Feminine icon of the Summer of Love and member of the 27 Club, Janis Joplin stamped the music industry with her rebellious attitude and tremendous husky voice. Let’s look back into the short and turbulent life of the woman who became a rock legend.
Texas childhood
Janis Lyn Joplin was born on January 19th, in Port Arthur, Texas. She had a quiet Upper Middle-Class childhood – her father worked in petrol – going to church with her parents and two siblings. Things started to change during her high school and later university years. Showing a keen interest in the arts and defending the black cause, Janice didn’t fit into the usual slots and was rejected by her peers. The fact she had bad acne and was somewhat overweight didn’t help. She was even named “Ugliest guy on campus” during her short spree at The University of Texas in Austin. Needless to say that she got her own back at the height of her career in 1970 when she attended a school reunion.
An artist with a tortured mind
Mistreated by her classmates, Janis Joplin grew up in a constant rage. Yet her rebellious stance hid a kind-hearted soul: “People expect Janis Joplin to be a tough bitch, and say I start talking to them like a lonely little girl – that’s not in their image of me – they don’t see it.” After leaving home at 17, in 1963, she started singing in Houston coffee shops. Three years later, she set out alone and hitchhiked to San Francisco, beatnik capital of the world. While singing in bars, she improved her voice and pitch revealing the hoarse, husky tones that made her famous. Janis Joplin expressed herself through her songs. Repressed feelings, rage, solitude, and failure were mixed into lyrics and her strong vocal performances. At the age of 23, Joplin had become the quintessential woman of the liberated 60s: Sex, drugs, alcohol, and rock ‘n’ roll.
Short but sweet success
June 4th, 1966. The day Janis Joplin’s career took a leap. Scouted by producer Chet Helms, she joined the psychedelic rock band Big Brother and The Holding Company. In June of the following year, the band’s performance at the Monterey Festival, birthplace of the Flower Power movement, was a triumph. The audience was awestruck by Joplin’s incredible, possessed performance and husky voice. “It’s a supreme emotional and physical experience,” she said at the time. After the concert, Big Brother were offered a contract with Columbia Records and released the album Cheap Thrills in August 1968. But Janis Joplin’s heart was no longer in it. She left the band at the end of that year and set up Kozmic Blues Band, whose vibes were a mix of funk, blues, soul, and pop. On August 16th, 1969, Janis Joplin and the Kozmic Blues Band performed at Woodstock. Back to her old addictions, the singer used a mix of cocaine and alcohol to calm her nerves. The explosive cocktail brought on a poor performance. So much so that Joplin asked the festival’s organizers to leave it out of the video. The Kozmic Blues Band split in December 1969 and Joplin set up the Full Tilt Boogie Band in early 1970. While recording the first album, Pearl, she suffered from a cocaine overdose in a Los Angeles hotel. She was 27. The height of her career lasted 4 years, yet Joplin’s music still makes its mark today.
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