For All the Seasons of Your Mind explained

For All the Seasons of Your Mind
Type:Studio
Artist:Janis Ian
Cover:For All the Seasons of Your Mind.jpg
Released:October 1967
Recorded:January 1967
Genre:Folk-rock
Psychedelic
Singer-songwriter
Length:46:25
Label:Verve Forecast
Producer:George "Shadow" Morton
Prev Title:Janis Ian
Prev Year:1967
Next Title:The Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink
Next Year:1968

For All the Seasons of Your Mind is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Janis Ian, released in October 1967.

Background

Before "Society's Child" became a hit, Ian began work on her second album, which was recorded in January 1967. For All the Seasons of Your Mind was released in October 1967, just after her debut had peaked on Billboard. Like the debut, For All the Seasons of Your Mind addressed controversial topics: "Queen Merka and Me" was one of the first songs written about homosexual love,[1] the single "Insanity Comes Quietly to the Structured Mind" dealt with suicide,[2] and "Shady Acres" was a dark look at home and burial services for elderly relatives.[3]

Unlike with "Society's Child", the controversial lyrics of "Insanity" ensured that single and its parent album would be a major flop: the single peaked at No. 109 and For All the Seasons of Your Mind peaked at No. 179 during a five week stay in the Top 200.[4]

During her period of prominence in the middle 1970s Janis Ian would distance herself from her Verve albums, calling them "a tax write-off for Verve",[5] and apart from one performance of "Insanity Comes Quietly to the Structured Mind" at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1976[6] she is not known to have performed anything from For All the Seasons of Your Mind since leaving Verve.

Notes and References

  1. Jay, Carla and Young, Allen; Lavender Culture, p. 182
  2. News: Robb. Baker. Some Call It "Gothic Grotesque". Chicago Tribune. 8. October 20, 1968.
  3. News: Pete. Johnson. Janis Ian Sings on State of Ash Grove. Los Angeles Times, part IV. 16. July 13, 1967.
  4. Web site: For All the Seasons of Your Mind – Janis Ian. Billboard Magazine.
  5. News: Asbury Park Press. Asbury Park, New Jersey. Society's Child Wasn't Taken Seriously. Art. Harris. June 16, 1975. A9.
  6. Web site: Janis Ian Setlist – August 17, 1976, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. setlist.fm.