Janis Joplin
A teenage outcast in Port Arthur, Texas, found her calling in a friend's records by Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Lead Belly. By 1962 she was carrying an Autoharp around her Austin campus, ready to break into song; the following year she hitchhiked to San Francisco.
Her powerful mezzo-soprano exploded into view at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, where Janis Joplin fronted the psychedelic outfit Big Brother and the Holding Company. Cheap Thrills kept things raw – you can hear a glass shatter and the shards swept up during 'Turtle Blues' – while 'Piece of My Heart' and 'Summertime' made her a star.
Going solo, she took cues from Stax-Volt with two new backing groups and played Woodstock. A heroin overdose killed her in October 1970, aged 27. Pearl arrived three months later, and her version of Kris Kristofferson's 'Me and Bobby McGee' reached number one.
If you like Janis Joplin you should check out: Big Mama Thornton, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, 13th Floor Elevators, Otis Redding, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Amy Winehouse
