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Best Of: The Autobiography Collection (Dig)
 
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Best Of: The Autobiography Collection (Dig)

Janis IanAudio CD
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

Price: $10.29 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Best Of: The Autobiography Collection (Dig) + Between the Lines + The Essential Janis Ian
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Product Details

  • Audio CD (July 22, 2008)
  • Original Release Date: 2008
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • Label: Rude Girl Records
  • ASIN: B001B0H7AY
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,911 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Disc: 1
1. Hair of Spun Gold
2. god & the fbi
3. Silly Habits
4. Haven't I Got Eyes
5. Jesse
6. Stars
7. Thankyous
8. This Train Still Runs
9. At Seventeen - album version
10. Love Is Blind
See all 14 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. My Tennessee Hills (with Dolly Parton)
2. Every Love
3. Some People's Lives
4. Stolen Fire
5. Days Like These
6. Tattoo
7. Through the Years
8. I Hear You Sing Again
9. Joy
10. My autobiography
See all 16 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Review

Released in tandem with Janis Ian's autobiography, Society's Child, this best-of compilation collects all the songs mentioned in the book, as well as several rarities. Ian's first demo [ed. note: at the age of 13] , a distorted lo-fi version of "Hair of Spun Gold," makes a welcome appearance, while "Ginny the Flying Girl" arrives via a 1981 Sesame Street album. Also notable are the handful of re-recorded songs on this two-disc collection, as well as several live tracks. Perhaps this isn't the definitive Janis Ian anthology for casual fans -- it's too specialized for that -- but Ian enthusiasts should make it a staple of their collections. --Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

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 --John R. Killacky, San Francisco columnist

A review of "Between the Lines": Janis Ian's second Columbia album is elegiac in mood, its 11 tunes composing a romantically introspective self-portrait.... Vocally, Ian sounds more confident and relaxed than on her Columbia debut, Stars. Her singing is consistently strong and plaintive, reminiscent in timbre of Melanie's, though surer in pitch and more emotively reticent....Ian asserts feminine vulnerability so nakedly that the album should appeal especially to white, middle-class highschool girls and college-age women who maintain a mid-Sixties idealism about sex. Sexual and romantic frustration provides the subject for the album's two finest songs, "At Seventeen" and "Watercolors".The first, a delicate samba, confronts adolescent misery: I learned the truth at 17 That love was meant for beauty queens.... And those of us with ravaged faces Lacking in the social graces Desperately remained at home Inventing lovers on the 'phone. "Water Colors" recalls a lover's quarrel in language that suggests a conflict between trust and independence: I said 'Do you wish me dead?' Lip service to books you've read Articles on how to bed a bird in flight You called it love I called it greed You say 'You take what you want' I said 'You get what you need'* ... the virtues of careful craft, melodic strength and earnestness of interpretation. Brooks Arthur's understated production complements the tunes and singing immeasurably. Ian's soft, acoustically based songs are buoyed but not inflated by atmospheric instrumentation (some of which she has arranged herself), so that her emotional intensity communicates from the most positive stance possible one of restraint. Particularly in "Water Colors," her most poignant creation to date, Janis Ian shows a potential for excellence. --Rolling Stone circa 1975

Product Description

The only "best of" ever available in North America, with the cooperation of Sony and Universal Janis was able to re-master all her early tracks. This set follows her autobiography, whose chapters are song titles and quotes. All the "hits" are here, from her early Grammy nominated "Society's Child" to the Roberta Flack hit "Jesse", from "Stars" to "At 17". The platinum disco hit "Fly Too High" is here in its original form, along with Sesame Street's "Ginny the flying Girl". There are four tracks that never appeared anywhere before. Ian's website has much more inf.janisian.comormation on this set!

 

Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Not out of stock!, August 2, 2008
This review is from: Best Of: The Autobiography Collection (Dig) (Audio CD)
This item is NOT out of stock - Amazon just keep forgetting to take this one down and leave the other up! If you scroll to the next CD set, it's exactly the same, but available.

Go figure...
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This CD is By the Book!!!, July 29, 2008
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Best Of: The Autobiography Collection (Dig) (Audio CD)
On this amazing 2 CD compilation there is a song title for every chapter of Janis' new book "Society's Child" my Autobiography. ASN 158542675X. This makes the book and this cd set even more brilliant! There are also "bonus tracks" not available anywhere else in the US. The artwork is clever and gorgeous with lines & photos from the book disbursed throughout the inside of the gatefold cover. Great job, Janis!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars not only incredible but also availible, August 4, 2008
By 
Noel P. Defino (Woodstock, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Best Of: The Autobiography Collection (Dig) (Audio CD)
to begin, this cd collection IS NOT out of stock, it IS availible, some kind of amazon snafu say's otherwise. if you are still having a problem ordering visit www.janisian.com and order there.

this cd marks some of the greatest works ever done by Janis Ian, from her earliest songs to songs never released to the public. it is a must have for any serious music collector. Janis Ian is a living legend and her work shows it even up to today some forty + years after it all started.
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