Janis+Joplin

“People, whether they know it or not, like their blues singers miserable. They like their blues singers to die afterwards.” Janis Joplin was a blues and rock and roll singer in the 1960’s. She was influenced by many and soon after her death she became the one that influenced others. **__Contents:__** **1) Early Life** **2) Career** **3) Legacy/Life Achievments** **__ ﻿﻿Early Life __** On January 19, 1943, Janis Lyn Joplin was born in Port Arthur,Texas. In 1949, Janis was only six years old when she learned how to play the piano and she went on to sing in her churches choir. When she was in her teens, she started moving towards “breaking the social tradition.” By doing this, she was friends with African-Americans. That was not okay in her small town because they were segregated. While she was in high school, she became interested in folk and jazz music but she was mostly interested in the [|blues.] At the beginning of her singing career her influences were [|Bessie Smith,] Odetta Holmes and Leadbelly (Huddie William Ledbetter). Janis Joplin began traveling and singing in small venues, such as North Beach and the Village in New York after high school. She enrolled in the Lamar State College of Technology in Beaumont,Texas. During these years she started to be part of the drug scene. She began to drink and do drugs; her drug of choice was speed. Janis returned to Port Arthur and focused on college. In 1962, Joplin started to attend the University of Texas in Austin and became popular only for her “wild child” antics. In 1963, she moved out of Texas to San Francisco. She lived in North Beach and Haight-Ashbury. After moving toSan Francisco, she started doing drugs once again and became known as a “speed freak” and an occasional heroin user. She questioned her sexuality and began having a relationship with another woman. While abusing drugs she also started to drink heavily and soon became an alcoholic. Her drink of choice was Southern Comfort. In 1965, She moved back to Port Arthur and changed her look by dressing more conservatively and then got engaged to a long time friend. **__ ﻿Career __** In 1966, she returned toSan Francisco. She met a band called Big Brother and the Holding Company. They became her first backup band in her solo career. They signed with Mainstream Records and recorded their first self titled album in 1967. They performed at the Monterey Pop Festival and that was known as their breakout performance. In 1968, their second album “Cheap Thrills” had more of an organic and raw feel to Joplin’s voice. That album made her one of the leading music stars in the sixties. It wasn’t hard for her to find a new backup group. She then formed the Kozmic Blues Band. Janis and her new band performed at Woodstock in 1969, but broke up shortly after. She then found her third backup band. Their name was the Full Tilt Boogie Band; this one is known as her best one yet. Janis’ last two television appearances were both on the Dick Cavett Show on June 25, 1970 and August 3, 1970. She died on October 4, 1970 from an overdose of pure heroin and alcohol. Joplin was found in the Landmark Motor Hotel in Hollywood,California. She was only 27 years old, Jimi Hendrix died a couple weeks earlier at the same age. She was cremated in Westwood,California and her ashes were then scattered over the Pacific Ocean. During her time as a musician she always wanted to have someone special in her life but she was never married and never had kids; “Onstage, I make love to 25,000 people-then I go home alone.” media type="youtube" key="-7JVxE2SYxo" height="349" width="425"

**__ ﻿Legacy/Life Achievements __** After her death their album, “Pearl”, was released in 1971 and it became her best selling album with one of her biggest hits “Me and Bobby McGee.” The song “Buried Alive in the Blues” was the only song on the album that was instrumental because she died before she could record the overlay. In 1979, the movie //The Rose// was released and loosely depicted Joplin’s life. Bette Midler portrayed her in the movie and earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance. Another two films have been made about her life called, //Gospel According to Janis// and //Piece of My Heart//. In 1990, the musical //Love, Janis// was created and opened in 2001. It became a hit with packed houses for almost every performance and later had a national tour. In 2002, her song “Me and Bobby McGee” was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Janis Joplin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum has some of her items such as her scarves and necklaces. Also in 2005 she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In theGrammy Museum they display her 1965 Porsche 365 Cabriolet and a sheet of her LSD blotting paper that was designed by Robert Crumb, who was also the designer of the “Cheap Thrills” album cover. In 2009, she was an honoree of the Rock Hall’s American Music Concert and Lecture. During her career, she was nominated for Grammy Awards a couple of times. The awards she was nominated for were: “Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance-Female” and “Pop Female Vocalist” for the song “Me and Bobby McGee” both in 1971. She lived her life by one thing she said, “You can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow.” Janis Joplin paved the way, opening doors for bands and artists such as: Heart, The Runaways and Stevie Nicks, just to name a few. Her style was mimicked by male rockers like Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant. Her voice was different and unique, which made her music even more popular. The blues let her get out all of her feelings in a song; most musicians do this too. What Janis had on other artists was that she put her heart and soul into every performance when she sang the blues. Her influences are all from the blues genre. Bessie Smith who sang during the Harlem Renaissance. Her music was before Joplin’s time but it didn’t just go away. Bessie was Janis’ main influence when it came to her music. Also Odetta Holmes, who sang: blues, folk, jazz blues, country and spirituals. Janis Joplin had heard her music throughout her life because Odetta lived during the rocker’s life. Her third influence was Leadbelly; he also sang the blues, jazz blues, country blues and delta blues. Janis Joplin’s song “Mercedes Benz” was one of her first songs that she recorded. In the song she refers to the Lord and asks him to buy her a Mercedes Benz. That shows how she had some spiritual references in her songs that were influenced by Odetta and Leadbelly. She had many events in her life that shaped who she was. Her music was definitely the best part in her life, even though all the drugs and alcohol came with it. During the sixties drugs and alcohol were a big thing in that time. Janis Joplin was no exception to that; she started smoking marijuana when she was in college and she then went on to become addicted to heroin and crack-cocaine. She started to become known as a speed freak and she lived up to that name. This also connects to the eighties where drugs were also a popular. The only difference in the eighties than the sixties is that more of the “club drugs” were used. The sixties had more of the harder drugs like heroin and cocaine and also marijuana, as I stated before. Joplin was also a heavy drinker and drank almost every day and for most of the day too. Woodstock was one of the bigger concerts that she played at and it was one of the things that made the sixties popular. During Woodstock it was all about music, alcohol, drugs and sex; that was everything Janis Joplin was about during her career. She died from a heroin overdose at only 27 years old. Drug overdoses have been what most musicians in the rock and roll genre have died from: Jimi Hendrix, Rudy Lewis who was the vocalist for the Drifters, Hillel Slovak from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Belushi from the Blues Brothers, Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols, the list does go on. Janis Joplin is also part of the “27 Club” which is a list of Famous 27 year olds who died at that age. She shares that title with Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones and again Jimi Hendrix. Her music has lived on and has been remade by many other artists. Her songs talk about cars, love, heartbreak and life. She is a living legend in the rock and roll and blues genres; one of the first females to have a popular band and become very successful. As Joplin’s music career grew, so did her bad habits of drug and alcohol abuse. Those things combined created her terrible downfall that concluded with an overdose on heroin. Her life ended too soon and the music she created is all that is left. Her legacy will live on and influence many people for future years to come. **__Work Cited__**
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"Janis Joplin Biography." //Janis Joplin.// Web. 13 May 2011. [|.] Willett, Edward. //Janis Joplin: "Take Another Little Piece of My Heart"// Berkeley Heights,NJ: Enslow, 2008. Print. "Janis Joplin Biography - Kozmic Blues." //Janis Joplin - Kozmic Blues//. 1998. Web. 24 May 2011. [|.] "Janis Joplin." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 15 May 2011. <[]>