Janis Joplin is one of the roughest and most authentic blues rock singers to emerge from the west coast's psychedelic counterculture scene in the late 1960s. Born in Port Arthur, Texas, she moved to San Francisco as an aspiring singer in 1966 to try out a band that her hometown friend, Chet Helms, led. The band consisted of Big Brother and the Holding Company, which were part of Haight Ashbury's hippie counterculture, which included bands like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, among others. When the band performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, their performance fascinated the audience and she became "the first lady of rock and roll". She recorded two albums with Big Brother and the Holding Company, as well as two solo albums, before tragically dying of a heroin overdose on October 4, 1970 at the age of 27.
The following is a list of Janis Joplin's best songs.
10. "Mercedes Benz"
"Mercedes Benz" was on Janis Joplin's last album pearl that was published posthumously in January 1971. It was a song that was written jointly by Joplin, Bob Neuwirth and Michael McClure and that only Janis sings a cappella. The lyrics sound like the prayer of someone tired of being poor and watching the favor God showed to others. A comment on the song claimed it was an indictment against consumerism.
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9. "Me and Bobby McGee"
"Me and Bobby McGee" is also from pearl That was released three months after her accidental heroin overdose and was her only single to land number 1 in the US. It was written by her former boyfriend Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster and previously published by Roger Miller in 1969.
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8. "Kozmic Blues"
A great excerpt from Joplin's first solo album after her split from Big Brother was "I Got Dem Ol & # 39; Kozmic Blues Again Mama!" The song was co-written by Joplin and she played it on Woodstock a month before the album was released in September 1969. The only member of Big Brother in the new band was guitarist Sam Andrew, who worked on several levels.
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7. "Move over"
"The Full Tilt Boogie Band" supported Janis Joplin on the pearl Album and "Move Over" was the kick-off song on page one. It was one of the few songs she wrote herself and which she passionately performed on the Dick Cavett Show shortly before her death.
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6. "Down On Me"
"Down On Me" is taken from the Big Brother and Holding Company debut album, released a few months after the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, when Janis Joplin made her big debut and blew the crowd.
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5. "Cry Baby"
"Cry Baby" was recorded for Joplin before Joplin died pearl Album and was released as a single with "Mercedes Benz" as the B-side. It was a 1963 radio hit by Garnett Mims and the Enchanters that Joplin would have been familiar with. Her interpretation of the song transforms it from the slick R&B original into a stratospheric screaming version.
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4. "I need a man to love"
"I Need A Man To Love" was co-written by Joplin and guitarist Sam Andrew and appears on Cheap thrill. A lot is heard when the album opens, but this was an added effect to simulate a live recording. "Ball and Chain" was the only actual live recording on the album, Joplin admitted this in an interview when asked about it.
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3. "Piece of my heart"
"Piece of My Heart" was the radio hit of Cheap thrill and was Joplin's biggest hit until after her death when "Me and Bobby McGee" dwarfed him. The first recording was made in 1967 by Aretha Franklin's sister Erma and written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns. The melody itself was written as a soul / funk song that expresses the joy of being so deeply in love that one accepts and welcomes the pain as well as the ecstasy.
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2. "Summer time"
Summertime is another killer cut from the 1968s Cheap thrill and to tell the truth, every single cut on the album is great. If there was only one album to buy to appreciate the power and beauty of Janis Joplin's amazing voice, this would be the one. "Summertime" is a blues standard originally composed in 1934 by George Gershwin for Porgy and Bess. The song was recorded by everyone from Billie Holiday to Ella Fitzgerald.
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1. "Ball and Chain"
"Ball and Chain" was released on Cheap thrill This is the second and final studio album she recorded with Big Brother and the Holding Company, and it is the only live recording on the album. It comes from a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco and contains one of the best guitar solos of the 1960s, which accompanies Joplin's outstanding mezzo-soprano voice. It was a cover of a song written and performed by blues singer Big Mama Thornton.
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