To this day Janis Joplin continues to tear us up with her many songs. In a mix of melancholy and reflection, her legendary voice shines through. In a tangle of endless stories regarding her addictions and personal life, what lies beneath the music left by White Lady of Blues has reached mythical proportions. She lived on the edge, marked by the disappointment of a broken engagement to Peter Le Blanc in 1963 and her counterculture status reached with the release of her first solo album in 1969.
Her music placed her at the height of her career in the sixties. She has been considered as one of the most influential artists of the second half of the twentieth century. But the myths surrounding her both on and off stage, as well as her narrations full of emotion, have taken a life of their own.
Quiet and withdrawn, Joplin began as a shy jazz and folk singer. She released her first album with the band Big Brother & The Holding Company in 1967. The record includes “Call on Me,” in which Janis stretches out her hand to someone in a time of need. She offers her support to someone she doesn’t know. But it seems that nobody responds to her offer.
“Well, baby, when times are bad,
now call on me, darling, and I’ll come to you.
When you’re in trouble and feel so sad,
well, call on me, darling, I said call on me, and I’ll help you.
Yeah!”
In 1968 after experiencing greater notoriety, Janis recorded “Piece of my Heart,” a different version from Aretha Franklyn’s previous release. Janis’s take turned her into one the greatest voices of Rock and Roll.
“Didn’t I make you feel like you were the only man, yeah,
An’ didn’t I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can?
Honey, you know I did!
And each time I tell myself that I, well I’ve just had enough,
But I’m gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough.”
This song has been interpreted by several artists, but Janis’s version is considered one of the best. The way her voice melds with the emotions of the song creates a connection with the listener who can perceive the abuse endured during her younger life. This dark side drove her away from her family and close friends into a life of music.
By 1969 Janis was seen as a symbolic figure of the hippie movement in the USA, leading her to form her own band, the Kozmic Blues Band, to play alongside her at Woodstock. The song they played, “Kozmic Blues,” captures how her loneliness has tainted her sensibility.
“Time keeps moving on,
Friends they turn away,
Well, I keep moving on
But I never found out why
I keep pushing so hard a dream,
I keep trying to make it right
Through another lonely day…”
Six weeks after her passing, the album Pearl came out. The song “Mercedes Benz” was included since it had been the last tune recorded by her. Janis wrote the lyrics with poet Michael McClure and Bob Neuwirth, criticizing materialistic people, who believe that possessing brands and luxury implies happiness.
“Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tGuJ34062s
In 2015 Janis was on the spotlight once again after Little Blue Girl, a documentary on her life, was released. It went through the artist’s life as well as the moments that made her into an icon of nonconformity.
Regardless of whether you think Janis was energetic, crazy, or reactionary, her legacy goes beyond anything people claim. The White Lady of Blues continues to reign through the melancholy of her music.
Translated by María Suárez
