I approached this post with huge trepidation!! It would have been a natural flow to feature her straight after Leonard Cohen but I find these two artists to be very draining as I carry a lot of ‘memory baggage’ around them and the times that they were huge in my life. But this is not about me!
Born 19 January 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas Janis Joplin was to my mind the greatest Blues / Rock female vocalist of all time….there! I have said it. For those who have not yet heard Janis Joplin perform I urge you, take the time to settle down and actually LISTEN to the recordings …. This was a 5ft 2inch perhaps 110lbs woman giving her all
I will try summarise her early life as succinctly as possible..
Janis was a decent scholar, but with the onset of puberty she turned rebellious and by the time she finished school she had a reputation for drinking and promiscuousness (is there such a word?). In 1962 Janis entered the University of Texas, Austin to study the Arts. While there she started taking part in gigs in and around campus, until she dropped out in 1963 and headed off to San Francisco to be part of the music scene. After two years in San Francisco and New York trying to break into the music scene, as well as being a regular drug user, she decided to headed home again and try straighten her life out..
In 1966 a good friend invited her to audition with the band Big Brother and the Holding Company and this was the break she needed. After blowing the audience away at the Monterey Festival in 1967, the band was signed to the Columbia Record Label
Listen to that performance here …..
In 1968 the band produced their first album which went Gold and included two hits
Piece of My Heart
and one of my all time favourites ….## Summertime ##
During the recording of this album Janis was drinking and doing drugs and soon problems within the band started getting serious. Despite their success together Janis eventually left the band at the end of 1968, one of the reasons was she felt they were holding her back.
In 1969 she performed at Woodstock to rave reviews. Her first solo album called ‘I got dem Kozmic Blues again Mama” was met with mixed reviews, the biggest hit being ..
Try (just a little bit harder)
During her wild times in New York and San Franciso Janis hooked up with Leonard Cohen and had a relationship with Kris Kristoffersen. In her biography (which I read a long time ago so am typing from memory here) Country Joe McDonald tells the story of how he drove across the States to be with her after she called and begged him to come, only to find her in bed with another woman… at which time she chased him away!
04 October 1970 Janis Joplin died from an accidental heroin overdose, 27 years too young !! She had been working on her next album “PEARL” which was released posthumously in 1971 and went quadruple Platinum. Her music continues to attract new fans and in 1995 she was adopted into the Rock Music Hall of Fame as well as receiving a Lifetime Achievers Grammy Award.
Mercedes Benz, her satire at consumerism …. And to finish as promised…
Me and Bobby McGee …. Absolute gooseflesh for @themagus
I hope you enjoyed the read and listening to this amazingly talented, but ill-fated young woman as much as I enjoyed writing it….. pure soul food. Until next time
I am featuring artists from the 60’s and 70’s from diverse genre’s over the next few months. If you love music … FOLLOW and take the journey with me..it is going to be one thrilling ride !! Furthermore I will only be featuring artists from MY vinyl collection, and I shall start all of the posts with a photo of an album cover to authenticate
Credits: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janis_Joplin
http://www.biography.com/people/janis-joplin-9357941#solo-career
www.janisjoplin.com/janis.php