Present Company
1971 studio album by Janis Ian
Present Company is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter Janis Ian, and her solitary album for Capitol Records.
In 1970, after her break-up with original producer Shadow Morton, and the failure of her final two Verve albums The Secret Life of J. Eddy Fink and Who Really Cares to dent the Billboard albums chart, Ian moved to California and continued writing songs. In the autumn of 1970, Ian began working without a recording contract with producer and musician Jerry Corbitt (of The Youngbloods) in California before signing with Capitol Records in January. The sixteen songs, including three songwriting collaborations with Peter Cunningham, were released as Present Company early in 1971.
Despite a lengthy period of touring extending into early 1972, Present Company did not sell much better than its two predecessors, although it did "bubble under" the top 200. Janis' contract with Capitol was not renewed, and apart from the single "He's a Rainbow" being performed during the tour in support of her comeback album Stars, nothing from Present Company is known to have been played live since 1972, nor has the album ever been represented on any of Janis Ian's compilations.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Present Company” is 1971 studio album by Janis Ian. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Present, Company and studio, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1971 studio album by Janis Ian” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q108608404. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1970, 1971 and 1972.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Present Company” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.