Exploring Janis Joplin: A Free Essay on the Life and Music of a Cultural Icon

Born in 1943, Janis Joplin is one of the most significant cultural and musical figures of all time (Weller par.1). Many authors have made attempts to write about this pop icon’s life and music. Alice Echols “Scars of Sweet Paradise” shocked readers when it was noted that as a girl, Janis was pleased and always wanted to please her parents. Through Holly George Warren‘s book, the author who accessed her diaries and letters, Janis's account of her real side is coherently given (Weller par.3). Janis was a hippie and intelligent student who skipped a grade in school but still managed to excel in Physics following suit in the intelligence of his engineer Father. As a youngster, she never settled for less. Janis had a daredevil personality, was an idealist, a talented painter, a knitter, and fearlessly opposed segregation. She was a joyous girl who accepted life as it was(Weller par.4). However, she had taken after her father’s lonely and quiet personality. This side of her may have been the cause of her drug-taking. Janis started taking amphetamine at a very early stage in her lifetime.

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Janis's escalation in music began during her late teenage years and early 20s. Just like Jack Kerouac, someone she looked up to, Janis was always on the road. From Venice, and Greenwich Village to Palo Alto, she sang various genres at shows. She sang western, hillbilly, bluegrass, and her passion, blues influenced by Odetta and Bessie (Weller par.6). She put into balancing these musical journeys and attending college like a normal teenager. It was at this time that she fell in love with Peter de Blanc, a man who only lied to her. Janis craved suburban life and used it as a way of escaping music (Weller par.7). To her, her talent had a way of displaying her emotions and made her drink and use drugs heavily. In one of her letters, she tells a friend, Linda how scared she was to go back to music.

In 1966, Janis picked up music again and performed “Ball and Chain” by Willie Mae Thorton (Weller par.8). In 1967, she featured in Summer of Love alongside the cool Grace Slick, her total polar opposite. Janis also fronted the Big Brother and Holding Company band and as she records, these moments were ecstatic for her. George’s book tells of her encounters with numerous world-renowned music producers, compadres, and other popular musicians. Above all these encounters, what really stands out about Janis is her unbelievable singing skills. Sam Andrew, one of the band members says he was surprised with her consonantal melisma hanging capabilities. It was easy to hang on a vowel but a consonant requires top-notch skills which Janis pulled off. The book describes her performances as a steady climb from a vulnerable alto to emotional climaxes filled with her howls and screams.

Janis had many love affairs in her lifetime. She was angry that Leonard Cohen, a man she loved did not reply to her advances. She falls in love again with David Niehaus. Her famous song "Cry Baby” was inspired by her love for him. She later left Big Brother and Holding Company band and started her own Kozmic Blues Band. She wanted the Kozmic Blues Band to have a different taste of music. She wanted a mix of some brass –rock and a Funky soul sound. Janis saw heroin as solace and a pathway to the peace she was desperately looking for. In 1970, Janis died in Los Angeles because of an accidental heroin overdose.

Work Cited

Weller, Sheila. "The Real Janis Joplin “ The New York Times, November 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/26/books/review/janis-joplin-her-life-and-music-holly-george-warren.html Accessed 03 October 2020