Of course, the highlight of the Janey Street concert last week, was, of course, Janey Street herself.
But this was also an NSAI event (whether officially or not), so most of the people in the room were songwriters of one sort or another*. I didn't take a survey, but my impression was that most, if not all, of the songwriters there are more accomplished than I am. Of course, anyone who is active in NSAI is, pretty much by definition, more serious about it than I am. Many, however, were much more accomplished, either as musicians, or singers, or -- hell, I'll just say it -- as songwriters.
One of people who played songs after the concert was Freddy Monday. I had talked to him earlier, during the imtermission. That came about because he -- and I forget why -- said "China clipper calling Alameda," which I recognized from the Monkees' "Zilch." We got to talking about singwriting and the Monkees. One of his songs is "I Wanna Be Your Davy Jones." He managed to get Davy Jones to appear in the video:
It kind of reminded me of Eytan Mirsky's "I just Want to Be Your Steve McQueen."
Another songwriter there was Randi Drucker (who hosted the concert). She played a beautiful tearjerking song about an absent father. I'm not sure of the exact title, although I believe it was something along the lines of "Make the Monsters Go Away."
If I can find the time, I need to go to NSAI events in New York.
*I say "of one sort or another" because I want to use a loose enough definition of songwriter to include myself. I briefly described my songwriting in the first post on this blog.
UPDATE: I should have noted this: One of my favorite aspects of "I Want to Be Your Dav Jones" is that the song begins with a rif that's pretty much an exact copy of the opening riff of The Monkees' version of "Mary Mary."
The Janey Street concert was tonight. I blogged about it a few weeks ago.
Before I went, my wife asked me if I was expecting to enjoy it, or if I'd be dissapointed. She was referring to a phenomenon I've noted, that, well, things change. I alluded to it when I posted some thoughts about a Ducks Deluxe reunion. When Street's first album came out, it spoke to me, and I became a fan. While I am still a fan, I am aware that her msuic has changed. So, given that, would I enjoy seeing this musician perform, or would I be dissapointed for it reflecting where she is now, rather than where she was when I became a fan?
I said I'd enjoy it. And I hoped that I'd be right, even if I wasn't 100% sure.
I'm glad to say that was right. This performance was more fun than I thought it would be. Hell, it was more fun than I had dared hope it would be.
Janey didn't do any songs from that first solo album -- the one that had meant so much to me. "There Ain't No Angels in the Sky"? "Me And My Friends"? "In My Mind"? Not there. Janey was emphasizing the material on her more-recent CD, The Street Less Traveled as well as her collection of demos, Outtakes. Both albums are available on her website.
The following video gives a good idea of her contemporary performances:
I should note, though, that she was accompanied by Tom Murphy (guitar) and Dennis Pereca (keyboards). Murphy, had never played with her before, and did an amazing job of improvising leads that fit with the melodies of her songs. Pereca is her old songwriting and performing partner. I wasn't aware of this before tonight, but Janey and Dennis had done a couple of albums in the seventies -- under the name "Janey and Dennis."
This performance gave me a better appreciation for Janey's newer bluesier material, and I fully enjoyed it. I would go see her again if the opportunity presents itself. I think my favorite was "He Just Does" (as in "I don't know why he loves me / He just does."), which presents a happy view of relationships.
After two sets, separated by a brief intermission, Jany relinquished the stage so that members of the audience could perform some of their own songs. This was, afterall, a group of songwriters. That was followed by an impromptu mini-set of Janey, Dennis, and a few of the others doing Beatles's songs.
In my next post (unless something earth-shattering happens, r I just feel like writing about something else instead), I'll talk a little about the other songwriters who were there.
A few posts ago, I wrote about Janey Street. She'll be performing a house concert at the end of the month. Bear in mind that I haven't seen her name in the media for years (unless you count things like Youtube or CDBaby, when I purposely looked her up).
So, less than a week after I got the invite to her house concert, I am looking through the Queens Tribune, a weekly newspaper in Queens. There's a teaser on the cover about Janis Ian coming to give her first performance in Queens. Inside I see there's an interview with her. Instead of reading from the beginning of the article, I started in the middle, with the question: "How do you feel about performing in Queens?" In her response, she said that "my best friend Janey Street is from Flushing; we used to meet under the clock all the time."
By the way, I note that that bit about meeting under the clock was a nice tip of the hat to Janey's single, "Under the Clock."
I got an invitation to a house concert at the end of this month. Not big news in and of itself, except that the performer will be Janey Street. To most people that might not mean anything. "Janey who?" But to me...
It was my sophomore year of college, and I was the music editor for a campus newspaper. One of the review albums I received from Arista Records was Heroes, Angels and Friends, the debut album by Janey Street. I still remember the letter from the publicist -- it noted that Janey was a Queens native (which was a tie-in because I was at Queens College).
I loved that album from the first spin. There was no getting-to-know-you period, or it-has-to-grow-on-you phase. This was a consciousness-changing reaction I had. I've only reacted that way to records a handful of times at most. Dave Edmunds' D.E. 7th and the Beat Farmers' Tales of the New West are the only ones that readilly come to mind.
I haven't heard the record in quite a while, but I still can remember lyrics (forgive me if I make a mistake -- this is from memory):
From "Say Hello to Ronnie":
Say hello to Ronnie. Send my love to Sue. Give my best to Bobby. And here's a kiss for you. I'm working on the night shift. I need to survive. Living from day to day Keeping my dreams alive.
From "Jimmy (Lives in the House Down the Street)":
Jimmy lives in the house down the street He's got a smile and a hold on me (yeah) Jimmy's got a girl for each day of the week. I know he's kissing them. Why not me?
Street's songs reminded me of Springsteen, in that she sang of ordinary blue-collar folks and their lives, coaxing drama out of the humdrum. Her songs did show more optimism than Springsteen's, and her music didn;t quite have the same power as his. But I saw her as a female Springsteen. It also didn't hurt that I developed a bit of a fanboy crush on her.
There was a single, "Under the Clock," that dented the Billboard charts, and a video:
I was a little surprised at the choice, since I thought "Under the Clock" was the weakest song on the album.
Anyway, time went by and there was no followup album.
Years later, I tried to get a copy of HA&F on CD, but couldn't find it. I tried to copy my vinyl to CD, but found a skip in one of the tracks. So I really wanted to get an official CD. I found Janey on CDBaby, as she had recorded and (I assume) self-released another album. I listened to a few samples. The music was more mature. But it didn't move me the way the first album did. I didn't buy it, but I emailed Janey through CDBaby to ask if I could somehow get the first album on CD. She wrote back, but to say that the first album wasn't on CD. Oh, and I should buy the new album. She's sure I'll like it.
So that's been that for a few years. I keep toying with the idea of copying my vinyl onto CD, but the issue of that scratch keeps holding me back.
So now I got this invitation. The natural question is how? Well, I was, for one year, a member of Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). And I still get occasional emails related to the group. Janey, at this point (in addition to performing and songwriting) does a variety of music-related jobs -- running songwriting workshops, lecturing, and working as a song evaluator for NSAI.
Well, the latest NSAI-related e-mail was a notice that she will be in New York, offering mentoring sessions for songwriters, and performing at this house concert. I don't think I'll sign up for a mentoring session, but I'll definitely go to see her perform.
