''Stars'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit " Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" and the 1975 Top T ...

, and the first of her seven for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Ian had previously had a three-year hiatus from the music industry since her 1971 album ''

Present Company ''Present Company'' is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Janis Ian, and her solitary album for Capitol Records. After her break-up with original producer Shadow Morton, and the failure of her final two Verve albums '' The Secret Life o ...

''. In two years away from the music business, Ian wrote over 100 songs after moving to Los Angeles. She returned to play at the Philadelphia Folk Festival on August 17, 1973, and was signed by Columbia Records after several other companies rejected the songs she had written. While ''Stars'' was being recorded, the song "Jesse" became a hit for

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...

. The same song was covered by

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

on her album ''

Diamonds & Rust ''Diamonds & Rust'' is the sixteenth studio album (and eighteenth overall) by American singer-songwriter Joan Baez, released in 1975. The album covered songs written or played by Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, The Allman Brothers, Jackson Browne and J ...

'' (1975). The album itself became Ian's most successful since her debut, peaking at number 63 on the ''Billboard''

Top LPs & Tape The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

chart.

Track listing

Personnel

*Produced by Brooks Arthur *Engineered by Brooks Arthur, Larry Alexander, Charlie Dreyer *Art Direction and Design: John Berg, Paul Perlow *Photography: Peter Cunningham *Production Coordinator: Herb Gart

Musicians

* Janis Ian – vocals, guitar, 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes * Larry Alexander – drums, tambourine * Raymond Beckenstein – soprano saxophone * Ralph Casale – acoustic guitar * Richard Davis – arranger, bass, pizzicato bass * George Devens – vibraphone * Sal DiTroia – acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals * George Duvivier – bass * Jack Jennings – percussion * Barry Lazarowitz – arranger, drums, percussion *

Gene Orloff Gene Orloff (June 14, 1921 – March 23, 2009) was an American violinist, concertmaster, arranger, contractor and session musician. Background The son of a Russian immigrant violin maker, Orloff would try and get his father's violin down from th ...

– violin *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...

– electric guitar * Don Payne – bass * Romeo Penque – saxophone * Al Rogers – drums *

Allan Schwartzberg Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B.J. Thomas, Linda Rondstadt, Stan Get ...

– drums *

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American guitarist. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz guitar, harmony, ...

– acoustic guitar *

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in "Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film ''Deliver ...

– electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar

Orchestra

* Bob Abernathy – French horn * Seymour Barab – celli * Seymour Berman – viola * Phil Bodner – alto flute, alto saxophone * Ariana Bronne – violin * Alfred Brown – viola * James Buffington – French horn * Frederick Buldrini – violin * Don Butterfield – tuba * Earl Chapin – French horn * Selwart Clarke – viola * Léon Cohen – clarinet * Burt Collins – trumpet * Joseph DeAngelis – French horn * Peter Dimitriades – violin * Paul Faulise – bass trombone * Ron Frangipane – arranger, conductor, piano * Mickey Gravine – tenor trombone * Marie Hence – violin * Wally Kane – bassoon * Artie Kaplan – orchestra manager * Harold Kohon – violin * Bhen Lanzarone –

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

* Gloria Lanzarone – celli * Archie Levin – viola * Joseph Malin – violin * Richard Maximoff – viola * Charles McCracken – celli * Lloyd Michaels – trumpet * Romeo Pengue – clarinet, flute, oboe * Alan Raph – baritone horn * George Ricci – celli, cello soloist * Alan Rubin – trumpet * David Sackson – viola * Julius Schacter – violin * Joe Shepley – solo trumpet * Joseph J. Shepley – French horn * Bill Watrous – tenor trombone

Charts

References

{{Authority control Janis Ian albums 1974 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Brooks Arthur