From sweet and smooth classics, to new names, to old names with new music...the focus here, is to shine a little light on some damn fine music.

I'll find it. You can listen, review, or tell me I wouldn't know good music if it kicked me in the ass. I personally don't give a shit.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Little Girl Lost: Janis

Born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1943, Janis Joplin would have turned 70 years old today.

Not the prom queen, the brain or the most popular girl by any stretch of the imagination, Janis did have something none of the other kids had...she had soul, and the voice to share it.

Her teens were hard years, she didn't fit in and increasingly turned to music to soothe her inner turmoil. Moving to California, the San Francisco music scene was much more welcoming.

As a kid, when I first heard Janis sing "Piece of My Heart", her voice and style was something both amazing and unnerving at the same time. If you listened close enough, you knew it wasn't screams coming out, it was pure raw emotion. Janis threw every bit of what she felt into her singing. But even with all her success and talent, her demons eventually won the battle on October 4, 1970.

A couple of my favorites from the Little Girl Blue.

"Summertime" ...the classic song from Porgy and Bess, with an incredible interpretation
"Ball and Chain"...showing every bit of her soul.
"Move Over" ...live and on fire

She didn't look like anyone else, she didn't act like anyone else and she didn't sing like anyone else.

Forever she is known simply as Janis.

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1 comment:

  1. summertime is one of my faves.very sad,there was so much talent&so many demons.rip blues mama

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