Jans Joplin Biography
Janis Joplin once said "I always wanted to be an artist, whatever that was, like other chicks want to be stewardesses. I read. I painted. I thought." The 60's were a time that stuck with the American people, and it doesn’t seem to be leaving. It was a time for expression and success in new ways. But not everyone's success came as easy. Janis Joplin was a free spirited person, who didn’t believe in judgement but she believed in second chances. Whether that applied to her success or others. Her career finally rose above expectations in the late 1960's, as a blues vocalist. She lived a singled-minded life to keep her goals in front of her, even with her life threatening battles in the way. The purpose of this paper is to explain how a new female
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role influenced the new way of life, freedom of expression, and music in the 60's.
The 60's was a unique decade, filled of rebellion and freedom of expression, diversity, and ground breaking determination and confidence.
Which implied the people who belonged to this decade had to have similar characteristics to "fit in, and make it to the top. Janis Lyn Joplin was one of the people capable of making her traits well known and understood. She was born on January 19,1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, Janis was already surrounded by music. Starting out young she joined her church choir and found her love for music. She was quickly influenced by the voices of Leadbelly, Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton, who quickly made her realize how she wanted her life to play out, in the music industry. Joplin was 6 when her sister Laura was born, and 4 years later her brother Michael was born. During her childhood years she was always seen as popular and smart, but as her life progressed it started to look as if it would take a turn for the …show more content…
worse.
Janis entered teenage years as a popular and smart girl, but when puberty came along it played a role in changing her life forever. She attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where her rebellious attributes would quickly start to shine. Joplin disagreed with society's view, and refused to go along with what was seen as cliché. In her high school years she was a target for bullies. She was often called a "pig", while others seen her as "sexually promiscuous". At some point in her school years she finally found a group of guy friends that all shared the same musical interest as her, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Despite her outgoing personality she was drawn into the world of blues. With artist like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Odetta as strong influences in her musical path. By her senior year she was viewed as a ballsy, tough-talker, who seemed to be heading down the road of being an alcoholic.
After high school Janis attended Lamar State College in Austin, Texas. She spent most of her time drinking or doing drugs with friends than actually studying. which influenced her decision that the college life wasn’t made out for her. Joplin still had a deep love for the Blues Legends and folk poetry, these interests also had a impact. They gave her views that she should try and pursue her dreams in the music industry. Joplin then fled the school by the end of her first semester. Surprisingly she didn’t go very far, and went on to attend Port Arthur College to take a few secretarial courses, before she moved to Los Angeles during the summer of 1961. Her attempts at her dream life failed, which caused her to then return back to Port Arthur College.
It was now the summer of 1962, Joplin fled her current school and fled to the University of Texas at Austin, where she there studied arts. While in Austin. Janis started to perform at Folksings, on her campus and also at a place called Threadgill's, with a group called The Waller Creek Boys. Joplin's style wasn’t like the normal singer in ths tie period. Her voice was powerful and gutsy, which made people love her even more because she brought something new into the world of music.
In 1963 Joplin's rebellious reputation began to shine through once again. She ditched school with her friend Chet Helms to check out the rising music scene in San Francisco. But her record in the music career failed once again. Joplin had trouble getting her dreams started. She played a few gigs, even a side-stage performance at the 1963 Monterey Folk Festival, but even with this her career wouldn’t take of like she had wanted or planned. She then went to New York City hoping there she could have better luck. But throughout her failures Janis had become a regular drinker, and had become accustomed to using speed along with many other drugs. With these habits Joplin's career seemed to fall flat in every way she tried. In 1965, she chose to leave San Francisco and go back home to try and get her life on a better track.
While in Texas Janis tried to live a pretty "normal" life. She was hoping that if she could live a conservative life, it could somehow help get her music career on the path it needed to be. She put her music on pause, dressed as girls were seen supposed to, and stopped partying for a short period of time. But her passion for music is something that was impossible for her to hide. She slowly started performing again, then in May 1966 she was asked by Travis Rivers to audition for a rock band in San Francisco, called Big Brother and the Holding Company. Joplin would soon find out her future in music.
James Gurley, Dave Getz, Peter Albin and Sam Andrew would be the helping hands to get Joplin's career of the ground.
She quickly blew the band away during the audition, and was offered a spot in the band which she accepted. Starting off, she sang background for a few songs and played the tambourine. But Joplin knew she was destine for better and bigger roles, so she made her voice and opinions known. The group was beginning to get fans, and they were becoming quite popular in the Bay Area. In 1967 they performed at the Monterey Pop Festival, their amount of praise began to grow due to this one performance. But a lot of the praise was a highlight on Joplin's amazing and new vocals. What the fans didn’t know was she was fueled on heroin, amphetamines and the bourbon she drank straight from the bottle. Her saturnalia and spunky style mesmerized the audience. But with all the attention on Janis, it caused friction between her and all the other members of the
band.
All the attention wasn’t always bad though. President Clive Davis from Columbia records wanted to sign the band. Albert Grossman signed as their manager and was able to get them out of a previous record deal, and into the new one. The band's first album "Cheap Thrills" was a huge hit. It quickly became a certified gold record, along with "Piece of my heart", and "Summertime". But it took a lot of work to get it to Joplin's standards, which created even more friction between the group. Despite the success and attention the group had gained, Joplin felt like she was musically being held back. So Janis decided it would be to her benefit to leave the group and go solo. Joplin would perform with Big Brother for the last time in 1969, and then she went on her own. Her first solo attempts were "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!", "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and "To Love Somebody," a cover of a Bee Gees tune. Now that Janis was on her own and in spotlight, it was easy for her to become the target for criticism. Normally Joplin would not confide to what society thought she should be like. But recently Janis had been through multiple failures and resorted to drugs, which would cut her life short. Joplin was not the average woman, she didn’t agree with stereotypes, and didn’t fit into a social group. With the media pounding down on her she felt as if she needed to prove herself to them.
Four days before her death Janis did her very last interview with Howard Smith. She told him "That was a pretty heavy time for me,","It was really important, you know, whether people were going to accept me or not." It was obvious Joplin was struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol outside of her music. On October 4, 1970 in Hollywood's Landmark hotel Janis Joplin died from an accidental heroin overdose. she would become the first woman in the "27 Club". After her death Joplin's producer released her album "Pearl" in 1971 and it very quickly became a hit. Her music would and will continue to contribute to a new way we hear music today. In her life time Joplin proved that stereotypes were something not to believe in, but something to break.
Citations page
1- "Janis Joplin." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 04 May 2017. 2-"Janis Joplin Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 04 May 2017. 3-"Janis Joplin." Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2017. 4-"Janis Joplin Dies of a Heroin Overdose." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 04 May 2017.
5-Weller, Sheila. "Discovering the Vulnerable Woman Behind Janis Joplin's Legend." Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair, 25 Nov. 2015. Web. 04 May 2017.
role influenced the new way of life, freedom of expression, and music in the 60's.
The 60's was a unique decade, filled of rebellion and freedom of expression, diversity, and ground breaking determination and confidence.
Which implied the people who belonged to this decade had to have similar characteristics to "fit in, and make it to the top. Janis Lyn Joplin was one of the people capable of making her traits well known and understood. She was born on January 19,1943 in Port Arthur, Texas, Janis was already surrounded by music. Starting out young she joined her church choir and found her love for music. She was quickly influenced by the voices of Leadbelly, Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton, who quickly made her realize how she wanted her life to play out, in the music industry. Joplin was 6 when her sister Laura was born, and 4 years later her brother Michael was born. During her childhood years she was always seen as popular and smart, but as her life progressed it started to look as if it would take a turn for the …show more content…
worse.
Janis entered teenage years as a popular and smart girl, but when puberty came along it played a role in changing her life forever. She attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where her rebellious attributes would quickly start to shine. Joplin disagreed with society's view, and refused to go along with what was seen as cliché. In her high school years she was a target for bullies. She was often called a "pig", while others seen her as "sexually promiscuous". At some point in her school years she finally found a group of guy friends that all shared the same musical interest as her, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Despite her outgoing personality she was drawn into the world of blues. With artist like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Odetta as strong influences in her musical path. By her senior year she was viewed as a ballsy, tough-talker, who seemed to be heading down the road of being an alcoholic.
After high school Janis attended Lamar State College in Austin, Texas. She spent most of her time drinking or doing drugs with friends than actually studying. which influenced her decision that the college life wasn’t made out for her. Joplin still had a deep love for the Blues Legends and folk poetry, these interests also had a impact. They gave her views that she should try and pursue her dreams in the music industry. Joplin then fled the school by the end of her first semester. Surprisingly she didn’t go very far, and went on to attend Port Arthur College to take a few secretarial courses, before she moved to Los Angeles during the summer of 1961. Her attempts at her dream life failed, which caused her to then return back to Port Arthur College.
It was now the summer of 1962, Joplin fled her current school and fled to the University of Texas at Austin, where she there studied arts. While in Austin. Janis started to perform at Folksings, on her campus and also at a place called Threadgill's, with a group called The Waller Creek Boys. Joplin's style wasn’t like the normal singer in ths tie period. Her voice was powerful and gutsy, which made people love her even more because she brought something new into the world of music.
In 1963 Joplin's rebellious reputation began to shine through once again. She ditched school with her friend Chet Helms to check out the rising music scene in San Francisco. But her record in the music career failed once again. Joplin had trouble getting her dreams started. She played a few gigs, even a side-stage performance at the 1963 Monterey Folk Festival, but even with this her career wouldn’t take of like she had wanted or planned. She then went to New York City hoping there she could have better luck. But throughout her failures Janis had become a regular drinker, and had become accustomed to using speed along with many other drugs. With these habits Joplin's career seemed to fall flat in every way she tried. In 1965, she chose to leave San Francisco and go back home to try and get her life on a better track.
While in Texas Janis tried to live a pretty "normal" life. She was hoping that if she could live a conservative life, it could somehow help get her music career on the path it needed to be. She put her music on pause, dressed as girls were seen supposed to, and stopped partying for a short period of time. But her passion for music is something that was impossible for her to hide. She slowly started performing again, then in May 1966 she was asked by Travis Rivers to audition for a rock band in San Francisco, called Big Brother and the Holding Company. Joplin would soon find out her future in music.
James Gurley, Dave Getz, Peter Albin and Sam Andrew would be the helping hands to get Joplin's career of the ground.
She quickly blew the band away during the audition, and was offered a spot in the band which she accepted. Starting off, she sang background for a few songs and played the tambourine. But Joplin knew she was destine for better and bigger roles, so she made her voice and opinions known. The group was beginning to get fans, and they were becoming quite popular in the Bay Area. In 1967 they performed at the Monterey Pop Festival, their amount of praise began to grow due to this one performance. But a lot of the praise was a highlight on Joplin's amazing and new vocals. What the fans didn’t know was she was fueled on heroin, amphetamines and the bourbon she drank straight from the bottle. Her saturnalia and spunky style mesmerized the audience. But with all the attention on Janis, it caused friction between her and all the other members of the
band.
All the attention wasn’t always bad though. President Clive Davis from Columbia records wanted to sign the band. Albert Grossman signed as their manager and was able to get them out of a previous record deal, and into the new one. The band's first album "Cheap Thrills" was a huge hit. It quickly became a certified gold record, along with "Piece of my heart", and "Summertime". But it took a lot of work to get it to Joplin's standards, which created even more friction between the group. Despite the success and attention the group had gained, Joplin felt like she was musically being held back. So Janis decided it would be to her benefit to leave the group and go solo. Joplin would perform with Big Brother for the last time in 1969, and then she went on her own. Her first solo attempts were "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!", "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and "To Love Somebody," a cover of a Bee Gees tune. Now that Janis was on her own and in spotlight, it was easy for her to become the target for criticism. Normally Joplin would not confide to what society thought she should be like. But recently Janis had been through multiple failures and resorted to drugs, which would cut her life short. Joplin was not the average woman, she didn’t agree with stereotypes, and didn’t fit into a social group. With the media pounding down on her she felt as if she needed to prove herself to them.
Four days before her death Janis did her very last interview with Howard Smith. She told him "That was a pretty heavy time for me,","It was really important, you know, whether people were going to accept me or not." It was obvious Joplin was struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol outside of her music. On October 4, 1970 in Hollywood's Landmark hotel Janis Joplin died from an accidental heroin overdose. she would become the first woman in the "27 Club". After her death Joplin's producer released her album "Pearl" in 1971 and it very quickly became a hit. Her music would and will continue to contribute to a new way we hear music today. In her life time Joplin proved that stereotypes were something not to believe in, but something to break.
Citations page
1- "Janis Joplin." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 04 May 2017. 2-"Janis Joplin Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 04 May 2017. 3-"Janis Joplin." Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2017. 4-"Janis Joplin Dies of a Heroin Overdose." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 04 May 2017.
5-Weller, Sheila. "Discovering the Vulnerable Woman Behind Janis Joplin's Legend." Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair, 25 Nov. 2015. Web. 04 May 2017.