The Big Texas Heart of Janis Joplin
Garden & Gun Magazine,
by
C J Lotz
Original Article
Posted By: StormCnter,
1/22/2020 9:15:28 AM
Janis Joplin’s home state of Texas was like a cruel lover—at times it would build her up and fill her soul with music. Other times, it tore her down and took another little piece of her heart. A fascinating, deeply researched, and powerfully written new biography, Janis: Her Life and Music by Holly George-Warren shares the story of one of rock-and-roll’s most unforgettable voices. Beginning with an exploration of how the Lone Star State shaped Joplin’s music and life, the book follows her eventual move to California, her shooting-star rise, and her death at age 27 in 1970.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
droopydog 1/22/2020 9:20:07 AM (No. 294975)
My favorite piece of Janis Joplin trivia is that she went on a blind date with Bill Bennett.
11 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Strike3 1/22/2020 9:22:15 AM (No. 294983)
Janis Joplin was a superbly talented superstar who unfortunately could not overcome the loss of a lover and succumbed to the comfort of drugs and alcohol. There are maybe two or three other voices in the world that could be compared to hers.
14 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
spacer 1/22/2020 9:44:26 AM (No. 295020)
I guess you had to be there. I was. Her and Hendrix were incredible. I still blast Purple Haze every now and then.
16 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
ROLFNader 1/22/2020 9:48:26 AM (No. 295027)
I have a rule that I won't trust an author with three first names.
5 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
snakeoil 1/22/2020 9:55:51 AM (No. 295039)
Was never a fan. She screamed at the top of her voice. But 27 is too young to die. RIP
10 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Clinger 1/22/2020 10:01:37 AM (No. 295043)
I think my favorite performance of hers is not my favorite song of hers. What she did with "Ball and Chain" at Monterey simply blows me away. Apparently Cass Elliot was equally impressed. I was a bit too young and far too east to have been there, had to rely on the magic of technology.
I had no idea #1, so glad you shared that!
9 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
texaspast 1/22/2020 11:02:05 AM (No. 295129)
My favorite JJ song is Me and Bobby McGee (written by Kris Kristofferson). Liked 'Mercedes Benz' too. The way she sang, her voice wouldn't have lasted much longer. I had her 8-track tapes and played them often. Trivia: Did you know Me and Bobby McGee was first recorded by Roger Miller? Didn't sound quite the same as Joplin's version, for sure!
8 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
DVC 1/22/2020 11:04:54 AM (No. 295134)
I really never could understand the "suffering artist" thing, and why these folks drank and drugged themselves to the point that they killed themselves. I never had any desire to want to do that whole drugs and alcohol thing. I drank in high school, to excess, of course, and decided that I didn't like the taste, I didn't like the results and I didn't like the morning after. So I stopped. Never tried drugs, figured it would be like alcohol, but worse, and a lot more likely to be addictive and fatal. I was barely into my second year of college when she died, and it was another cautionary tale on why to stay the hell away from drugs.
Some of her songs are good to listen to occasionally, was never a fan at the time. Me and Bobby McGee is the only song I can think of that I know she sang, a good one.
I am not attracted to messed up, deranged, drugged out "artists", I'm repelled by them, and to a degree, feel sorry for them. Money and talent, and they toss it away on drugs and wind up dead. Makes no sense at all to me. Sad story, but whose fault? Hers.
12 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Rather Read 1/22/2020 11:20:18 AM (No. 295160)
I grew up in that era and I remember liking Janis Joplin's voice very much. I don't think she could continue singing the way she did and last very long though. She'd burn out her vocal chords. I can't understand how someone like Janis and Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse with so much talent could have so little self control. We all have our demons - I guess they simply couldn't manage theirs.
3 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Sandbar 1/22/2020 11:28:13 AM (No. 295175)
Drugs and alcohol have always been ingrained in American and maybe all music. Many if not most performers start their careers playing small clubs/bars where the lifestyle is built into the atmosphere.. I remember near the end of the big band era prob 1960, going to a Duke Ellington concert. All seemed normal until the band returned from their second break. Some of those guys could barely stay on their chairs. I particularly remember the lead sax player being on about a 45 degree angle, making great music while obviously totally out of it. I'm not condoning it, just sayin.
5 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
rubberneck 1/22/2020 1:11:56 PM (No. 295299)
This article affirms to me how fortunate I was to "come of age" in the late 60s / early 70s. I took a high school art class in which our instructor had a school-issue record player, and encouraged us to bring in our LPs to spin while we sketched and painted. We must've listed to "Cheap Thrills," by Big Brother and the Holding Company at least twice a week.
Janis was/is an acquired taste. More for fans of delta blues. She was never my favorite artist, but I've always admired her for putting everything she had into her singing. That is a powerful bunch of soul! (I'm with #6 - go to YouTube and watch her sing "Ball and Chain" at Monterey! Electrifying!) She flamed out way too early... but I can't see her touring at 80 years old like Mick or Roger Daltrey.
4 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
NYbob 1/22/2020 2:38:59 PM (No. 295389)
As Mr. Rogers said, 'Love is at the root at everything, all learning, all relationships, love or the lack of it.' Too bad JJ couldn't take all the fame and fortune to find happiness, instead of self destruction.
1 person likes this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Videodrone 1/22/2020 3:43:58 PM (No. 295459)
old enough that Big Brother and the Holding company played at a high school dance
A few years ago Cold Blood played our Sunday summer concert series and little Lydia Pence can still belt them out!
0 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
jj1319 1/22/2020 4:23:18 PM (No. 295491)
Kenneth Threadgill had a lot to do with her early development. Good work.
0 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
49 Ford 1/22/2020 5:19:40 PM (No. 295536)
I guess I am the skunk at this picnic, but I never liked her raspy, shrill voice or style. Never understood what others found appealing in her act. I wouldn't wish her or anyone else ill, but I felt no sense of loss at her passing.
4 people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "StormCnter"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Comments:
I'm the wrong age to understand or enjoy Janis Joplin, but there are many who continue to love her, the person and the music.