For some reason, I've been wanting to listen to a lot of Janis Joplin lately. I had cassette tapes of her stuff, but lost them in one of my many moves, and unfortunately never got her CDs. That may have to be rectified soon.
Joplin would never make it in today's music world. Fortunately for her, in the mid to late 60s, there was a turn towards blues music, and the rock that was influenced by it. Jimi Hendrix was singing Red House, Voodoo Child, and Mannish Boy. John Mayall was singing Crawling Up the Hill, a Hard Road, Blues City, and the heart wrenching "Death of JB Lenoir".
Joplin grew up knowing the blues, listening to the blues, and living the blues. So that is what she sang in her distinct voice. The whiskey soaked gravelly tunes poured out of her, and carried her heart and soul out with them. A perfect example of this is "Summertime". She did play with Hendrix, but I haven't heard any of that stuff. I can only imagine the pure energy that was on that stage.
But anyway, back to the original point, that she wouldn't make it in today's music. She wasn't a typical beauty, and her voice, while powerful, strong, and unique, was anything but smooth, which is really sought even with rock and power singing groups today. She'd be limited to small time stuff, and possibly a punk band or something like that. Would the lack of notoriety be worth having her talent live on past the age of 27? I guess we'll never know. If she was alive today, she'd only be 65, but heroin took her away from us in 1970.
Do yourself a favor, go download Summertime, and listen to some real music.
