Janis Ian - Best of Janis Ian - The Autobiography Collection

Released in 2008, this collection is intended to be the definitive Best of compilation. All the tracks mentioned in Janis' autobiography Society's Childare available on this 2 CD Set

All songs are digitally re-mastered from the original analogue recordings unless otherwise indicated. Songs marked * are either previously unreleased, or recorded especially for this album.
Product Description

Forget Amazon--buy it at JIdotcom

I don't know what's going on here. But this double CD is in stock at JI DOT COM.
Amazon is really messing up. This collection is a terrific over view of her career..with many highlights and rarities!
..and READ her book!--It's a WOW! August 7, 2008

A Portrait Of The Artist's Thoroughly Self-Examined Life

Contrary to the insistence of the Amazon site, this item is indeed very much available and in stock. The artist wishes it to be known that the CD set can also be ordered from www.janisian.com.

Every musician with a few recordings under his and her belt eventually puts out an anthology and/or a live album. The usual result is a "Greatest Hits" collection, a sort of Reader's Digest condensed career for those who don't like the singer enough to build a collection of recordings. A recent trend, largely created by the releasers of CDs who want to convince us oldsters to let go of our vinyl, has been the inclusion of an "unreleased" track or two--commonly live performances and not always unreleased in the strictest sense.

Janis Ian never does anything in quite the same way as everybody else. She's made a fine career of it, and so, it should not be surprising that, with her Autobiography in print and a CD set created to accompany it, the latter should be somewhat iconoclastic. First and foremost this is NOT a "Greatest Hits" collection. You'll find here many of the Janis Ian songs that have been played on the radio (some of them gloriously remastered from original masters for the first time), but you'll also find a previously unreleased worktape of Janis' first song, a number of powerful songs that Clear Channel Radio will never be ready for, and new recordings of several songs that will be familiar to Ian's fans but revisited via different (sometimes significantly so) arrangements. And yes, there are several live tracks and for good measure, one brand new recording of a traditional folk song ("Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye") which has never before appeared on a Janis Ian disk.

The playlist for the two-disk set was suggested by events in Ian's autobiography, and each of the songs is at least mentioned or more likely was inspired by events discussed in the book. The book and the CD set are marvelous companions and if you experience one without the other....you'll be missing out on a lot.

Perhaps unique among collections and anthologies by legendary performers, this anthology is a companion to, and not merely a Cliff's Notes version of, Janis Ian's lengthy career. On its own, it stands beautifully as a listening experience. If all you want to do is hear "At Seventeen" and "Society's Child" in very nicely remastered versions, you won't be disappointed. But for those familiar with Ian's work, even if you own everything she has ever recorded, the newly recorded and alternate tracks will lend a new perspective to songs which have become familiar, and serve as a reminder that as always, Janis looks deep into herself for her material....and does not turn away even after one might think the work was done.

And once again, yes, this album is in print, in stock, and available from Amazon.com or www.janisian.com. August 4, 2008

A message from "Janis Ian".

This Item "IS" in Stock! If you have any problems getting this from Amazon or if Amazon can't fill the order, then you can always go to www.janisian.com to buy it, along with the book. A message from "Janis Ian". Thank you! August 3, 2008

This is indeed available!

Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection
Not sure why Amazon are listing this item twice, once as available and once as not - but it's my own two disk set, and it's definitely available. Try to find the correct one, and sorry for the hassle!
Janis Ian July 30, 2008

Loved the retrospecitve

Coinciding with the release of her autobiography, the artist has released a sumptuous, 30-song, two-CD retrospective from her 40-year career. Those unfamiliar with her will be surprised with her range of musical styles, while those familiar will be thrilled with her classic hits referenced in the book, as well as work tapes, never-before-released songs, and ones long out of print July 25, 2008

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