Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin was the first white female blues/rock singer to emerge in the late 1960's. Her musical influences ranged from Leadbelly to Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday; Joplin's lifestyle mimicking that of Holiday's eerily. She was the first female rocker whose excesses were equal to many of her male counterparts of the era. In a climate of sexual and drug freedom and experimentation, Janis shrugged off the moral and social stigmas for females at the time and indulged openly and excessively in both. Joplin became a rock star at an age when most women at the time were expected to marry and settle down to become housewives. As with everything Janis did, it was full tilt, caution to the wind and anything but the norm or what was expected.

The stories of Janis being an outcast while growing up are famous. Although Janis did have her own small group of friends while in school, she did not belong to the "in" crowd. While in school, Janis sang in bars and coffee houses in and around the Port Arthur area, mostly singing folk and playing guitar. Growing up, Joplin found it difficult to deal with the small town mentality and the conservatism that came with it. It was this frustration that led the free spirited Janis to pack her bags and head for the hippy mecca of California. Here her flamboyant personality and behavior would blossom unhindered and unquestioned by small town values. From 1962 to 1965 she traveled throughout California and even made it east to New York for a brief period, the whole time dropping in and out of four colleges and supporting herself with singing gigs and odd jobs.

The west coast music scene was somewhat of a liberation for Janis. All society's misfits seemingly gathered in one place to make music and express themselves without the burden of conformity, creating in effect, an artist's paradise. She sang blues and folk in and around the Bay area and lived a true hippy lifestyle. Unfortunately, Janis also got caught up in the drug culture and ended up experimenting with speed and eventually ended up drawing unemployment cheques in order to get by. Her first outing to the west coast did not go well, Joplin herself admitting in a later interview, "Things got all messed up out there". Janis returned to Texas in early 1965 where she sang in a country and western band. In the summer of 1966, an acquaintance who saw her sing while in San Francisco called her about a vocalist vacancy in a Bay area band. She returned to the west coast and joined Big Brother and the Holding Company, who was looking for a female singer to distinguish itself from the hundreds of other bands forming in the area at the time.

Although the band itself was chastised in the press for it's musical ineptness, they did posses a raw sound that complimented Janis's tortured vocals and energy level very well. At the Monterey Pop Festival, Janis was heralded as the first female rock god as her bluesy, gutsy performance stopped the show. Many say that this period of Janis's life, just prior to superstardom, was her happiest. Joplin's star soon out shone the band and she left Big Brother in 1969 to form the Kozmic Blues Band to back her on her first solo album. She formed yet another, The Full Tilt Boogie Band, to back her on her subsequent and final release. Although both bands were comprised of more musically adept members, allowing Janis to grow musically, she lacked and missed the camaraderie she enjoyed with Big Brother.

Joplin's rise to the forefront of rock and roll was meteoric and she fell prey to the excesses stardom offered. Loneliness was a constant companion for Janis, who took solace in the bottle and continued to experiment with the prevalent drugs of the times. As her fame and drug use grew, her behavior became increasingly outrageous and in March 1970 was fined for using profane language while onstage. While appearing on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1970 she drunkenly stated, "They laughed me out of class, out of town and out of state; so I'm going back". This was in response to her return home to attend her 10th year high school reunion, her first visit back to Texas since rock and roll stardom had struck. This would be the last time Janis would see her family.

Janis had kicked heroin once before and found it to be an excruciating experience. However, she began using heroin again before and during the recording of her final album "Pearl", posthumously titled after her nickname. She made every attempt to be cautious when using and made sure to buy from only one dealer who always had his stuff checked by a chemist. It turns out that the bag Janis bought that Saturday, October 3rd afternoon was not checked by the dealer's chemist who was out of town at the time. The heroin was 50 percent pure and would prove to be a fatal mistake.

The final evening of Janis's life saw her putting in another long day in the studio as work continued on her album which was in its' final stages. Following the session, she had drinks at a local bar and then returned to the Landmark Hotel where she had been staying while recording the album. Janis purchased a pack of cigarettes from the lobby machine and shortly after 1:00am retired to her room. When her body was discovered on the evening of October 4, still clutched in her hand was the change from her purchase of the cigarettes moments before. It was that quick and that final. The "Queen of Rock And Roll" was dead of a heroin overdose.

As with previous celebrity deaths, inevitable and ridiculous theories surrounded Janis's death. Suicide was considered and quickly dismissed. One of the more outrageous theories was her death being a CIA job or even a contract killing! As in most cases these theories are nothing more than fantasy, her death nothing more than an accidental overdose of heroin (mixed with alcohol).

The years since her death have seen the tales of Janis's excesses become legendary and in some cases, greatly exaggerated. Yes, she did enjoy Southern Comfort and one evening even had a knock-em-down fight with a Hell's Angels' woman immediately prior to her taking the stage. And, yes, she did enjoy driving around San Francisco in her psychedelic painted Porsche, often times drunk. But, no, she did not perform naked at the Texas International Pop Festival!

Janis had a style all her own. An explosive, charismatic and sexually charged performer who strutted, sweated and yelled herself and the audience into an orgy of song and dance. She paved the way and knocked down the barriers and stereotypes for the next generation of female rockers, proving that a female performer could be just as exciting and every bit as shocking as any male. Janis was a true original and her voice was as unique as her image. Some say she is the female counterpart of Jim Morrison (the two actually having met at a bar once but did not get along all that well, surprise!). A face, voice and style that has come to personify late 60's rock and roll.

Another member of Rock and Roll Heaven.

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