Janis Joplin

I consider Janis Joplin the queen of rock and roll. She has a unique voice and her music has transended the generations. Janis Joplin was always real with her audience and when she sang it came from her heart. She was quoted to have said

""This whole thing that's happened to me, you see, this whole success thing, er, it hasn't yet really compromised the position that I took a long time ago in Texas, that was to be true to myself, to be the person that I f ... that was on inside of me and not play games. You see, actually what I'm trying to do mostly, if I, in the whole world, is to not bullshit myself, and not bullsh*t anybody else. To be righteous to myself, I mean to be real, you know what I mean ? And so far, you know I'm, I'm just tryin' to ... I'm doin' that, I am, you know. I'm not wearin' cardboard eyelashes, and, and, you know, and girdles, and playin' in Las Vegas. By still bein' Janis, I just happens to be on a slightly different level or somethin' now. And ... you know I suppose it's because I've never been premeditated enough in show-business that I was worried about putting on a, a face, you know what I mean ? So I can sit here and tell you the truth. You know? Although that's slightly inhibiting, (nodding towards camera) really, it doesn't, it doesn't force a game on me, because I refuse to let it force a game on me. So I can sit here and be just as honest as I would be in a bar, although I'd be a lot happier in a bar!"

Janis Joplin was born January 19,1943 in Port Arthur,Texas. Her parents were Seth and Dorothy Joplin. During high school Janis had difficulty fitting in with her classmates and expressed herself through art and music. She liked folk,jazz and the blues. Janis was esspecially influenced by Bessie Smith,Billie Holiday,Odetta and Leadbelly. She was very much into the beatnik lifestyle of that generation. She attended the University of Texas. In college she is said to have experimented with drugs and alcohol. In 1966 her friend Chet Helmes offered her an audition with a group in San Francisco "Big Brother and the Holding Company"

In 1966 the group played at a music festival, The Monterey Pop Festival" and Janis blew the audience away with her rendition of Big Mama Thornton's song "Ball and Chain". The group was signed with Columbia Recods and released the album "Cheap Thrills" in 1968. Janis split from the band that same year.

Janis formed her own group and released the bluesy album "I Got Dem 'Ol Kosmic Blues Agian, Mama" in 1969. The album didn't make waves in the US but was received well in Europe. Her last band was the Full Tilt Boogie Band and she recorded her final album with them "Pearl" While recording the album she accidentally overdosed on heroin at the age of 27.

Janis Joplin has had gold,platinum and triple platinum albums . Here is a chronilogical list of her albums

• Big Brother and The Holding Company
• Cheap Thrills
• I Got Them Ol' Kosmic Blues Agian Mama
• Pearl
• Joplin In Concert
• Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits
• Janis (box set)
• 18 Essential Songs
• Box of Pearls
• Super Hits
• Winterland