Sunday, January 8, 2012

Pearl

Janis Joplin was born on January 19, 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, and was the oldest of three kids. In school, she was shunned because of her less conservative nature and love of blues musicians and beatnik culture. "There was nobody like me in Port Arthur," Janis said, "I was a misfit. I read, I painted, I didn't hate n*ggers." She began singing as a teen, both in a choir and with friends. She graduated high school in 1960, and attended Lamar State and UT while singing folk songs in coffeehouses from Texas to California. In January 1963, Janis split for San Francisco "just to get away from Texas, because my head was in a much different place." She recorded a few blues standards with future Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and got involved in the drug scene there before friends convinced her to return home, for fear of her health. Back in Port Arthur, she adopted a more modest lifestyle by avoiding drugs, wearing dresses, going back to college, getting engaged (the engagement was shortly terminated), and even getting a beehive 'do (!). Still, she continued to perform as a folk singer in Austin, Texas until 1966, when Chet Helms recruited her to sing for an all-male San Franciscan rock band: Big Brother and the Holding Company. Janis immediately caught the attention of all who experienced her performances, and Big Brother started gaining popularity and got a record deal. She was encouraged to stay off drugs for a while, but was soon pulled into the turbulent "free love/free drugs" atmosphere of the time. Janis also (famously) relapsed into drinking, especially her signature Southern Comfort. Janis lived with Country Joe McDonald in early 1967, but only for a few months. Other (rumored) romances that Janis had were with the likes of Eric Clapton, Jim Morrison, and Jimi Hendrix. Big Brother and the Holding Comapany (with Janis) performed at the famed Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, marking them as one of the front runners of psychedelic rock. Janis and Big Brother's Cheap Thrills (released in 1968) topped the charts and gave the group national recognition. Lured by the promise of solo stardom, she left the band to form the Kozmic Blues Band. They performed at Woodstock, another gathering of the great (hippie) musical talents of the country. With her new band, Janis made many TV appearances and toured Europe. They also performed at Woodstock, where Janis sang while completely drunk, but all in all, the audience had a good time. In September '69, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! was released to mixed reviews. By the end of the year, the band had dissolved. Janis then vacationed in Brazil, where she got clean and kicked her heroin habit. That didn't last long, though, and as soon as she returned to the States, she formed a new band, the Full Tilt Boogie Band. They toured for much of early 1970, and Janis' last performance took place in Boston in August. She and the band recorded an album with the Doors' producer, Paul Rothchild, that would later be released as Pearl. During these sessions, Janis became engaged to a Berkely student and (later) novelist, Seth Morgan and lived with him in the Landmark Motor Hotel. The hotel attracted drug sellers and users, which proved to be fatal to Janis. She passed away on October 4, 1970, leaving behind a legend of soulful singing, fantastic style, and an essential attitude - as Janis said, "Don't compromise yourself, you're all you've got."








As a young folk singer in Austin, TX in 1965









At the Monterey Pop Festival








At home in Larkspur, California






Wearing Linda Gravenites tunic and pants made from tablecloth



Performing "Honky Tonk Women" with Tina Turner


At Woodstock

















With Big Brother and Holding Company



With Chet Helms


With Country Joe McDonald


With Dave Getz


With her dog, George



With Frank Reynolds


With Grace Slick


With Kozmic Blues Band on the Dick Cavett show


With Michael J. Pollard


With Noel Redding


With Sam Andrew


With Ted Strshensky and Peter Albin



 (All photos are my scans [please credit if you repost!] from Hippie, Piece of My Heart: A Portrait of Janis Joplin, Radical Rags, Swingin' Chicks of the '60s, and Time: Visions of the 60s.)

19 comments:

Monsterchen said...

oh darling what an amazing post, i love janis joplin. piece of my heart!oh janis and jim morrison that was really music!!!!
thanks for sharing that with us and i love the pictures!
kiss,mary

Helga said...

She frigging rocked.
I heard there's going to be a biopic(of course!)....can't think who they'll cast?!

Jimio said...

Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix are my 2 favorire singers from the 60s. They sang with pure emotion and power, its what rock n roll was all about then. Its just sad they didnt stick around longer but if they boozed and drugged responsibly, it may have dampened their style. We'll never know now.

lise silva said...

Love her... shes such a fascinating character. Did you see the 1970s documentary on Janis? I believe you can find it on youtube. Crazy thing that could have been great or horrible was the reality show I heard her family was developing called 'finding pearl' or something to that effect about searching for a female singer in Janis's spirit... I don't think anything came of it though...

Lisa said...

Woow , this is so cool ! I realy , realy love her , her voice , her style , her everyting :)

www.earthisaflower.blogspot.com , maybe you can take a look ? I started a couple of days ago

Lisa xx

Nicole said...

Her voice was really matchless and I'd love to see her live, how much I long for living in the 60s...

I'm really sorry, that I haven't make any article on my blog since my birthday on 11th of December, but my computer was broke... However, now I'm back and I made these changes and these are some news...:
1) I made new design- with Jane Birkin
2)I made new poll, with title: Which Beatles movie is your favourite
3)my new article deals with the result of the previous poll, look at it
4) I have also rechanged the mp3 widget with The Rolling Stones for the new widget, visit my blog and listen to new mix
5) tomorrow, on 23rd of January, there will be new article deaaling with new information and tips =)

Oleksandr Solomakha said...

Janis Joplin is my favorite singer!!!!

Our Youth said...

Ahh, I love Janis. Such a great post :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this, I had not realized Linda Gravenites had died. A beautiful tribute to a great spirit.

xo

Joy

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la drogheria said...

Oh yeah! Awesome blog!

Little Queenies said...

Amazing blog!!
We would like to join/follow, how we can do it? Thanks!! xoxox

Bernard Bacos said...

I've just discovered your great site and I love it !

Santosh Thokchom said...

I am a big fan of Pearl and it is such a splendid thing to see her rare pictures in ur blog. I've used one of the pictures in my blog which I've given credit to you. Thanks!

Check out my blog: http://santoshthokchom.blogspot.in/

Anonymous said...

PLEASE KEEP BLOGGING!!!!!! I miss your posts!

Dylanfreak said...

I liked you blog about Janis. You might be interested in my insights into her personality and music as expressed in my new HubPages blog here. You might also like to check out my Hub about Grace Slick here. Look forward to your comments, if you have them. JDB

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