auto-biography Child, Ian discussed 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 mid 1967, Society’s Chilogued did very well.

Her most successful single in the U.S was At Seventeen in her 2008 auto-biography Child, Ian recalls receiving hate mail and death threats as a response to the song, and noted that a radio station in Atlanta that played the song was burned down. A bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty, the illusion of popularity, and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the perspective of a 24-year-old. It reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It won the 1975 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. 

Ian’s next album, Between the Lines (1975), went platinum and included the song At Seventeen, a poignant portrayal of adolescent pain, rejection, and cruelty.The song’s album reached number one on Billboard’s Album chart. It was quickly certified gold, and later earned a platinum certification for sales of 1,000,000+ copies sold in the U.S.

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 gay with that release. Ian’s 1995 album, Revenge, featured a mix of jazz and samba. Her later albums include God & the FBI (2000), Billie’s Bones (2004) and Folk Is the New Black (2006). Ian released the book Society’s Child: An Autobiography in 2008; in 2012 she released an audio recording of the book, winning a 2013 Grammy Award for best spoken word album. Folk Is the New Black was the first song for many years in which she did her own songwriting.

She's an American singer, songwriter, and musician who wrote multiple popular soft rock songs in the late 1960s and ’70s, most notably “Society’s Child, the story of a white girl pressured by her family and society to relinquish her Black boyfriend. Ian recorded the song in 1965, when she was 14 years old, and released it in 1966. The next year, Society’s Child reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart.

 Her musical Ian’s next album, Between the Lines (1975), went platinum and included the song At Seventeen, a poignant portrayal of adolescent pain, rejection, and cruelty. In 1976 she won her first Grammy Award, for best female pop vocal performance, for the song. 

Fink wrote her first song, “Hair of Spun Gold,” when she was 12. The song was published by a prominent folk-music journal and was later included on her debut album, Janis Ian (1967). In 1964 she legally changed her surname to Ian, and she began writing “Society’s Child,” which she would complete the following year. She attended the Manhattan High School of Music and Art, performing at school functions and at local New York folk clubs; she dropped out school, however, following the release of “Society’s Child.”

Ian recorded “Society’s Child” with the help of producer George (“Shadow”) Morton. Although the song was rejected by 22 record labels for being too provocative, it was finally released by Verve. Disc jockeys across the country were reluctant to play the song until Ian performed it on a Leonard Bernstein television special and became an instant celebrity. With “Society’s Child” and Janis Ian climbing the charts, Ian embarked on a national tour. With Verve, she subsequently recorded three other albums, For All the Seasons of Your Mind (1967); Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink (1968), and Who Really Cares (1969).

Despite her widespread publicity and early success—she was touted as the female Bob Dylan—Ian became disillusioned with the music industry and briefly withdrew from the music scene after the release of Who Really Cares. Her return to recording in the early 1970s was slow, yielding several unremarkable albums. In 1974, however, she finally had another success, with Stars, produced with Columbia Records. The album featured the hit song “Jesse,” which was written by Ian and had been made famous the previous year by rhythm-and-blues singer Roberta Flack. 

Janis Ian's brother, Eric Fink

Stockton School

Following the success of the single Fly Too High, from the album Night Rains (1979), it was popular in Australia and the Netherlands and was a number one hit in South Africa, Ian experienced various ups and downs, professionally and personally. In 1978 she married Portuguese filmmaker Tino Sargo; however, the two divorced in 1983. When her record contract expired in the early 1980s, she had trouble finding a new label because of her controversial songs and declining popularity. She decided to relocate to Nashville, where she carved out a niche writing songs for other artists, including Bette Midler, Amy Grant and John Mellencamp. 

Folk musician Janis Ian won a Grammy in 1975 for her song “At Seventeen,” then won a second in 2013 for Society’s Child, her spoken word autobiography. Born Janis Eddy Fink, Ian learned to play instruments ranging from the guitar to the harpsichord as a child and wrote her first song at age twelve, before composing her first hit single, “Society’s Child,” about an interracial relationship, at thirteen. Ian’s popularity crested in the late 1970s, with musical guest appearances on Saturday Night Live and further Grammy nominations. After breaking her recording contract with CBS in 1982, she spent a decade away from the spotlight, during which she suffered personal and financial setbacks, particularly after industry insiders declared her unmarketable because she was gay. 

Jewish Women's Archive Although Ian never regained her early stardom, she continued writing and performing in the 1990s and early 2000s. After 12 years without a major release, she returned to the music scene with the Grammy-nominated, folk-inspired Breaking Silence (1993). 

Finally, in 1993 she mortgaged her house to record Breaking Silence, which discussed incest, abuse and the Holocaust. Defying all expectations, the album became a critical and commercial success.  Ian returned to recording an album every couple of years while collaborating with other artists. She also writes science fiction and has published some short stories. In 2003 her Toronto wedding to longtime partner Patricia Snyder was the first gay marriage highlighted in the New York Times Vows section. As of 2023 she has released 23 albums, with 2022’s The Light at the End of the Line billed as her final. Most of her final tour of 2022 was cancelled due to vocal scarring that had left her unable to sing. The Janis Ian Archives at Berea College, which Ian donated, was opened in Oct 2024.

Teachrock. Pop-Folk songstress Janis Ian has sustained a long career, but is best known for two hits that established her as a writer unafraid to take on weighty subjects. The first was Society’s Child, a controversial 1965 song about an interracial teen romance that was a hit when Ian was just 15, the second, released a decade later, was At Seventeen, a stark, intimate song narrating the experiences of an outcast, lovelorn teenager.

Born Janis Eddy Fink, Ian grew up in a socially conscious family in New Jersey, learning to play piano at two. Influenced by Folk singers like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Odetta, she wrote her first song at 12. She started hanging around Folk clubs in New York, where she periodically snagged opening sets. A music industry professional spotted her during one such appearance, which ultimately led her to her first recording contract at the tender age of 14.

Ian’s first single was “Society’s Child (I’ve Been Thinking),” a song she wrote after watching a young interracial couple on a bus. When the track became a hit in 1967, in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, the subject ignited an explosive response, and Ian was targeted with hate mail, death threats, booing and heckling.

    Janis Ian, Judy Collins and Leonard Cohen, 1974

Irish Independent

Despite the success she earned with the song and her debut album, Janis went broke in the years that followed, as her next few records failed to generate significant sales. Tagged a one-hit wonder, she announced her retirement from music and married a photojournalist she had met at a peace rally. Neither the marriage nor the retirement lasted long, and Ian found chart success again in 1975, with the record Between the Lines and its single “At Seventeen.” A heartstring-tugging first-person account of the realities of life for teenage “ugly duckling girls,” the song hit #3, won a Grammy, and brought Ian new fans around the world. But the next period in Ian’s life was full of  career hardships - slow selling records and by 1981 no record label at all. 

She returned in 1993 with Breaking Silence and marrying her longtime partner. Re-energised, she recorded independently released albums with songs that unflinchingly explored tough themes like domestic violence, prostitution & homelessness. Ian continues to write and tour, playing to a devoted fan base. She’s also written a good deal of prose, including science-fiction stories and a memoir, Society’s Child.

Listen to  At Seventeen (1976) on youtube.