Janis Joplin
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Biography
Janis Lyn Joplin was born on January 19th, 1943. She died of a heroin overdose at age twenty-seven, on October 4th, 1970. Janis was raised in Port Arthur, Texas. Her father was an employee of Texaco and her mother, Dorothy, was a stay at home mom. She had a younger brother, Michael and a younger sister Laura. Her sister later wrote a book based on Janis's life called Love, Janis which cleared up many misconceptions about the singer and her life. A play was later written based on the book and opened in NYC to rave reviews in 2001.
In her younger years she had an early love of blues and jazz and often listened to singers like Bessie Smith, Odetta, Billie Holiday, Leadbelly, Blind Lemon and Big Mama Thorton. It was not until she began attending Thomas Jefferson High School that she began singing blues and folk music. She graduated high school in 1960 and went on to attend the University of Texas, but quickly dropped out to pursue her singing career.
In 1966 a friend, originally from Austin Texas, who was living in San Francisco offered her an audition with a new group called Big Brother and The Holding Company. Janis went to San Francisco and was immediately drawn to the hippie lifestyle that was prevalent at the time. She was given the lead singer job with Big Brother and the group began to play often throughout California. They quickly gained a large following for their funky rock/blues style and were offered a contract with an independent label named Mainstream Records. The group cut a self titled album and two singles; however the record did not initially sell well. In the summer of 1967 the band played at the infamous Monterey Pop Festival and Janis blew the audience away with her rendition of Ball and Chain. Not shortly after Monterey they were offered a contract with Columbia Records, who later purchased all rights to the bands work from Mainstream Records. In 1968 the group released their first album with Columbia entitled Cheap Thrills; this album soon went gold and the money and gigs began to roll in on a regular basis.
Along with the money came unlimited access to expensive drugs, Janis and the band were notorious drug and alcohol users, and Janis was known to have a particular love of Southern Comfort, speed and heroin. By 1968 the group had disbanded, leaving Janis on her own once again. She quickly formed another group, but it was not a good fit. A third group was formed, the Full Tilt Boogie Band and Janis was purported to have finally found the perfect mix of musical talent and style to suit her hard hitting vocals. Full Tilt set out to record their first album together dubbed Pearl. In the middle of recording the tracks for the album Janis, who had been avoiding drugs for quite some time, decided to indulge in heroin. The dose proved to be fatal and she died in a motel room in Los Angeles several weeks before her 28th birthday. Pearl was eventually released posthumously and was a huge hit with fans and critics alike. It ended up being her highest selling record.
Janis Joplin's life has been a subject of fascination for fans. The 1979 movie The Rose, starring Bette Midler was loosely based on her life and was released nine years after her death; additionally countless authorized and unauthorized biographies have been written about the soulful singer. In the 21st century she is still hugely popular.
Tidbits
- She was purported to be bi-sexual
- She had love affairs with Jimmy Hendrix, Kris Kristofferson and Jim Morrison
- Kris Kristofferson wrote Me and Bobby McGee for Janis to sing
- She was inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1995
- Pearl was one of her nicknames thus the album title "Pearl"
- Tex was another of Janis's nicknames
- Janis drove a custom painted Porsche Cabriolet, not a Mercedes Benz
Net Glimse: Janis Joplin
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Discography
 | Janis Joplin:The Woodstock Experience (2 CD) Already a tremendous star, 1969 was a year of change for Janis Joplin. Her legendary performance at Woodstock came just weeks before the release of I Got... more |
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 | Live at Winterland '68 This belated collection of Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company tracks features 14 performances, a dozen of which debut here. Of the two... more |
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 | I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! |
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 | In Concert |
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 | Box of Pearls: The Janis Joplin Collection Janis Joplin was one of the most exhilarating performers of an era blessed with riveting stage artists, but all but her most emphatic champions must concede... more |
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