JANIS JOPLIN

(Born January 19th, 1943 ; died October 4th,1970)

People say that Janis Joplin was the greatest white female blues singer of all time. Her raspy, screaming, gut-wrenching voice will wake you up like a bucket of ice water after a long warm sleep.

She was born in Port Arthur, Texas. She sang in local clubs and coffee houses before going to California in 1965. When she moved to San Francisco, she joined Big Brother and the Holding Company. Big Brother was a psychedelic blues rock band with screaming electric guitars and loud complicated baselines to back up Janis’ breathtaking vocals. It was with Big Brother that her career took off.

Janis Joplin lived the life of a pained blueswoman. Alcohol and drugs limited her talent and eventually killed her. She always felt like she wasn’t good enough, and was often very sad. She eventually funneled all her problems into her music, which made it some of the rawest, most intense and beautiful music of the late 1960’s.