# The Strange Magic of: Janis Joplin



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

We return again to Monterey 1967, where we last saw and heard Jefferson Airplane. Now the stage holds Big Brother and the Holding Company, and their truly amazing lead singer, Janis Joplin of Port Arthur, Texas, singing her stupefying version of _Ball and Chain_. As an aficionado of classic cante flamenco, I hold Joplin's utterance here is the closest thing in American popular music to a profoundly-rendered, emotionally-wrenching siguiriya of Andalusia; the unexpected power and depth of Joplin's delivery clearly registers on the face of Mama Cass Elliot of The Mamas and Papas sitting in the audience--this was not something anyone was prepared for, prior to actually experiencing it.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

She was a great blues and soul belter blessed with a range and power that is rarely bestowed upon a white singer. She certainly did the right thing by going solo - Big Brother were pretty shambolic at times. Had she lived I'd have loved it if she did an album with someone like Joe Cocker while he was still at the top of his game.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I have a tape of hers which I play once a year. Any time I start to look back to my teen years with longing, her passion and angst reminds me of how miserable I used to be.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Scars of Sweet Paradise by Alice Echols is a fine bio of Joplin. I find the somewhat chaotic backing of the Big Brother crew behind Janis to be actually a pretty effective setting for her earlier work, though the group she assembled for her last album also served her well. One trait Joplin shared with Joan Osborne was the ability, according to Echols, to sing both with what flamencos call _voz afilla_, a raspy, gravelly voice, and also with a "clean" voice, but this was almost never heard.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

She's still one of my favourite female singers, along with Sandy Denny, Laura Nyro and Aretha Franklin. And what is often overlooked is that she was showing some development as a songwriter as well. The reason I prefer her two solo albums to the Big Brother stuff is that I think her vocal delivery and choice of cover material was better complimented by bands that featured a more rhythm and blues configuration with organ/piano and/or a horn section rather than one that was dominated by a pair of high-octane acid-rock guitars. However, both the debut album and _Cheap Thrills_ have their own ramshackle charm and I still enjoy them from time to time.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

elgars ghost said:


> She was a great blues and soul belter blessed with a range and power that is rarely bestowed upon a white singer. She certainly did the right thing by going solo - Big Brother were pretty shambolic at times. Had she lived I'd have loved it if she did an album with someone like Joe Cocker while he was still at the top of his game.


Had she lived long enough, she probably would have done one of those duets with Pavarotti. Or maybe an American Standards album with Rod Stewart.

Anyway, she was great. Not a great band and not always great songs, but she could sing the blues. Went to high school with Jimmy Johnson, dated William Bennett. And she still turned out OK.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I have always adored her. Perhaps some of it is the tragedy of her life, but also her ability to stand up against the odds and prevail (unfortunately, with the aid of the crutches that eventually killed her). While Cheap Thills is a big favourite, I think her finest is Kozmic Blues. Pearl was a good one, too, but I don't think it had quite the raw emotion that Janis brought out on the other two albums.


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## Guest (Jan 22, 2016)

They say she performed in the studio the same way she performed onstage. There was no act, it was just the way she always sang everything--putting everything she had into it. She idolized Bessie Smith and paid to have a headstone put on her grave.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

GreenMamba said:


> Had she lived long enough, she probably would have done one of those duets with Pavarotti. Or maybe an American Standards album with Rod Stewart.


Too sobering a though for me. :lol:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

elgars ghost said:


> Too sobering a though for me. :lol:


Janis, sadly, was not a survivor. Some manage to finally overcome their bad habits, with the help of friends, family, finding a good program to get well. But others are just too frail--Amy Winehouse is the most recent, sad example of a unique talent who just could not deal with the situation she found herself in. Her insecurity onstage, especially toward the end, is telling, and hard to watch. Compare her to the robust egos of Madonna and Lady Gaga, two women combining talent, ambition, and self-confidence in equal measures.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

Strange Magic said:


> One trait Joplin shared with Joan Osborne...


Anybody who mentions Janis Joplin and Joan Osborne in the same post immediately gains my respect. Two of my favorite female vocalists ever. :tiphat:


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Bluecrab said:


> Anybody who mentions Janis Joplin and Joan Osborne in the same post immediately gains my respect. Two of my favorite female vocalists ever. :tiphat:


Joan Osborne's album Relish is monstrously, insanely good. It is a Voodoo masterpiece from beginning to end.


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## Bluecrab (Jun 24, 2014)

Strange Magic said:


> Joan Osborne's album Relish is monstrously, insanely good. It is a Voodoo masterpiece from beginning to end.


No argument here. I've always thought that _Crazy Baby_ is one of the best rock songs I've ever heard.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Janis Joplin was truly _sui generis_. I can't conceive of her giving a perfunctory performance--it was all or nothing at all. There were no maybes except those like this:


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

i had this album and lost it


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