Janis Siegel at home in the West Village
Photo by Bob Krasner
If vocalist Janis Siegel is sitting still, it’s probably because she’s at her piano in her West Village home.
At a time when some folks might be content to put their feet up and reminisce, Siegel teaches at NYU; has just finished recording a Cy Coleman tribute; is looking forward to the sessions for new solo album in January as well as a tour that includes dates in Scandinavia; a couple of shows for the Village Trip Festival, the very last concert with the long-running Manhattan Transfer; and, as she puts it, “who knows what else? “
It all started when her Aunt Doris gave her a guitar at 12 years old.
“It was left over from a raffle,” Siegel recalls. “I taught myself to play and started a group with two girlfriends.”
They called themselves ‘The Young Generation,” played a repertoire gleaned from Pete Seeger, The Beatles and Herman’s Hermits, and found a manager who happened to be a teacher at their Brooklyn high school.
“We were singing on street corners and at Boy Scout breakfasts,” Siegel recalled. Although their parents were not in favor of it, the group’s amateur promoter managed to get them heard by fledgling producer Richard Perry, who was nowhere near his eventual status as a gold record hitmaker.
Perry produced their single ‘The Hideaway’, recorded live with an orchestra, and managed to land a minor hit.
The group splintered when it was time for college, where Siegel pursued an education in nursing. But, she says, “organic chemistry was hard and singing was easy,” and she would come back to the city to sing whenever she could.
“We pretty much lived in Washington Square Park,” she relates. “The park was so vibrant. That’s where you bought pot, met other musicians and learned from each other.”
Rock and roll was coming in, leading to electric guitars (a 12-string for Siegel) and a new band, “Laurel Canyon.”
“We were really good!” Siegel…
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