Review Summary: A collection of songs that truly defines why Janis Joplin is a legend.
Born in 1943, a young Janis Joplin strived for attention from day one. “She was unhappy and unsatisfied without [receiving a lot of attention],” Joplin’s mother, Dorothy Joplin said. Janis grew to become friends with the outcasts of her hometown Port Arthur, Texas. These friends led Joplin to blues music, a genera that would change her life forever. Soon a teenage Janis joined the local choir discovering her unique vocal abilities with a bluesy range that would later make her famous. After later graduating college and experimenting with several different recordings of her own music Janis decided to break free of Texas and move out to California where her vocal ability landed her as the leading lady of the psychedelic rock group Big Brother And The Holding Company.
With the group Joplin gained all time fame, this fame though brought the classic lifestyle of a musician: sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, thereby giving Janis the rightful crown of a hard-time drug addict. Soon this lifestyle caught up with Joplin though and after failing to show up at rehearsal one day a producer drove to her motel and fond Janis dead of a heroin overdose, tragically only at age twenty-seven.
Even though she died young, Joplin left behind a collection of now-classic blues/rock music recorded solo and with the band. Ten of these songs were compiled in 1973, three years after her death. This collection became known as the properly titled,
Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits.
The first of these is
Piece Of My Heart, a song originally written and recorded for gospel singer, Erma Franklin, but the song didn’t reach mainstream success until a more rock version of the song was recorded by Joplin and her band. The song opens with a loud and bouncy electric guitar riff that cuts quite when Joplin chimes in with a soft spoken, “Didn't I make you feel like you were the only man/well yeah/An' didn't I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can ?” After which she suddenly breaks out into her classic rough voice singing, “I want you to come on, come on, come on, come on and take it/Take another little piece of my heart now, baby,” with a strong rock flair and strong emotion. When Joplin isn’t singing the powerful guitar takes stand and rips and roars back and forth equaling out to an incredible work of art.
Sumertime takes a slower, more bluesy feel than
Piece Of My Heart. The majority of the song is just slow and soft vocal work that uses Joplin’s easily recognizable voice to its potential over a little acoustic guitar work. Occasionally another electric guitar riff is broken out, but not one as emotionally charged as
Piece Of My Heart. The song while emotionally frail, just does not harness everything it promises.
Sumertime gets quickly surpassed by
Try (Just A Little Bit Harder). Another bluesy song with more saxophone instrumentation other than the previous guitar riffs. The song has Janis crying, “Try,” then drifting off with, “just a little bit harder,” with backing male vocals echoing behind.
Joplin takes a more folk edge with
Me & Bobby McGee sounding like a Bob Dylan female counterpart. The song features gospel-like organ work and simple bass notes with acoustic guitar over Joplin’s calm, yet strong, vocals. “From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun/Hey, Bobby shared the secrets of my soul/Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done,
Hey Bobby baby? kept me from the cold.” the message behind the song is Joplin telling about loving and losing her love, Bobby. Distinctly different from the previous
Me & Bobby McGee is an obvious inclusion in this collection because of its unique sound compared to most other Joplin songs.
Once more Joplin takes another rock edge with
Move Over, featuring many of the same elements of
Piece Of My Heart except this one uses more instrumentals in the band other than the obvious guitar.
Move Over takes the spotlight off Joplin for awhile as the instrumentals are stronger her than any other song on this collection. The guitar riff is distinctive and piano and cymbals are drawn in to give the song a more epic and loud feel that slowly builds to the songs climax of Joplin singing loud and rough constantly using her vocals to their highest potential.
It seems incredible that in just years a person like Janis Joplin and her band could formulate such music that some bands can never figure out. While the band is powerful, Joplin constantly gets the spotlight due to her distinctive voice that overpowers everything else. Joplin has gone down in history as a blues and rock legend. This is a rightfully deserved title clearly noticed in just these ten songs.
“I ain't quite a ready for walking, no!
I ain't quite a ready for walking,
But whatcha gonna do with your life,
Life all just dangling ?
Hey! Make up your mind, honey,
You're playing with me.
Make up your mind, honey,
You're playing with me.
I said now, well either be my loving man,
Come on let me, honey, let me be, yeah!
Move on. “
