Janis Joplin (1943-1970) came out of Port Arthur, Texas to become the defining woman of late-1960s American rock, breaking through with Big Brother and the Holding Company at Monterey Pop. Cheap Thrills (1968) and the posthumous Pearl (1971) — home of Me and Bobby McGee — are essential. Find Janis Joplin vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Janis Lyn Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas on January 19, 1943. She moved to San Francisco in 1966 and joined Big Brother and the Holding Company, with the group becoming a defining act of the San Francisco psychedelic scene through their breakthrough performance at the Monterey Pop Festival (June 1967). Cheap Thrills (1968) reached number one on the Billboard 200. She left Big Brother in late 1968 to launch a solo career, recording I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (1969) with the Kozmic Blues Band and Pearl (1971) with the Full Tilt Boogie Band - the latter recorded shortly before her death and released posthumously. She died of a heroin overdose on October 4, 1970 at age 27, joining the 27 Club. Pearl, with the single Me and Bobby McGee (written by Kris Kristofferson), became a posthumous Billboard 200 number one. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
Janis Joplin's sound combines blues rock, psychedelic rock, soul, rock, and rhythm and blues with her distinctive raw, emotionally direct vocal delivery drawing on classic blues and soul vocal traditions (Bessie Smith, Big Mama Thornton, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin). She is widely cited as one of the foundational rock vocalists and as the defining woman in late-1960s American rock.
Original Columbia pressings of Cheap Thrills, Kozmic Blues, and Pearl are foundational items in classic rock collecting. Multiple anniversary editions, audiophile reissues (Mobile Fidelity, Acoustic Sounds), and the comprehensive Janis Joplin: The Pearl Sessions box set have been released.
Listeners new to Janis Joplin typically start with Pearl (1971) or Cheap Thrills (1968).
