Truly one of the greatest white R&B singers of all-time, the confrontational and street-smart JANIS JOPLIN graduated from fronting San Francisco’s psych-blues act BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY (for two LPs between 1966 and 1968) to establish herself as an all-round entertainer; her powerful 3-octave vox having the capacity to transform the most run-of-the-mill tune into a tour de force. Tragically, her artistry was cut short when she became a post-70s heroin casualty, er… holding company alongside other 27-year-olds: HENDRIX and MORRISON.
Born January 19, 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, the teenage Janis was self-consciously overweight, but she (and others) knew the potential of her raspy blues voice. She duly graduated from Thomas Jefferson High, already a fan of folk and blues music in the shape of ODETTA, Bessie Smith and LEADBELLY. The early 60s saw Janis hitching to San Francisco, where she sang in the Waller Creek Boys trio alongside future 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS early member R Powell St John. In 1963, she subsequently appeared opposite Jorma Kaukonen (later JEFFERSON AIRPLANE) at local night spots; she’d previously cut her teeth singing in Austin, Texas venues and bars. A few years later, after nearly giving up singing and her hippy drug-taking ways for a life of domesticity, she returned to Texas where she briefly rehearsed with Roky Erickson and his aforementioned 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS.
In 1966, Janis bounced back to San Francisco, this time on the request of friend Chet Helms who suggested she should join BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY (aka, Sam Andrew, Pete Albin, David Getz and James Gurley). The quintet went on to release two contrasting LPs, the second of which, `Cheap Thrills’ stayed at the top of the US charts for 8 weeks in the fall of 1968. It was all over bar the shouting, when JOPLIN chose a solo career, abandoning all except Andrew who stayed on as an integral member of her backing act, the Kozmic Blues Band. But her alcohol and drug abuse was becoming increasingly pronounced.
After three major concerts: London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Newport Festival and the New Orleans Pop Festival, she unleashed her 1969 solo debut I GOT DEM OL’ KOZMIC BLUES AGAIN MAMA! {*6}, a disappointing record which, despite a pasting from most JJ acolytes and critics, reached the Top 5. Soulful and horn heavy rather than bluesy and psychedelic, the set relied on Janis tearing up the staid songbooks on nostalgic nuggets such as Ragovoy & Taylor’s `Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)’, Rodgers & Hart’s `Little Girl Blue’ and The BEE GEES’ `To Love Somebody’; BIG BROTHER’s Nick Gravenites contributed `As Long As You’ve Been To This World’ and `Work Me, Lord’, while the lady herself composed `One Good Man’ and her sole hit, `Kozmic Blues’.
The following May, JOPLIN formed her new backing group, the Full-Tilt Boogie Band; beginning work on her sophomore “solo” set in the autumn. Before it was completed, however, on October 4, 1970, Janis was found dead in her Hollywood hotel room. The coroner’s verdict was that her death was due to an accidental heroin overdose.
Her last set of recordings, the Paul Rothchild-produced PEARL {*8}, finally saw light of day early in ‘71, the tragedy of her untimely death helping the LP to top the charts for 9 weeks; it also gave her first taste of UK chart action. She again hit pole position in the States with a grandiose version of outlaw KRIS KRISTOFFERSON’s `Me And Bobby McGee’, while the album itself unveiled passion and power via jewels `Move Over’, `Cry Baby’ (a Top 50 hit), `Get It While You Can’ and `Mercedes Benz’ (now a staple for TV ad fans).
JOPLIN IN CONCERT (1972) {*6} started the ball rolling on subsequent posthumous releases, while a 1975 documentary double-disc JANIS {*5} unearthed a comic lady rather than a “cozmic” one through witty dialogue chatting to Dick Cavett. Janis was certainly on a higher plain and you can believe why she was described by some as the female equivalent to ROBERT PLANT. In 1979, a Hollywood movie, The Rose, was released based on her life, featuring BETTE MIDLER in her role.
Born January 19, 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, the teenage Janis was self-consciously overweight, but she (and others) knew the potential of her raspy blues voice. She duly graduated from Thomas Jefferson High, already a fan of folk and blues music in the shape of ODETTA, Bessie Smith and LEADBELLY. The early 60s saw Janis hitching to San Francisco, where she sang in the Waller Creek Boys trio alongside future 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS early member R Powell St John. In 1963, she subsequently appeared opposite Jorma Kaukonen (later JEFFERSON AIRPLANE) at local night spots; she’d previously cut her teeth singing in Austin, Texas venues and bars. A few years later, after nearly giving up singing and her hippy drug-taking ways for a life of domesticity, she returned to Texas where she briefly rehearsed with Roky Erickson and his aforementioned 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS.
In 1966, Janis bounced back to San Francisco, this time on the request of friend Chet Helms who suggested she should join BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY (aka, Sam Andrew, Pete Albin, David Getz and James Gurley). The quintet went on to release two contrasting LPs, the second of which, `Cheap Thrills’ stayed at the top of the US charts for 8 weeks in the fall of 1968. It was all over bar the shouting, when JOPLIN chose a solo career, abandoning all except Andrew who stayed on as an integral member of her backing act, the Kozmic Blues Band. But her alcohol and drug abuse was becoming increasingly pronounced.
After three major concerts: London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Newport Festival and the New Orleans Pop Festival, she unleashed her 1969 solo debut I GOT DEM OL’ KOZMIC BLUES AGAIN MAMA! {*6}, a disappointing record which, despite a pasting from most JJ acolytes and critics, reached the Top 5. Soulful and horn heavy rather than bluesy and psychedelic, the set relied on Janis tearing up the staid songbooks on nostalgic nuggets such as Ragovoy & Taylor’s `Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)’, Rodgers & Hart’s `Little Girl Blue’ and The BEE GEES’ `To Love Somebody’; BIG BROTHER’s Nick Gravenites contributed `As Long As You’ve Been To This World’ and `Work Me, Lord’, while the lady herself composed `One Good Man’ and her sole hit, `Kozmic Blues’.
The following May, JOPLIN formed her new backing group, the Full-Tilt Boogie Band; beginning work on her sophomore “solo” set in the autumn. Before it was completed, however, on October 4, 1970, Janis was found dead in her Hollywood hotel room. The coroner’s verdict was that her death was due to an accidental heroin overdose.
Her last set of recordings, the Paul Rothchild-produced PEARL {*8}, finally saw light of day early in ‘71, the tragedy of her untimely death helping the LP to top the charts for 9 weeks; it also gave her first taste of UK chart action. She again hit pole position in the States with a grandiose version of outlaw KRIS KRISTOFFERSON’s `Me And Bobby McGee’, while the album itself unveiled passion and power via jewels `Move Over’, `Cry Baby’ (a Top 50 hit), `Get It While You Can’ and `Mercedes Benz’ (now a staple for TV ad fans).
JOPLIN IN CONCERT (1972) {*6} started the ball rolling on subsequent posthumous releases, while a 1975 documentary double-disc JANIS {*5} unearthed a comic lady rather than a “cozmic” one through witty dialogue chatting to Dick Cavett. Janis was certainly on a higher plain and you can believe why she was described by some as the female equivalent to ROBERT PLANT. In 1979, a Hollywood movie, The Rose, was released based on her life, featuring BETTE MIDLER in her role.
