1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,200 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,960 Speaker 1: show that belts out the greatest hits of history every 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: day of the week on Gay Bluesier And in this episode, 5 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: we're looking at the fast paced life and untimely death 6 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: of Janis Joplin, an icon of the nineteen sixties counterculture 7 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: and a true trailblazer for women in rock and roll. 8 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: As a warning, today's episode includes discussion of drug abuse 9 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: and self inflicted unintentional death, which may be disturbing for 10 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: some listeners. The day was January nineteenth, nineteen forty three. 11 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 1: Legendary rock singer Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas. 12 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: She developed a love of music as a young girl, 13 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: and sang in the church choir with the bright sopranos 14 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: singing voice she'd inherit it from her mother. She was 15 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: an only child until age six, when her sister Laura 16 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: was born, followed four years later by her brother Michael. 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: Joplin was a model student in her elementary and middle 18 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: school years, and even put her vocal talents to use 19 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: in the school glee club, but by the time she 20 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: entered high school, she'd become an outsider. Her fellow students 21 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 1: teased her for her acne and weight gain, both of 22 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: which were side effects of puberty, and for dressing differently 23 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: from the other girls. Around the same time, Joplin started 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:35,839 Speaker 1: hanging out with a group of male friends who shared 25 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: her interest in music and beat poetry. They hung out 26 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: at working class bars and listened to a lot of folk, blues, 27 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: and jazz music, which exposed Joplin to new styles of 28 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: vocals that she'd never heard before. She was especially taken 29 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: with the sounds of legendary Black artists such as Lead Belly, 30 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: Otis Redding, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Odetta. She loved 31 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: how raw and heartfelt they sounded, and after imitating Odetta 32 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: one night at a party, Joplin discovered that her own 33 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,920 Speaker 1: voice could sound just as powerful. After graduating from high school, 34 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: Joplin bounced from one Texas college to the next, generally 35 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: doing more drinking and socializing than studying. Finally, in nineteen 36 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: sixty two, she enrolled as an art student at the 37 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: University of Texas at Austin. She didn't stick around long 38 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: there either, but during her brief stint, she began performing 39 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: folk music at casual gatherings with a musical trio called 40 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 1: the Waller Creek Boys. She stunned audiences with her forcefull 41 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: blues inspired singing style, and pretty soon she began to 42 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: write her own original songs to sing. One of them, 43 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: titled What Good Can Drink and Do, became her very 44 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: first recording when she sang it into a tape recorder 45 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: at the house of a fellow UT student. Take a 46 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: listen and be sure to note the contrast between Joplin's 47 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: soft speaking voice her down and dirty singing. This is 48 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: a song called what Good Gan Drink and Do? That 49 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 1: I wrote one night after drinking myself into a stupor 50 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: What Good candreecond What Good Candy? I I recorded? But 51 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: the next studable. In January of nineteen sixty three, Joplin 52 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: quit school for good and headed west to San Francisco 53 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: to pursue singing. She started performing Bessie Smith songs in 54 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: the budding Bay Area music scene, and the thrill of 55 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: singing the sexually charged lyrics of songs like Need a 56 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: Little Sugar in My Bowl began to influence both her 57 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: songwriting and her performance style. Joplin spent the next few 58 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: years trying to get her career off the ground, but 59 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: she didn't make much headway until nineteen sixty six, when 60 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: she joined a new psychedelic rock band called Big Brother 61 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: and the Holding Company. After nailing her audition in San Francisco, 62 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: she was invited to join the group and start playing 63 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: gigs alongside other emerging local artists such as The Grateful 64 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: Dead and Jefferson Airplay. At first, her role was limited. 65 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 1: She mostly played the tambourine and only sang a handful 66 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: of songs, but as the band's following grew, Joplin's vocals 67 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: became more and more of a draw. Pretty soon she 68 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: was front and center at most concerts, including Big Brother's 69 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: breakout performance at the nineteen sixty seven Monterey Pop Festival. 70 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: The band played two sets that weekend, and the show 71 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: stopper for both of them was their rendition of Ball 72 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: and Chain, a classic blues song first made famous by 73 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: Big Mama Thornton. Take a Listen, Came a Hannah Grabbed 74 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: a hold of, and a Like a ball Shade on 75 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 1: Monterey took Big Brother to a new level of fame, 76 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: but most of the attention was focused squarely on Janis Joplin. 77 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,239 Speaker 1: Her raw, whiskey soaked vocals couldn't have been more different 78 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: from the gentle voices of other white female singers of 79 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: the era like Joan Bias and Judy Collins. And then 80 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: there was her stage presence, a frenetic, free wheeling performance 81 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: fueled by amphetamines and heroine and dripping with confidence. The 82 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: rest of the band wasn't thrilled that all eyes were 83 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 1: on Joplin, but after their star making turn at Monterey 84 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: landed them a contract at Columbia Records, all the growing 85 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: tension went on the back burner, at least for the 86 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 1: time being. Big Brother's earlier recordings hadn't made much of 87 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: a splash outside of San Francisco, but the band's first 88 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: album for Columbia proved wildly successful. Released in the summer 89 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixty eight, Cheap Thrills was just as raw 90 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: and energetic as the group's live performances, and even incorporated 91 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: the noise of a crowd to make it seem as 92 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: though it were recorded live. Cheap Thrills reached number one 93 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: on the Billboard charts that October and went on to 94 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: become one of the best selling albums of the year. 95 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: Although the band's popular cover of Ball and Chain was 96 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: included on the album, the soul single was actually a 97 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: different cover song, Joplin's take on a soul song by 98 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: Irma Franklin called Peace of My Heart Take a Listen. 99 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: After butting heads with her bandmates throughout the recording of 100 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: Cheap Thrills, Joplin decided to leave the group on a 101 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: high note and strike out on her own. She delivered 102 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: a historic performance at Woodstock in August of nineteen sixty nine, 103 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: and then followed it up a month later with the 104 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: release of her first solo album, titled I Got Damn 105 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: Old Cosmic Blues Again, Mama. The project featured original compositions 106 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: like Cosmic Blues and One Good Man, as well as 107 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: distinctive covers like Try Just a Little Bit Harder and 108 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: to Love Somebody by the bee Gees. Yet, despite the 109 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: album's strengths, the reviews were decidedly mixed. Joplin had assembled 110 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: a rather large band, including a brass section, to accompany her, 111 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: and the singer herself wound up getting a bit lost 112 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: in the shuffle. Some outlets also criticized Joplin personally, taking 113 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: shots at her sexuality, her struggles with substance abuse and 114 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: her decision to part ways with Big Brother. In the 115 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,239 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy interview with The Village Voice, the singer revealed 116 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: the pressure she felt as a female solo artist in 117 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: a mostly male industry, and how the criticism of her 118 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: debut album reinforced the idea that she still had something 119 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: to prove. That was a pretty heavy time for me, 120 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: she said. It was really important, you know, whether people 121 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: were going to accept me or not. Joplin made several 122 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: attempts to get clean during this time in her life, 123 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: but as she prepared to record what would be her 124 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: final album, she returned to using heroin as a way 125 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: to numb herself to all the pressures and fears she 126 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,200 Speaker 1: felt over her career. In the fall of nineteen seventy, 127 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: she was in Los Angeles recording the final tracks for 128 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: her album Pearl with a recently formed full tilt boogie band. 129 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: The album's single Me and Bobby McGhee, written by her 130 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: one time lover Chris Christofferson, would go on to become 131 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:19,680 Speaker 1: the biggest hit of her career, but sadly, Joplin herself 132 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't be alive to see it. She had written two 133 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: original songs for Pearl move Over, a powerful song about 134 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: a woman let down once too often by men, and 135 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: Mercedes Benz, a gospel style satire poking fun in American consumerism. 136 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: On October first, nineteen seventy, Joplin attended what proved to 137 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: be her final recording session, and the last thing she 138 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: ever committed to tape was the vocals track for Mercedes Benz. 139 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: Take a list on everybody. Oh Lord, won't you buy 140 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drugh porsches. I 141 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: must make A man's worked hard all my lifetime, no 142 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: help from my friends, So, oh Lord, won't you buy 143 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 1: me a mercedies me? That's it. Three days later, Janis 144 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: Joplin accidentally overdosed on heroin and was discovered dead in 145 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:27,199 Speaker 1: her Hollywood hotel room after failing to attend her next 146 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: recording session. She was just twenty seven years old when 147 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: she died, a sad detail which she shares with several 148 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: other brilliant musicians, including Jimmy Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, 149 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:44,080 Speaker 1: and Amy Winehouse, all unfortunate members of the so called 150 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: twenty seven Club. Although she died far too young, Janis 151 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: Joplin left an indelible mark on American music, and her 152 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: fame has only grown since her passing. In nineteen ninety five, 153 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 1: she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall 154 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: of Fame, and in two thousand and five she was 155 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: honored with a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement. A tragic figure 156 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: and a one of a kind talent, Joplin lives on 157 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: through her music and through the generations of fans and 158 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: performers that it's inspired. I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you 159 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: now know a little more about music history today than 160 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. You can learn even more about history 161 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI 162 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 1: HC Show, and if you have any feedback you'd like 163 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,360 Speaker 1: to share, you can always send it my way by 164 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:42,839 Speaker 1: writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to 165 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,560 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks to you 166 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: for listening. I'll see you back here again soon for 167 00:11:48,720 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: another Day in History class.