- Pearl · 1971
- Cheap Thrills · 1968
- Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits · 1971
- Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits · 1971
- I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! · 1969
- I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! · 1969
- I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! · 1969
- Pearl (Legacy Edition) · 1971
- Pearl · 1971
- Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits · 1968
- Big Brother & the Holding Company · 1967
- Flash Back Internacional · 1968
- Cheap Thrills · 1968
Essential Albums
- When Janis Joplin died during the early '70s sessions for Pearl, there was no vocal on "Buried Alive in the Blues"; the instrumental track was included on the posthumous album as something like a moment of silence. The tragedy of the singer's lost life was doubled by the absence of an artist sensing a new power in herself. More controlled than the psychedelic blues of Cheap Thrills, thanks to her new Full Tilt Boogie Band, Pearl was nonetheless awash in what made Joplin great. Even if she had lived, her elegiac "Me and Bobby McGee" and a cover of Howard Tate's wise soul ballad "Get It While You Can" would have carried huge emotional resonance. Without her, even the jokey a cappella "Mercedes Benz" stung. "Pearl" was one grand lady, as this album continues to remind us.
Albums
Artist Playlists
- The short but legendary career of the rocker with a force-of-nature voice.
- The tough, declamatory singers descended from the soul sister.
- The blurring of male/female blues and soul that made her great.
Singles & EPs
Live Albums
Compilations
Appears On
- Big Brother & The Holding Company
- Big Brother & The Holding Company
- Big Brother & The Holding Company
- Big Brother & The Holding Company
- Big Brother & The Holding Company
- Big Brother & The Holding Company
- Big Brother & The Holding Company
About Janis Joplin
A defining voice of ’60s rock who drew inspiration from blues belters and her own heartache, Janis Joplin lit up popular music during her too-brief career. Born in Port Arthur, TX, in 1943, Joplin listened to blues and folk music in her youth and began recording her own songs while studying at the University of Texas. After bouncing between Texas and the Bay Area for a few years, she settled in San Francisco in 1966 when she was recruited to lead the psychedelic outfit Big Brother & The Holding Company. Her spellbinding stage presence and powerful, emotion-racked wail made them a West Coast sensation, particularly at larger-scale events like the Monterey Pop Festival. Shortly after that 1967 concert, the band’s self-titled debut was released, and their take on the spiritual “Down On Me” became their first charting hit. Joplin and Big Brother played tirelessly over the following year, and their 1968 album Cheap Thrills, led by the searing “Piece of My Heart,” hit No. 1. Joplin embarked on a solo career that December, and in 1969 she performed at Woodstock, released her Kozmic Blues Band-assisted solo debut, I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, and toured. In 1970, after a retreat to Brazil, she assembled the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Their touring and recording were cut short when Joplin died of a heroin overdose on October 4, 1970; a few months later, Columbia Records released Pearl, which included songs that would go on to define her legacy, like “Cry Baby” and the posthumous No. 1 hit “Me and Bobby McGee.” Joplin's moment in the spotlight both reflected and shaped the chaotic counterculture of late-’60s America, and her larger-than-life voice has influenced singers as varied as Melissa Etheridge, P!NK, and Axl Rose.
- HOMETOWN
- Port Arthur, TX, United States
- BORN
- January 19, 1943
- GENRE
- Rock