Netflix is offering a pretty good documentary on the life and times of Janis Joplin called Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015). We watched it last night. She was never my idol nor my favorite -- but the treatment of her is very even-handed. Much like the Jimi Hendrix documentary I mentioned here, the inclusion of family letters (narrated by Cat Power) shows that there was much more than just another wastrel behind her persona. But her demons and sensitivities got the best of her, and all of her surviving family, friends, lovers and colleagues still grieve.
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[added] Dad Bones links what would have been the perfect video to use in this post:
13 comments:
Little Girl Blue
Thanks, Dad Bones. I added that link to the post.
I got to see her perform at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. She wasn't super well known then but..... my GOD she was electric. It was incredible.
@DBQ: I've seen so many crowd shots of that concert -- have you ever seen yourself? Also, this documentary discussed the rivalry between the San Francisco and L.A. music scenes when the cover Monterey. The L.A. people wanted to film it, much to the chagrin of the SF people.
And what with your having been at Monterey Pop and Sixty having been at Woodstock, it's like we have celebrities here.
She wasn't super well known then but..... my GOD she was electric. It was incredible.
The filmmakers use the perfect sequence of clips to convey just that and it works.
That is to say, I think the editing in this film is really good.
No. I haven't ever seen myself. We were kind of in the back of the crowd. I was actually (and embarrassingly) with my father and uncle (who had a house and some property in Pacific Grove so we had a place to stay). I and my father had been taking blues guitar lessons a while back, about 1964-ish, from Jorma Kaukonenin at a guitar shop San Jose or Santa Clara(can't remember) and we were hoping to see him with his new band. :-D I was 17 in 1967 ;-P
I was actually (and embarrassingly) with my father and uncle (who had a house and some property in Pacific Grove so we had a place to stay).
As a teen, I went to see Neil Diamond with my parents but declined to see Elvis -- much to my eternal chagrin.
Interesting - I was 19 in 1969, and I always claim that I can be seen in the crowd scenes at Woodstock. I was the guy in the back, over towards the right, with long hair and a beard. Can't miss me.
Have to say I was never a big fan of hers, we had too many OUTSTANDING real female blues singers in Louisiana during that period. In 1967 I was a 23 yr old finishing pilot training and on my way to DaNang in the back seat of an F-4 for my first combat tour, landing in DaNang in Oct, 1967. Was stationed in the UK flying F-4s when Woodstock came around--watched it on BBC TV.....both fascinated and appalled at sametime..
virgil xenophon: Did you meet or know F-4 legends Robin Olds or Chappie James over there? I read about them in the Stars and Stripes while I was in Nha Trang.
@Dad Bones/
No, they were stationed in Thailand, although I was assigned the same BOQ WW II Quonset hut at RAF Bentwaters after I departed DaNang that Chappie James lived in as a Bachelor in the early 60s, for whatever that's worth, lol.
@virgil xenophon
Back to the post and your comment. Irma Thomas comes to mind and I'm sure you can name many more. Being from northern Iowa I had to start somewhere and Janis came along at the right time.
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