It is exceedingly unlikely that Janis Ian will perform "Baby," "Beauty and a Beat" or any other Justin Bieber hits at her Sunday concert at the Balboa Theatre with the San Diego Women's Chorus.
Grammy Award-winning troubadour Janis Ian was in her teens when she scored her first hit single in the 1960s.Lloyd Baggs +Read Caption
Grammy Award-winning troubadour Janis Ian was in her teens when she scored her first hit single in the 1960s.
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"Uprising: Songs of Change" benefit concert by the San Diego Women's Chorus, featuring Janis Ian
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Gaslamp Quarter
Tickets: $16-$87; $250 (VIP package, including post-concert party at the Hard Rock Cafe)
Phone: (619) 570-1100
Online:sandiegotheatres.org
But Ian was just 15 when she scored her first Top 40 hit, 1965's "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)." That's about the same age as Bieber when he scored his first hit, 2009's "One Time." Ian, who won her first Grammy in 1976 for "At Seventeen" — her classic song of unrequited love and teen angst — chortled when asked if she has any advice for the controversy-drenched Bieber.
"Don't be an ass----!" she said. "It's the same thing I tell my students when I teach music classes: 'Don't be that guy. Don't be that guy who embarrasses the rest of us.'
"It's a lot harder now for somebody like Justin Bieber to keep their head on straight, because there's so much more money involved and so much more glad-handing. And it's easier to reach out on Twitter and feel like you're communicating. It was easier for me in the 1960s, being surrounded by people like Joan Baez and Pete Seeger, people who had their heads on straight. Everybody pretty much took care of me — almost everybody."
Ian's self-titled debut album was recorded 50 years ago, in 1966, although it was not released until a year later. It established her as a precocious talent, with impressive songwriting skills, an assured voice and a world view wise beyond her tender years.
She has released more than 30 albums since then. The newest, 2014's "Strictly Solo," is a stripped-down affair that showcases her deeply felt vocals and resonant acoustic guitar work.
"The way I regard music has changed and stayed the same," said Ian, 65, speaking from Los Angeles.
"The passion has stayed with me; so has striving to do better than the last time. But the method changes, just like the technology. Hopefully as you get older, whether as a journalist or a songwriter, you learn what not to do — the shortcuts to save your energy and have the (musical) punch where it is most important.
"When you're young, it's fun to play fast, it's fun to play loud. When you get older, it becomes a waste of time and it's not as interesting. You have to maintain your interest. That's one of the hardest things about getting older — to find the energy and harness it, so every song is the best you can do at that moment and everything you do still has a full commitment
"It's a lot easier when you're younger, because you have all that energy and time. As a kid, I thought: 'When I grow up, I'll do exactly what I want.' As we get older, though, we have mortgages and obligations."
Her 1979 album, "Night Rains," teamed her with, among others, disco pioneer Giorgio Moroder and jazz greats Chick Corea and Ron Carter.
"It became my most successful album outside of the U.S.," she noted, "and gave me my career in Europe and Australia."
Ian has long let her conscience be her guide. Her Sunday concert at the Balboa Theatre is the third annual fundraising show by the San Diego Women's Chorus. Proceeds benefit the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation's Lesbian Health Initiative.
"I think my songs are more social than political, in terms of what good they can do," Ian said. "From my perspective as a songwriter, it's a lot easier to change hearts. And great political activists do politics much better than I do. I don't have the patience to be that polite!"
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