Answer: Janis started singing at age 4. She wanted to be a singer all her life. Raised in small town Texas, she suffered bullying and "shunning" by her classmates and was very unhappy at school. She quickly ran outta there to start a band, "The Holding Company" and travelled around the states performing with them where she could. Years later, during her meteoric rise in the industry (see Dick Cavette interview), she recvd offer to return to her hometown to do a performance and guess what...nothing had changed - she deeply regreted that decision. Janis loved the blues and music so much but remember, in the 60's, there was still a lot of racial tension and anxiety against black Americans - and there Janis was, singing the blues, "Black folks music". I love her not only for her unique sound and talent, but because she said, to hell with what anybody else thinks, gave her ALL during every performance, and persevered to reach her dreams. Janis was an original. The way she thought, dressed and talked. A colorful, energized, personality. Like so many performers then and now, Janis sought out the comforts of drugs, namely Heroin, which accidentally killed her, alone, in her hotel room, after she called a dealer she didn't have any experience with. What a lot of people don't know, is that Janis had begun social activism, speaking out for racial equality, for peace, and for a variety of people in societies that were suffering or discriminated against. Janis stood alone, and was self-fueled, yet she craved acceptance and love, something she didn't get from her peers and many adults in her hometown. There will never be anyone like Janis again. Times are different now - lots of great singers, but no one has the sound, rhythm or passion that she stylized from the heart; THAT voice, THAT sound, is all her own.
Yeah, she first came on the scene in the late-ish 1960’s with the mentioned band, except The Holding Company was only part of their name. Can’t remember the full name of the band right now. Gotta look it up, and will post it below.
Yes you can even tell it in the vocals and in the way she sings, anyone that's ever listened to Bessie Smith you can hear the definite influence she had on Janis and I'm glad she had such a great inspiration for her music because Bessie was incredible but was never really given as much credit as she deserved.
Jamel, there was no organ in the studio when we recorded that. That was a duplex keyboard on which I could play the piano setting with one hand and organ setting with the other simultaneously or separately because there were two boards stacked. There were two organ settings used, one electric piano setting and one standard piano setting - 4 different settings used altogether. That gig was the only time a keyboard was used in a performance of Me and Bobby McGee. Sam Andrew was the the lead guitar for Big Brother and the Holding company (he was also the founder) and though we were friends until he died 5 years ago, he didn't want any keyboardist in the group - he just wanted guitars drums, bass and vocals. When Janis moved on to the Kozmic Blues band I went with her. It was over too soon, we were devastated by her death. Then Hendrix and Jim Morrison died that same year, year and a half. When Cass Elliot, who I loved dearly, died a couple of years later, I had enough - they seemed to be dropping like flies. I left the business and never looked back.
country music Hall of famer, producer/writer Fred Foster called Kristofferson with the idea, Bobby McGee in original, a woman...Joplin changed it to a man
Kristoffeson is so under appreciated. Served int he Army, he was a Rhodes Scholar who studied Shakespeare at Oxford. became a janitor which is how he met Johnny Cash, who encouraged him write songs. WOW! what a journey
You must band together with all "Port Arthurians" to ENSURE no developer gets his filthy paws on it and knocks it down to put up some soulless condos. PLEASE do this. Let it stand forever as a monument to her genius.
Her city (and her family) wanted her to be someone she wasn't. But they honor her after she died? They couldn't accept her while she lived, so she tried to find it in the bottom of a bottle
My heart goes out to Janis. In an interview, she once said-"In a concert, I make love to ten thousand people, and I go home alone. I hope she found peace.
Fear not ! She had many dear friends such as Ron McKernan , as well as others from the GratefulDead , Jerry Garcia was very close as well as Bob Weir , from what I know as well RamRod (Laurence Shurtliff (lead roadie for GD ) as well as many other close friends . yes she also did feel lonely a lot
This song was written by country/rock artist Kris Kristofferson, who did record it shortly before Janis. After Janis recorded it, an interviewer ask Kris about the Bobby McGee song, and he smiled and replied that it wasn't his song anymore, it was Janis' song now. Janis and Kris were also lovers at one time.
Kris said he had to listen to it over and over again, because her death hit him hard, and he wanted to be able to hear it without crying. 🥺 If you haven't heard his version, listen, it's beautiful as well.
@@MamaOdie Yes, I do like his version too. I always liked his work, Sunday Morning Coming Down and Help Me Make It Through The Night were a couple of my favorites. I first heard Me and Bobby McGee by Roger Miller and by Gordon Lightfoot, they both did a decent job on it , I've forgotten which one I actually heard first, but hearing them was why I bought Kris Kristofferson's album when I saw it there. It was very shortly after I heard his version that Janis' phenomenal version came out.
@@ptournas I have had a lifelong crush on him lol and LOVE his music. I am very much a 70's child, growing up with great singer/song writers, storytellers 🖤🖤🖤.
@@MamaOdie That's cool. I'm 73, so I guess I'm more of a Sixties child. I was aware of music at a young age and still remember seeing Elvis' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show at 8 years old. What a great time for music the 50's, 60's and 70's were. I love the singer/songwriters of the Sixties an Seventies too. Pretty much stopped listening to mainstream radio in the Disco Era. Not that there wasn't anyone making good music, it just didn't seem to get much radio play . Life's been a wonderful musical journey for me. Learned to play guitar at fourteen, learned harmonica at about 17 (loved Bob Dylan) and started playing local bars and other small venues at 21 until about ten years ago. I couldn't imagine a life without music. Nice chatting with you, and so happy people like Jamel are helping to expose so many young people to great music they might otherwise have been unaware of.
@Cobb Knobbler You mean dying from addiction? Some of these "partiers" did a tone of drinking and drugging ALONE - you know, kinda like how she died in a hotel room?
@Cobb Knobbler And yet in the four years we got her music, she made more difference than you could ever hope to. Guess that makes you even more pathetic kid.
@Cobb Knobbler - you're a moron for two reasons you've shown here. One is that you won't even recognize the greatness that can exist, even in people who are (or were) far from perfect. The other is that you used a horrid word to try to make your point. Grow up; you have no room to judge Janis Joplin for any shortcomings she might have had.
In Don McLean's song "American Pie", he "met a girl who sang the blues", referring to the Janis Joplin version of the song, where she and Bobbie sang the blues. He asks for some happy news from her. However, "she just smiled and turned away", referring to her death in 1970.
@@danwesterhouse6627 I know there are some good current ones, but back in those days you had to have talent. Today everyone sounds exactly the same - especially the women singers. Just watching Woodstock shows how diverse the musicians and MUSIC was. Jimi to Richie to CSNY to Joe Cocker at woodstock and then the musicians who weren't at Woodstock All different, all stand the test of time. That's why I love the reaction videos from the younggins'
Those words are haunting for me, I know that feeling and it stays with me to this day. I gave up my soul mate and would now "Trade All My Tomorrows.. For One Single Yesterday" just to have that moment back.
I got to see her in a concert in 1969. Very conservative town and the Police arrested her after the show for using the "F" word, which they thought was directed at them. It wasn't, but still arrested after concert. Her opening act was B.B. King !!!! A very powerful concert.
Song was written by Kris Kristofferson. When this recording came out, his producer or manager brought him the record. He said you have to hear this, you better sit down.
She really got started recording in 1966 when she hooked up with Big Brother and the Holding company. She died October 1970. Her career was very short but what an impression she made. RIP Janis ❤️
She actually started earlier than that doing small venues with Black Blues artists (which had a heavy influence on her music my understanding was many of those blues artists were from the 1930's and 1940 's) then as you said she was introduced to Big Brother and the Holding Company.
@@swampwitch6133 yep she left PtArthur to go to Austin to college and she was sneaking out in high school. They use to have a day for her in her home town. She was amazing!
She left us much too soon, but what a mark she left. Duane, Jimmi, Janis. Thank the great Kris Kristofferson for the lyrics. "I'd Trade All Of My Tomorrows for a Single Yesterday" is one of the most memorable and meaningful lines ever sung. Every so often a unique talent arrives upon which all future performances will measured and compared. She was that measuring stick, along with the likes of Elvis, Jimmi, Duane, the Beetles, then later SRV and others.
No autotune in the 70's or before.....All of the musicians were genuinely talented and that showed in their recordings and live shows... You won't go wrong listening to any of the music from back then..
You, sir, are so fricking adorable when you really get into the music and it makes me smile and giggle every damn time. In the dark days that are happening right this minute you have brought light to my day. :)
Her stage name was Pearl. She had to drink before going onstage because her self-esteem was so low from her tragic upbringing. She was one of the 27's. Died at 27, just like Hendrix, Morrisson etc.
It’s believed she’s mentioned in Don McLean’s American Pie, a song sometimes referred to an the Boomer anthem. The line is “I met a girl who sang the blues And I asked her for some happy news But she just smiled and turned away”. The turning away is a reference to her death.
That is a great song and it’s speculated that Don McLean referenced the Beatles as the quartet that practiced in the park, Bob Dylan as the jester in a cast as he was wearing JFKs (or was it Bobby Kennedy?) jacket, Janis Joplin as the woman that sang the blues, The Rolling Stones, and, of course, it’s speculated that the song is about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. That was the day the music died. I may have missed a couple of references in there, but it’s not confirmed that any of that is fact. But in my tiny little music driven mind, it makes sense.
@@azadventurefamily Yeah, that's pretty much as I've always understood it although McLean has never explained the song. Aside from the catchy melody, and that great hook (bye, bye, Miss American Pie, . . . ) the song is really sheer poetry because it is so enigmatic. It's pop culture allusions inside pop culture allusions.
Janis lived in San Francisco for awhile. She went into a store and was trying to buy a mink or fur coat. She wanted to write a check but did not have an ID. The clerk refused to sell it to her. She left the store and a few doors down was a news stand. There was a Time magazine with her picture on the cover. She bought a copy. Took is back to the clerk as her ID and, of course, they let her write a check!
Yeah, blues, folk, rock, soul with a little psychedelia thrown in here and there. I'd say she's really beyond being able to categorize though. She kinda transcends labeling.
Janis is by far my favorite female singer ever, bordering on obsession.She died at 27,as lots of the greats did.They even created something called the 27 club for actors and musicians who died at 27.I still listen to her daily.I even literally have the t shirt(freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose)
Separate Realities -Undeed it does!!! But it's soooo Awesome knowing it Won't die with us!!! Jamel & others have made revisiting the Good Ole Days MUCH KINDER!!!
Janis blew EVERYONE away at the legendary Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. If you look at footage, you can see Mama Cass with her jaw on the floor from Janis' voice.
Never say "Music that I have neglected." You have not neglected it, you just now being turned on to it. It is a "forward" looking thing, not backward! I enjoy seeing you experiencing some of the past.
Her voice is a roadmap to the human soul, lots of bumps and detours along the way. If you can’t get what she’s singing or how she’s singing it, you haven’t truly lived.
I feel honored to have grown up on this music. It still get amazed at the amount of phenomenal music was written in the 60's and 70's. Thank you for playing and enjoying my generations music.
Agreed and ditto. Best variety, fusion, new bands evolving, and establishing the distinctive sounds. New technology evolving. And FREEDOM to express everything and anything under the sun!
I grew up in the '80s and '90s, but my dad was a rocker in the '70s, so this was the music I listened to through my childhood and into my teens. I still can't get over how amazing this music was.
She first recorded in 1962, but her first large audience performance was in 1967 at the Monterey Festival with the legendary performance of "Ball and Chain". That performance alone catapulted her to stardom overnight.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left lose" One of the best lines put in a song, and will forever hold true. Janis has always been one of my favorites.
Tonya Rogers seen him live three times .and your right but his songs an story are superb .last gig I seen in Aberdeen a couple years back he sat on the edge of the stage at the end an just had a chat to anybody left in the gig .👍🏻
I grew up listening to Janis because my Mom loved her. When I hear that line about trading all my tomorrow’s for one single yesterday, it really makes me tear up. I lost my Mom 2 years ago and I would traded all my tomorrow’s for one single yesterday with her.
Oh my I lived this era. Thank you all for sharing your histories while we're still here to do this. I sure enjoyed 'this trip' back into time hahaha. The 60's and the 70's had the best diversity of music. It all came from the souls bc it wasn't so damn commercial back then. Beautiful fluid soft instrumentals in Bobbie McGee. Her voice an instrument. When that 'organ' music and the piano came in together .... And Jamel you're the bomb. I'd shoulder dance with you anytime!
In 1967, Joplin rose to fame following an appearance at Monterey Pop Festival, where she was the lead singer of the then little-known San Francisco psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. thanx to wikipedia
Thanks for making this 51 year old man cry like a little girl for about 6 minutes. We used to go camping when I was young boy to Colorado for the summer. Me, my brother and my mother LOVED Janis Joplin and would listen to this on the 8 track for hours and hours. My dad HATED Janis saying she sounded like someone was strangling a cat and he would hide the 8 track so he would not have to hear it. Hearing this song and your reactions bring back fantastic memories. Thank you.
Janis was from Port Arthur, Texas and was a classmate of football coach Jimmy Johnson. They both have similar accents. Nobody in that oil refinery town knew that this woman possessed the soul and spirit of the blues greats, so she left Texas for the West Coast where she found her mark. Unfortunately like many from that era, the scene caught up with her and we lost an American treasure. She would've been massive in the decades to follow, but for the short time she was with us, Janis Joplin's impact was profound.
Since you love the organ, I would highly recommend "Whiter Shade of Pale". The organ player got writing credit because it's so strong. There's several versions but I suggest finding all 4 verses. Love your videos. Take care my friend.
Biggest hit of her life released after her death. She was once voted The Ugliest Man on Campus while in college by the school newspaper. And they printed it. She showed them something.
She was an outcast because she did not hate the black people in her school - and Port Arthur was a notoriously racist town - she crossed the racial divide as well as the hippie divide - and those Texas racists and bigots couldn't stand that.
I've always described Janis Joplin's voice as wiskey and cigarettes and she's absolutely amazing! I really enjoy your videos, thanks for making the days a little brighter!
I too had first started with JANIS with piece of my heart. (Big Brother and the Holding Co.) Stayed with her all the way to this final curtain call. A polished and fitting encore to a once in a lifetime Star and Soul.
Man, Janis could sure "work a song." She mesmerizes you at first, then gradually cranks up the emotion, ending up with a sad, sad ending...and she makes you FEEL her regret.
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. As a man who lost everything he ever had I can say no truer words have ever been spoken. Great song great artist and great reaction!
She was a Beatnik first. She had a very sweet voice then. Unfortunately, her love for Southern Comfort took its toll on her voice. She was a sweet talented tragedy.
Victoria, I saw her after Woodstock, Labor Day weekend in Lewisville, TX, at the Dallas In'tl Pop Festival. Who knew 1 year later she would be gone? RIP, Janis, you took a little piece of my heart.
Had to smile when you said she gave "a piece of her heart" - 'Piece of My Heart' was one of her hits. Janis didn't make much more than she spent and gave away - she'd be appalled that any videos of hers were getting pulled by RU-vid's lawyers. She started singing in Texas bars in her teens - can't recall exact age, but it was young - before moving to California and an eventual rock career.
This is so accurate, Janis didn't give a fuck about money.. to her money really meant nothing Janis was into her music because she love to entertain the crowd and make people happy.. Now days people just get into music to make money and most of them could care less about their audience even though their the ones that buy the music that supports them.
@@janetownley Her face was not at all attractive to any of us who worked with her she had complexion problems as well - but that never mattered to those who loved or admired her.
Five people came together in the right place at the exactly right time. She seemed to have the souls of a Gospel singer and a Soul singer intertwined in one very specific voice and feeling. I'm so glad that you did this. She was gone way too soon. Thank you so much! Keep up the great work! Peace out my friend!
Janis Joplin poured out her soul in every lyric. She hardly ever sang on perfect key but you could hear and feel her pain in those notes and that's why people loved her
You should watch the movie “The Rose”, it stars Bette Midler. She portrays a version of Janis. Old movie. Great acting that shows how messed up she was in her daily life.
It should be noted that this is a cover. Me and Bobby McGee was written by the great Kris Kristofferson and songwriter Fred Foster. Janis' version was not released until after her death.
Her first song, "What Good Can Drinkin' Do", was recorded on tape in December 1962 at the home of a fellow University of Texas student. That would have made her 19
Janis was a class act. Her hero was Otis Redding and if she had lived, she would have gone into Soul/R'n'B. She has been gone for 49 years this October but her music remains timeless. That is the best tribute of all.
As a teenager, Joplin befriended a group of outcasts, one of whom had albums by blues artists Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Lead Belly, whom Joplin later credited with influencing her decision to become a singer. You inspired me dust off my old records and give some janis Joplin/big brother and holding company records a spin. Thank you for sharing your passion for music with us
Janis Joplin was a huge Bessie Smith fan. In Aug. 1970, Janis and Juanita Green split the cost of a headstone for Bessie's grave, which had been unmarked since her 1937 death. Juanita Green was then president of the North Philadelphia NAACP, but as a child had done housework for Bessie Smith.
And incredible blues artists, sadly most people today will never listen to them or get their music, different time growing up and living back then when there were a lot more struggles than today and that's not to say the struggles don't exist but the segregation and racism back then was much worse than today but sadly even today they are still issues in this world that won't seem to end :(
We were blessed to have heard her when she was alive.I didn't get to see her in concert,as I was only 12 in 1970,but I did see Jimi Hendrix at The Forum in Inglewood, California,and what a memory that is.
My favorite memory of this song is driving in a friend's car, holding the steering wheel with one hand and a harmonica in the other so he could play guitar while driving. That's sorta legal in Texas, as long as you have a beer between your legs.
Awesome memory! My best Bobbie McGee memory is singing this as my karaoke song at my sister's wedding. Yeah, my sis and bro-in-law had karaoke. They walked in to Paradise City. Those adorable lil' rockers.
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose 😂 Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no no And, feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues 😃👍 Yes what a classic for sure jamel.
A lot of singers may have sounded like Janis Joplin, but she didn't sound like anyone else. Totally different from anything we had ever heard before or since. You'd see her doing hard-core raw lyrics and then, turn around and sing something like "Me and Bobby McGee " What an amazing entertainer! You never left seeing her and walk out thinking, not worth the money to see. RIP Janis, I'm going to be greedy here... you were taken away from us far too soon. 😢 Peace ✌️ you sister .❤❤❤❤
