Janis Joplin
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Big Brother And The Holding Company: Cheap Thrills (CBS KCS 9700)
Review by Simon Frith, Let It Rock, April 1975
JANIS JOPLIN was an awkward Texan girl with a rough voice who became one of the major idols of the sixties 'counter culture'. Why? ...
Audio interviews
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, April 2014
The film director revisits making Bob Dylan movie Dont Look Back; working with Albert and Sally Grossman; Dylan's wife Sara; the post-motorcycle accident Dylan in Woodstock; the 1966 tour film; shooting Otis Redding at Monterey... and playing Billie Holiday to Janis Joplin.
File format: mp3; file size: 69.9mb, interview length: 1h 12' 50" sound quality: ****
List of articles in the library
Big Brother & the Holding Company
Interview by Greg Shaw, Mojo Navigator, 5 October 1966
GS: Can you tell us about your recent visit to Chicago? ...
Janis Joplin: Lock Up Your Sons
Interview by Karl Dallas, Melody Maker, 17 August 1968
SHE WEARS a micro-length dress with a neckline plunging down to the navel. She swoops around the stage like some kind of female bat about ...
Big Brother & the Holding Company: Cheap Thrills (Columbia KCS 9700)
Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 18 August 1968
Big Brother Album Out ...
Top Tunes: Big Brother's Janis Joplin
Interview by Michael Oberman, Evening Star, The (Washington DC), 24 August 1968
SOUL IS where it's at, and Janis Joplin has more than her share. ...
Janis Joplin and the Boys in the Band
Report by Judith Sims, TeenSet, September 1968
IT WAS beginning to dawn on me. Janis Joplin was a Superstar, complete with her photo in Vogue magazine (which must be some sort of ...
Janis Joplin Has Superstar Status
Profile by Mike Jahn, Pop Scene Service, 14 September 1968
NEW YORK — It has finally happened. Janis Joplin, the ghost of a hundred female blues singers, has become a superstar. ...
Janis Joplin: Singer With The Bordello Voice
Profile and Interview by Al Aronowitz, LIFE, 20 September 1968
IF YOU HAVEN'T heard of Big Brother and the Holding Company by now, you're going to miss your chance. ...
Popocracy — The New Revolution
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 3 November 1968
The casual, oddly dressed stars of American pop music are making so much money they don't know how rich they are ...
Report by Michael Lydon, The New York Times, 24 November 1968
SAN FRANCISCO — In the heady first days of the "San Francisco Sound," someone dubbed the city the "Liverpool of the USA." The title, though ...
Profile and Interview by uncredited writer, Flip, December 1968
A YEAR AGO, Flip's Hollywood Editor (Carol Deck) and Flip's London Editor (Keith Altham) met at the now legendary Monterey Pop Festival. It was the ...
Big Brother & The Holding Company: Where They're At
Profile and Interview by Jim Delehant, Hit Parader, February 1969
BIG BROTHER and the Holding Company exploded on the national scene in the summer of 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival when Janis Joplin, feet ...
Janis Joplin: Fillmore East, New York NY
Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 12 February 1969
NEW BAND LIBERATES JOPLIN BLUES SOUND ...
The Janis Joplin philosophy: Every Moment She Is What She Feels
Special Feature by Michael Lydon, The New York Times, 23 February 1969
SAN FRANCISCO — In a miserably rainy San Francisco winter, Janis Joplin was, by all the rules of show-biz myth, At a Truly Crucial Point ...
Janis Joplin: Janis Superhypermost!
Interview by Ray Connolly, The Evening Standard, 5 April 1969
JANIS JOPLIN is instantly, aggressively friendly. I'm a complete stranger and right away she's asking me to massage her neck and kissing me "hello" with ...
Janis Joplin: The Wildest Girl-Creature?
Profile and Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 12 April 1969
THEY CALL her: "The new American talent-character; the wildest girl-creature to burst on the in-person and disc scene yet." They call her: "a kind of ...
Janis Joplin — A Legend in Her Time
Interview by Mike Gormley, The Ottawa Journal, 18 April 1969
A Girl of Down-to-Earth Conviction ...
Janis Joplin: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 29 April 1969
CRYING FOR US ...
Report by Mark Williams, International Times, 9 May 1969
JANIS WAS WANDERING round rapping and goofing with her band when I ventured onstage during her pre-concert rehearsal at the Albert Hall. She was obviously ...
The Janis Joplin Revue, Country Joe & the Fish: Cobo Hall, Detroit
Live Review by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 12 May 1969
Joplin Revue: Music, Yes; Excitement, No ...
Newport '69 Pop Festival: Rock Festival Fiasco
Report by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 5 July 1969
NOW THAT the Newport '69 Pop Festival (called that to borrow a little of the fame from the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, but actually ...
Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 18 August 1969
Rock Audience Moves to Dusk-to-Dawn Rhythms ...
Report by Miller Francis Jr., The Great Speckled Bird, 1 September 1969
"Man, what done got into them ofays?" one asked. "It ain't nothing. They just trying to get back, that's all" "Get back?" said the ...
Janis Joplin: Madison Square Garden, New York NY
Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 20 December 1969
Janis Joplin Gives A Rousing Display Of Blues and Rock ...
Janis Joplin: I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again, Mama (CBS Stereo 63546)
Review by David Griffiths, Record Mirror, 3 January 1970
'Try'; 'Maybe'; 'One Good Man'; 'As Good As You've Been To This World'; 'To Love Somebody'; 'Kozmic Blues'; 'Little Girl Blue'; 'Work Me, Lord' ...
Janis Joplin & The Full Tilt Boogie Band: Forest Hills Stadium, Queens NY
Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 4 August 1970
Janis Joplin and Her New Group Give Rousing Forest Hills Show ...
Janis Joplin’s Full-tilt Boogie Ride
Report and Interview by David Dalton, Rolling Stone, 6 August 1970
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – Janis Joplin and her newly-formed band, Janis Joplin Full-Tilt Boogie, debuted here June 12th, their first gig since they started rehearsing together ...
Janis Joplin: An Appreciation by Geoffrey Cannon
Memoir by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 6 October 1970
AN EVENING at the Royal Garden Hotel in April, 18 months ago. I was meeting Janis Joplin. I fished around for a while, trying to ...
Joplin's Last Visit: She Told Them Who Was Boss
Memoir by Mike Gormley, Detroit Free Press, 6 October 1970
LUSTY HEROINE OF ROCK IS DEAD ...
Obituary by Vernon Gibbs, Columbia Daily Spectator, 6 October 1970
JANIS JOPLIN used to stand on stage at the Fillmore and wring out evil, catastrophic blues numbers, agony-wracked protests cloaked in Southern Comfort elegance. It ...
The Frustrations of Janis Joplin
Obituary by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 6 October 1970
FIDGETING NERVOUSLY, singer Janis Joplin edged toward the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival mike, squinted up at a slim break in the fog overhead, reared back ...
Report by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 10 October 1970
JIMI HENDRIX died last week. Janis Joplin died this week. The needle is picking off the electric generation one by one with the precision of ...
Comment by Geoffrey Cannon, Melody Maker, 10 October 1970
Update, 2020. Yes, the deaths of Brian Jones in July 1969, then of Jimi Hendrix in September 1970, then of Janis Joplin a couple of ...
Janis Joplin: Girl of the Electric Generation
Obituary by Lillian Roxon, Sydney Morning Herald, the, 11 October 1970
To be all woman, yet equal with men; to be free and yet a slave to real love; to nose-thumb convention, yet get back to ...
Comment by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 1971
Author's note, 2018: Nobody talked about flower power or summers of love or fun, fun, fun after the Manson and the Altamont murders, followed by ...
Pearl, Last Album Janis Joplin Made, May Be Her Finest
Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 16 January 1971
JANIS JOPLIN'S last recording has been released by Columbia Records; sadly, it's her most impressive one. ...
Jimi and Janis: Victims of the Plague
Essay by Frank Bach, The Ann Arbor Sun, February 1971
EARLY IN the morning of Monday, October 5, 1970, Janis Joplin was found dead in an apartment in San Francisco, her arms filled with tracks, ...
Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band: Pearl (CBS 64188; £2.25)
Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 20 February 1971
JANIS, THE ROCK TRAGEDIENNE An in-depth review of her last album by ROY CARR ...
Review by Hugh Nolan, International Times, 11 March 1971
A FITTING epitaph for the maverick First Lady of Rock. ...
Janis Joplin: Pearl/Big Brother and the Holding Company: Be A Brother (CBS)
Review by Charlie Gillett, Cream, May 1971
THEY ALL AGREED, the people who went to see her on stage, that Janis had something special. The effect of her personality didn’t come over ...
Interview by David Dalton, Rolling Stone, 17 February 1972
"I’M GOING to write a book about you," David Dalton told Janis Joplin when she was beginning her first tour with her Full Tilt Boogie ...
Janis Joplin: Joplin In Concert (Columbia C2X31160)
Review by Greg Shaw, Los Angeles Free Press, 26 May 1972
I'LL NEVER forget Big Brother & the Holding Company. Christ, I must've seen them a hundred times between early '66 and the time Janis left. ...
Janis Joplin: Joplin in Concert
Review by Ben Edmonds, Creem, August 1972
IT MAY WELL BE an admission of blasphemy, but I was never one of the worshippers at the Janis Joplin altar. I seldom missed an ...
Retrospective by Mick Farren, International Times, 18 September 1972
A LOOK AT A JET AGE RED HOT MAMA ON THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF HER DEATH ...
R.I.P. Giants – The Dead Certs
Overview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
How dying can be a good career move. ...
Singles from Elton John, David Bowie et al
Review by Colin Irwin, Melody Maker, 1 March 1975
Elton gets lost ...
Overview by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 12 January 1985
From the raw to the pure, from the sublime to the meticulous — BARNEY HOSKYNS sings the praises of 24 of music's most glorious voices. ...
Obituary by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 13 March 1986
Managed Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and others ...
Essay by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 8 March 1988
Something's happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear. Is the '60s revival a thaw in the Big Chill, or just more evidence of fashion ...
Retrospective and Interview by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 23 August 1990
"My eyes were opened. There's a new world and a new society and a new spirit." ...
Janis Joplin: Janis (Columbia/Legacy)
Review by Mark Cooper, MOJO, March 1994
DYLAN FELL OFF his motorcycle, The Beatles broke up and Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin paid the full price of ‘60s rock stardom ...
Eyewitness: Janis Joplin's Last 24 Hours
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Q, October 1997
It's October 3, 1970 and after an exhausting tour Janis Joplin and her new group, the Full Tilt Boogie Band are holed up in Sunset ...
A Shot From The Heart: Janis and Cheap Thrills
Retrospective by David Dalton, Gadfly, September 1998
IT'S 30 YEARS ago today since Cheap Thrills was released, but as soon as the needle touches the surface of the record (I’m sentimental about ...
Big Brother & The Holding Company: Do What You Love
Retrospective and Interview by Steve Roeser, Goldmine, 25 September 1998
"All of a sudden someone threw me in this rock 'n' roll band. They threw these musicians at me, man, and the sound was coming ...
Janis Joplin: The Ultimate Collection
Review by Carol Clerk, Uncut, October 1998
ROCK'S HOTTEST mama revisited in a comprehensive 32-track retrospective. ...
Retrospective and Interview by David Dalton, MOJO, June 2000
She was no victim, but gave herself up to her music – and kept on giving. David Dalton hitches a ride with Janis Joplin, entertainer, ...
Retrospective and Interview by Ernesto De Pascale, Rock's Backpages, April 2001
On the eve of the premiere of off-Broadway show Love, Janis, Big Brother’s Sam Andrew remembers his friend and musical soulmate. ...
Comment by Michael Goldberg, Neumu, 17 May 2002
A recent documentary reminds us that Janis' bandmates mattered too ...
Choo Choo Ch’Boogie: Festival Express 1970
Retrospective and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages, September 2004
IT WAS THE Lollapalooza of its day – a week-long, three-date circus of a rock and roll tour featuring The Band, Buddy Guy, Janis Joplin, ...
Janis Joplin: Got Them Battlin' Janis Bio Blues
Report by Chris Smith, Texas Music, Summer 2005
AH JANIS. OK, so you gave us an alternate spelling for 'cosmic,' helped corral all the hippies into San Francisco, proved white people can sing ...
Richard Bell: Dazzling keyboard artist found a place in rock 'n' roll history
Obituary by Nicholas Jennings, The Globe and Mail, 23 June 2007
AMONG BLUES-ROCK soloists and accompanists, he had few equals. An exceptional pianist, organist and accordion player, Richard Bell left his mark on more than 400 ...
Big Brother & The Holding Company in The Summer of Love
Retrospective and Interview by Richie Unterberger, MOJO, Summer 2007
THE RELEASE of Big Brother And The Holding Company's self-titled debut album in the summer of 1967 should have been a highwater mark in both ...
Janis Joplin: "That night I was in England making a ham sandwich for Mama Cass"
Retrospective by Mike Jahn, Rock's Backpages, 12 May 2009
EVERY NEWSPAPERMAN gets interesting letters. For example, the one dated April 26, 1971: ...
Janis Joplin: The Pearl Sessions
Review by Laura Barton, The Word, May 2012
Janis Joplin was a great storyteller. Here's the final album — with notes, sketches, first drafts and alternative endings. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Sheila Weller, Vanity Fair, July 2012
It was billed as "the Summer of Love", a blast of glamour, ecstasy, and Utopianism that drew some 75,000 young people to the San Francisco ...
Janis: The Way She Was (dir. Howard Alk)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Graeme Thomson, Uncut, 3 September 2015
Howard Alk's intimate 1974 portrait of Janis Joplin reissued ...
Big Brother: John Simon in Woodstock and Bearsville
Book Excerpt by Barney Hoskyns, 'Small Town Talk' (Faber & Faber), 2016
Two excerpts from Small Town Talk that tell part of the story of John Simon, producer of The Band and Janis Joplin… plus one excerpt ...
Retrospective by Mitchell Cohen, Music Aficionado, 2016
NOT COUNTING outtakes and alternates, songs on which she didn't sing lead, and the instrumental she never got around to adding her vocal to for ...
Book Excerpt by Holly George-Warren, 'Janis: Her Life and Music' (Simon & Schuster), 2019
Playing is the "mostest" fun there is – feeling things and really getting into it. That's what it's all about. – Janis Joplin ...
Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, February 2021
ELLIOT MAZER, the recording engineer and record producer who worked with Kenny Burrell, Chubby Checker, Maynard Ferguson, Richie Havens, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, ...
Inside the Chelsea Hotel, New York's infamous house of pleasure and pain
Retrospective by Mick Brown, Daily Telegraph, 18 August 2021
Bob Dylan has just been accused of a sexual assault there in 1965 - the latest in a long line of claims about the storied ...
Cancel Culture: Starring Iggy, Janis, Zappa & Others
Memoir by Gary Lucas, Please Kill Me!, 25 October 2021
Long before it became a conversation-stopping mantra of the extremist right wing, "cancel culture" visited rock 'n' roll on numerous occasions. Guitarist, deejay, scenemaker and ...
see also Big Brother & The Holding Company
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