Janis Joplin

Born on January 19, 1943, in Port Arthur, Texas, Janis Joplin broke new ground for women, rising to fame in the late 1960s. She was best known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals. She would go on to be known as the "first lady of rock n' roll"

From a young age, Janis developed a love for music, singing in her church choir as a child. The oldest of three, with her youngest sibling being 10 years her junior. Upon entering High School Janis, like the majority of the teenage population, gained weight and started getting acne. At Thomas Jefferson High School, Joplin became the target for rumors and bullying as her peers would call her "pig" or believed that she was sexually active at a time when sex before marriage was still taboo. Joplin eventually developed a group of guy friends who shared her interests in music and Beatniks, those who rejected societal norms and emphasized creativity.Musically, Joplin and her friends were interested in the blues and jazz. They would often frequent local bars in the nearby town of Vinton, Louisiana. By her senior year, Joplin had created a reputation for herself as a ballsy, tough-talking girl who liked to drink and be wild.

After graduating, Jopling enrolled at Lamar State College of Technology but left after the first quarter as she spent more time drinking with friends than studying. She then enrolled at Port Arthur College, where she took some secretarial courses before dropping out to move to Los Angeles in 1961. However, this move did not last long as she soon returned to Port Arthur. In 1962, Joplin enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin where she studied art. It was here where she began performing at folksings, musical gatherings where anyone can perform, on campus with the Waller Creek Boys, a musical trio who she had become friends with.

In January of 1963, Joplin had yet again left school to pursue a music career in California. She and her friend Chet Helms moved to San Francisco where Janis struggled to make it as a singer. She was able to book some gigs including the 1963 Monterey Folk Festival, but she was unable to get the traction she needed. She then spent some time in New York City in hopes that things would go better there, but her drinking and drug use got in the way. In 1965, she gave up and returned to Texas in an effort to clean herself up.

Once back in Texas, Joplin took a break from her music and partying lifestyle, began dressing conservatively, controlling her famously wild hair,
and doing everything she could to appear normal. The conventional life quickly proved itself to not be for her and she began to slowly return to performing in 1966. She was recruited by friend Travis Rivers to audition for a psychedelic rock band in San Francisco, Big Brother and the Holding Company. At the time the group was managed by her longtime friend Chet Helms and the band was part of the burgeoning music scene of San Francisco in the late 60's, along with bands like the Grateful Dead.

After blowing the band away with her audition Joplin was slowly integrated into the group. Before long she assumed a larger role in Big Brother as the band began to gain a large following in the Bay Area. Their appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 brought the group further acclaim as audiences were blown away by Joplin's voice and performance. Fueled by heroin, amphetamines, and bourbon that she drank straight from the bottle Joplin mesmerized audiences with her raw vocals. After hearing her performance in Monterey, President of Columbia Records, Clive Davis, wanted to sign the band. They were able to get out of their previous contract with Mainstream Records through the help of their new manager Albert Grossman who had previously worked with Bob Dylan.

While their albums with Mainstream Records failed to find an audience, Big Brother's first album with Columbia Cheap Thrills was a huge success. The album quickly became a gold record, but it had proved extremely challenging to produce and the band grew further apart. The album helped solidify Joplin's reputation as a unique, dynamic, bluesy singer. Despite the group's success, Jopling grew frustrated as she felt they were holding back her career.

Joplin parted ways with Big Brother in 1968 to pursue a solo career. Following her historic performance at Woodstock in 1969, Joplin released her first solo album, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!. The album's more famous tracks included "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" and "To Love Somebody", a BeeGees cover. The album received mix reviews, with most of the criticisms focused on Joplin herself. She felt uniquely pressured to prove herself in a male-dominated industry, so the criticism only caused more stress on the singer. Outside of music, she continued to turn to drugs and alcohol for comfort, specifically heroin.

Joplin's next and final album titled Pearl would be Joplin's most successful. Released posthumously, the album contained the classic songs "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Mercedes Benz". Following her long struggle with substance abuse, Joplin died of an accidental heroin overdose on October 4, 1970, at a hotel in Hollywood.

Sources:
http://www.biography.com/people/janis-joplin-9357941
http://www.janisjoplin.com/janis.php