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Janis Joplin

Real Name:
Janis Lyn Joplin
Profile:
Born 19 January 1943, Port Arthur, Texas, USA
Died 04 October 1970, Los Angeles, California, USA

Joplin was the eldest of three children, Michael and Laura, and attended Thomas Jefferson High School where she began painting and listening to the blues of Bessie Smith, Leadbelly, Big Mama Thornton and Odetta with the rebellious kids of the neighborhood. She graduated in 1960 and, in 1962, the university she left in the middle of her studies ran the headline in its campus paper "She dares to be different".

She hit San Francisco in 1963, first living in North Beach and later Haight-Ashbury where she begun the drug and alcohol habits that would tragically end her life. During this period she recorded a session with Jorma Kaukonen that later appeared as the bootleg "The Typewriter Tape". Noticeably suffering from her addictions she returned to Port Arthur in May 1965 and 'straightened up' for a year, enrolling as a sociology major at Lamar University.

In 1966, at the invitation of Chet Helms whom she'd known as a teenager, she returned to California and was recruited as the singer for Big Brother & The Holding Company in June, appearing at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco on her first public performance with them. In August 1966 the group signed with Mainstream Records and recorded an album. However, it was not released until a year later and in the meantime, with very little reward, they moved with the Grateful Dead to a house in Lagunitas, California. It was there that Joplin relapsed into hard drug use.

Joplin and the band signed with Albert Grossman in November 1967 and released Big Brother & The Holding Company - Cheap Thrills in 1968. This release was the culmination of a year in which Joplin had wowed audiences at the Monterey Pop Festival, the Anderson Theater in New York, the Wake For Martin Luther King Jr concert with Jimi Hendrix in New York and on TV's prime-time Dick Cavett Show. Joplin then left the band after a Family Dog benefit gig in December 1968 and formed a back-up group, the Kozmic Blues Band, releasing an album in September 1969. The group disbanded three months later, with Joplin again suffering from her dependencies.

After taking time out in Brazil with friend Linda Gravenites, who was her costume designer and praised by Joplin in the May 1968 issue of Vogue, Joplin returned to America and formed the Full Tilt Boogie Band which began touring in May 1970. She also appeared in reunion concerts with Big Brother at this time. She then began recording a new album in September 1970 with producer Paul A. Rothchild.

By Saturday, October 3rd Joplin had already laid down a number of takes at Sunset Sound Studios in LA, including "Mercedes Benz". On the following day she failed to appear and John Cooke, the road manager of Full Tilt Boogie Band, drove to the Landmark Motor Hotel where Joplin was staying. There he found her dead on the floor of her room, the result of a seizure caused by a heroin overdose.

Joplin was cremated and her ashes scattered from a plane into the Pacific Ocean. Her unfinished recordings were assembled and the result was the posthumously released Janis Joplin - Pearl in 1971. It became the biggest selling album of her career.
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Discography

Releases:
Big Brother & The Holding Company (LP, Album)   Columbia Special Products 1967
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (Album) (7 versions)   CBS ... 1969
Cry Baby (7")   CBS 1970
Janis (Simon And Schuster) (Flexi, 8", Ltd)   Eva-Tone Soundsheets 1970
Me And Bobby McGee / Half Moon (3 versions)   Columbia ... 1970
Get It While You Can / Move Over (7")   CBS 1971
Mercedes Benz (7", Single)   Columbia, Columbia 1971
Pearl (Album) (16 versions)   CBS ... 1971
In Concert (Album) (5 versions)   CBS ... 1972
Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits (Comp, Album) (12 versions)   Columbia ... 1973
From The Soundtrack Of The Motion Picture "Janis" / Early Performances (2 versions)   CBS ... 1975
Janis Joplin (LP)   AMIGA 1981
A Collection (LP, Promo)   CBS 1982
Farewell Song (Album) (5 versions)   Columbia ... 1982
Cheaper Thrills (LP, Comp)   Fan Club 1983
The History Of Rock Volume Fifteen. (2xLP, Comp)   Orbis 1983
Cheap Thrills (2 versions)   CBS ... 1989
Janis (3xCD + Box)   Columbia, Legacy, Legacy, Legacy 1993
18 Essential Songs (Comp) (2 versions)   Legacy ... 1995
The Very Best Of (CD)   Columbia 1995
Absolute Janis (2xCD, Comp)   Columbia 1997
Live At Winterland '68 (CD, Album)   Columbia, Legacy, Sony Music Entertainment Inc. 1998
Legendary Rock Stars (Cass, Comp, RM)   Old Records 1999
Mercedes Benz (12", S/Sided, Promo)   Columbia 2003
The Essential Janis Joplin (Comp) (2 versions)   Columbia ... 2003
Collections (CD)   Sony Music Entertainment (Canada) 2004
Greatest Hits (Steel Box Collection) (CD, Comp)   Sony BMG Music Entertainment 2008
Pearl / Cheap Thrills (Cass)   Columbia  
Production:
China Beach: Music And Memories (LP) Piece Of My Heart SBK Records 1990
Appears On:
Big Brother & The Holding Company (Album) (6 versions) Intruder, Blindman, Do... Mainstream Records ... 1967
Down On Me / Call On Me (7") Down On Me Mainstream Records 1967
Cheap Thrills (Album) (10 versions) I Need A Man To Love, ... Columbia ... 1968
That's Underground (LP, Mul) Piece Of My Heart CBS 1970
Maynard Ferguson (LP, Album) Move Over Columbia 1971
Together (LP, Smplr) Move Over CBS 1971
Slayed? (Album) (6 versions) Move Over Polydor ... 1972
25 Jahre Hitparade Instrumental (3xLP, Comp + Box) Der Clou (The Entertai... Sonocord 1980
California Radio / Move Over (7", Single) Move Over Lotus Records (4) 1980
Mary Burns (LP, Album) Move Over Lotus Records (4) 1980
Clam Dip & Other Delights (LP, MiniAlbum) Move Over What Goes On Records 1988
Hide Your Heart (LP, Album) Turtle Blues CBS 1988
Nina Hagen (Album) (2 versions) Move Over Phonogram ... 1989
Stairway To Heaven / Highway To Hell (Cass, Comp) Move Over Mercury 1989
J.J. Tribute (Remix) (12")   Beat Club Records 1990
Delirious (CD, Album)   Creastars Europe 1992
Mercedes Benz (Single) (2 versions) Mercedes Benz Creastars Europe 1992
Mitsou (CD, Album) Mercedes Benz Hollywood Records 1992
Joy, Life And Pain (Album) (4 versions) Mercedes Benz (Album V... Alabianca Records ... 1994
Mercedes Benz (CD, Maxi)   ZYX Music 1995
Recollection (CD, Album, Comp)   I.R.S. Records 1996
Sånn Skal Det Gjøres (CD, Album) Mercedes Benz PolyGram 1996
Hit Collection (CD, Comp) Mercedes Benz (Radio Mix) BMG (Netherlands), Alabianca Records 1997
Hit Collection (CD, Comp) Mercedes Benz (Radio Mix) Alabianca Records 1997
Mushroom Songs (CD, Album) Move Over Dzynamite Records 1997
The Monterey International Pop Festival June 16-17-18 1967 (4xCD, Comp, RE, Box) Down On Me, Road Block Castle Communications, Essential 1997
Жир (CD, Album) MB (Mercedes Benz) SoLyd Records 1998
Big Boobs / 私の胸でおねむりなさい (CD, Album) メルセデス・ベ... Alchemy Records (2) 2000
Mercedes Benz (CD, Single)   Arcade Music Company Sweden AB 2000
Rock & Polar (CD, Promo) Summertime Gallimard, Sony Music Entertainment (France) 2000
Rock 'N' Roll Jam '70 (2xCD, Album, RE) Cozmic Blues P-Vine Records 2002
Daily Mail Legends (CD, Comp) Mercedes Benz Sony Music Special Markets 2003
Summer Habits EP (12", EP, Ltd, Promo) It's All The Same Day Nasty Habits 2003
Summertime - George Gershwin's Most Beautiful Song In 20 Versions (CD) Summertime Classic Hits 2003
Tech Set (CD) Mercedes Benz Il Manifesto 2004
Кон-Тики (CD, Album) Мерседес-Бенц Отделение ВЫХОД 2004
Watchmen - Music From The Motion Picture (Comp, Album) (2 versions) Me And Bobby McGee Reprise Records ... 2009
Mercedes Benz (12")   Not On Label  
Tracks Appear On:
Do It Now: 20 Giant Hits (LP, Comp) Down On Me Ronco 1970
Fill Your Head With Rock (2xLP) Try (Just A Little Bit... CBS 1970
Superb Super Pop Session No. 2 (2xLP, Comp, Gat) Try (Just A Little Bit... CBS 1970
Together (LP, Smplr) Move Over CBS 1971
Vol. 1 20 Heavy Hits (LP, Comp) Maybe K-Tel 1971
24 Millionen Erfolge 3 (2xLP, Gat) Me And Bobby McGee CBS 1972
30 Dynamite Hits Vol. 1 (Cassette One) (8-Trk) Me And Bobby McGee Columbia House 1973
The Greatest Hits Of The World - 2 (LP, Comp) Me And Bobby McGee CBS 1974
World Star Festival (LP) Me And Bobby McGee CBS 1977
12 Golden Hit's (LP, Comp) Me And Bobby McGee Pepita 1982
Fever - Songs, Die Unter Die Haut Gehen (LP, Comp) Cry Baby K-Tel International GmbH, K-Tel International (Switzerland), K-Tel International (Austria) 1982
25 Jaar Popmuziek - 1971/1972 (2xLP, Album) Me And Bobby McGee CBS Special Products 1988
25 Jahre Internationale Pop Musik - 1971/1972 (LP, Comp) Me And Bobby McGee CBS Special Products 1988
Tour Of Duty (LP) Ball And Chain CBS 1988
TVT Sampler Summer 1991 (Cass, Smplr, Promo) Raise Your Hand (Live) TVT Records 1991
Psychedelic 60's (CD) Kozmic Blues Columbia 1992
Woodstock Diary (CD) Try (Just A Little Bit... Atlantic 1994
Woodstock Diary (CD, Album) Try (Just A Little Bit... Atlantic 1994
Woodstock Three Days Of Peace And Music Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Collection (Comp) (2 versions) Try, Work Me Lord, Bal... Atlantic ... 1994
Legacy / Tower Present: More Than Music... The Legacy (CD) Kozmic Blues Legacy 1995
The Rocking Ladies (CD) Mercedes Benz Magnum 1995
Het Beste Uit De Top 100 Allertijden - Editie '97 Long Versions (CD + CD, Enh) Me And Bobby McGee Sony Music Entertainment (Holland) 1997
Flower Power & Woodstock Generation (4xCD, Comp) Piece Of My Heart Universe (2) 2000
The Best TV Ads... Ever! (2xCD, Comp) Mercedes Benz Virgin, Virgin 2000
Singers And Songwriters - 1970-1972 (2xCD) Me And Boby McGee Time Life Music 2001
Woodstock • The Love And Peace Generation (2xCD, Comp) Piece Of My Heart Falcon Neue Medien 2001
Tune In - Chill Out: Classic Chill Out From The Coolest Ads (2xCD) Mercedes Benz Inspired Recordings 2002
Daily Mail Legends (CD, Comp) Mercedes Benz Sony Music Special Markets 2003
Summer Habits EP (12", EP, Ltd, Promo) It's All The Same Day Nasty Habits 2003
Summertime - George Gershwin's Most Beautiful Song In 20 Versions (CD) Summertime Classic Hits 2003
The Best Of Beat (DVD, 4:3) A Piece Of My Heart Planet Song 2003
Make Love Not War (CD, Comp) Me And Bobby McGee Falcon Neue Medien 2004
Rock Goldmine (3xDVD) Try Black Hill Pictures 2004
Unthugged The Essential Mix (2xCD, Comp, Mixed, Promo) Mercedes Benz Not On Label 2004
Essential Sights & Sounds (CD, Comp, Promo + DVD-V, NTSC, Comp, Promo) Piece Of My Heart Columbia, Epic, Legacy, Columbia, Epic, Legacy, Columbia, Epic, Legacy, Columbia, Epic, Legacy 2005
Live Remashing (CD, Promo, Mixed, Comp, Ltd) Mercedes Benz Not On Label 2005
Sound Citizens Vol. No.1 (CD, Mixed) Move Over Foul Play 2005
The Greatest Artists Of The World... The Essential Music (CD) Summertime Sony Music Media 2005
Hai Karate Allstar Remix Series: Rock (12", Promo) Mercedes Benz (DJ Czec... Hai Karate 2006
Love Is The Song We Sing (San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970) (4xCD, Comp) Mercedes Benz Rhino Entertainment Company 2007
Watchmen - Music From The Motion Picture (Comp, Album) (2 versions) Me And Bobby McGee Reprise Records ... 2009
20 Heavy Hits (LP, Comp) Down On Me Crystal Corporation  
Generation Woodstock (2xCD, Comp) Summertime Arcade  
Pop, Rock And Soul (Box + 4xLP) Maybe Columbia  
Quadraphonic, The Spectacular Sound Of Four Channel Stereo (LP, Quad) Me And Bobby McGee Columbia  
The Best Of Woodstock And Flower Power (CD, Comp) Turn On Your Love Light Eurotrend  
Top Of The Rock (2xLP) Little Girl Blue Columbia  
Woodstock's Flower Power (CD) Turn On Your Love Light ACD  
Unofficial Releases:
Feelin' Love (12", Ltd) Feelin' Janis T.D. Records, Inc. 1990
Легенды Мирового Рока 6: Smoke On The Water (CD) Move Over Moroz Records 2001
Mercedes Benz / Feel Good Inc. (7") Mercedes Benz (Let's D... The Bombist Reggae Remixes 2008
Best (CD, Comp, Unofficial)   Buena Suerte Industrias Musicales Inc.  
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Janis Joplin - Mercedes Benz