1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: The twenty seven Club is a production of I Heart 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: Radio and Double Elvis. Janice Joplin died at the age 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: of and she lived the life unlike any other. I 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: can give you twenty seven reasons why that statement is true. 5 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: Nine would be the day she spent riding the rails 6 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 1: on a cross country tour of Canada with a hodgepodge 7 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: of rock and roll bands and some unexpectedly illicit treats. 8 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: Another four would be the number of weeks she spent 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,760 Speaker 1: two thousand miles from home with no money, no safety net, 10 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: and no plane ticket back to where she belonged while 11 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: the gritty city of Chicago ate away at her hippie dream. 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: Ten more would be the number of girls she passed 13 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: backstage at the film Wore as they desperately waited in 14 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: line for a bathroom tryst with a certain headlining act. 15 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: And four would be the number of years she had 16 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: left to live when she fled her home state of 17 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,319 Speaker 1: Texas for San Francisco for the last time, inspired by 18 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: on stage outlaws and encouraged by a car full of 19 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: excitable weeks, all totally on this our first episode of 20 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: season three, Illicit Treats, The School of hard knocks, bathroom 21 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: trips and Janice Joplin walking a winding path for liberation, 22 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: UM Jake Brennan and this, this is the seven Cloth 23 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: m July. Somewhere in the wilds of the Great White North. 24 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: Phil Lesh bass player for the Grateful Dead Crand is 25 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: to look out the door of the small room aboard 26 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: the Canadian National Railway train. He heard noises coming from 27 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:12,160 Speaker 1: the hallway, banging, moaning, growling, a mangled, incomprehensible voice, like 28 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: words have been thrown in a warring blender. And set 29 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: on liquefied Phil Crane his neck as long as it 30 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: could stretch, and squinted his eyes from behind his oversized glasses. 31 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: I couldn't believe what he saw. There was some sort 32 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,960 Speaker 1: of multi headed hydro or a scraggly mutt cerberus itself, 33 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 1: just lumbering along, losing its balance, drooling, snarling, snorty, banging 34 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: from wall to wall. As the train rocketed through another 35 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,519 Speaker 1: stretch of lonesome Canadian countryside, got closer and closer to 36 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: phills from him, and he started to panic. He was alone, 37 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: and he wasn't about to step out into the corridor 38 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: with some unidentified subterranean creature from Hell, closing the gap 39 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: between his six ft plus lanky frame in certain death. 40 00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: And then the creature made a sound that he recognized. 41 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,399 Speaker 1: I need a lobotomy, it said, and one of those 42 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: trademark California hippie drawls. Phil squinted his eyes tighter and 43 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: then took his glasses off and rubbed his face with 44 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: the back of his fist. Glasses back on his face, 45 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: he looked back out to the corridor. Was it Could 46 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: it be ship? It wasn't some hell spawn, canine or 47 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: silthering serpent. After all, it was his band mate, Jerry Garcia, 48 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,239 Speaker 1: shoulder to shoulder with Rick Danko, bassist for the band. 49 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: They were crawling on all fours like a couple of 50 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: goddamn lunatics, which of course they were. Phil shook his 51 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: head to ward off the huge headache he could feel 52 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: coming from a mile away. He cursed the three gallon 53 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: bottle of Canadian Club that they were all drinking from 54 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: the night before. This must be a drunk felt like, 55 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: Phil thought, water logged, heavy headed, nauseous, blurry being stuck 56 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: on a moving train, and it wasn't helping. He was drunk, wasted, 57 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: but alcohol wasn't the grateful that's made attraction oodles of 58 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: Osley's finest tabs from the depths of the San Franciscan 59 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: acid factory. Now that that was more their speed. This 60 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: booze business ship. That was a different trip altogether. They 61 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: all drank so much on this Canadian tour that they 62 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: ran out of alcohol and had to make an unscheduled 63 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: stop in Saskatode, some tiny liquor store that was like 64 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: a mirage come to life. They passed the hat around, 65 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: slapped eight hundred dollars down on the counter, and bought 66 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: the place out. Phil Jerry and the rest of the dead. 67 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: We're getting a crash course and getting ridiculously hammered courtesy 68 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: of whatever this tiny Saskatoine outpost had on its shelves. 69 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 1: And it was all her fault. She had got them drunk. 70 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: She passed a bottle around, She told them to drink up. 71 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: She was armed with her hip flask in one hand 72 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: and a handle of Southern Comfort in the other. You 73 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: planned on having a relationship with that glass. She yelled, 74 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: the long red feather boa and her hair flapping and waving. 75 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: It was each friendly, and so you don't sip whiskey 76 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: in the morning, you knock at all back. Buck off 77 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: with that hippie bullshit. Sipping is for happy hour man, 78 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: drink up. It was her fault. Her Janis Joplin, the 79 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: high priestess of the Bay Areas scene the world were 80 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: revoiced behind Big Brother in the Holding Company, then the 81 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,600 Speaker 1: Cosmic Blues Band and now the Full Tilt Boogie Band, 82 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: the Countercultures, Queen Pearl in the Flesh, the Raspy Throate 83 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: at Raw, genuine blues singer for the Psychedelic Age. Janie 84 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: was headlining this tour through Canada. She and her band 85 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: were paid seventy grand by promoters to lead the charge 86 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,720 Speaker 1: the thing they called the Festival Express, a k a. 87 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: Woodstock on wheels. The groups didn't just play shows throughout 88 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: the vast expanse of Canada during the summer. They also 89 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: rode together on a locomotive consisting of twelve cars, two 90 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 1: bar cars, and a luxurious dining car. It was a 91 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: lineup that included not only the Dead and the Band, 92 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: but also Buddy Guy, New Riders of the Purple Sage, 93 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: and Delaney and Bonnie, and the tour was a surefire hit. 94 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: But it was plagued from the beginning. Their first stop, Montreal, 95 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: was canceled before they even arrived, and the show was 96 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: scheduled on the same day as Saint Jean Baptiste, and 97 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: the city feared that it was too much of a 98 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: good thing. Vancouver, which was supposed to be their final stop, 99 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: was canceled before the train left the station. Concert promoters 100 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: couldn't come to an agreement with the city on a location. 101 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: Crowds throughout the country boxed at the ticket prices, which 102 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: ranged from eight bucks in advance up to sixteen bucks 103 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: at the door. Kids had gotten into Woodstock for free 104 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,480 Speaker 1: the year before, so why not now? Why not Canada? 105 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: Outside the Toronto show, kids handed out leaflets encouraging people 106 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,840 Speaker 1: to boycott. They demanded that the show be free. They 107 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: accused the bands of price gadging. They rushed the gates, 108 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: climbed the fences, hauled themselves up on top of the 109 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: roofs of nearby buildings to avoid paying to get inside. 110 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: The ticketless mob grew to strong. Canadian police on a 111 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: horseback swarmed the grounds and attempted to keep the peace. 112 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: Everyone gets so nervous, and they sent Jerry Garcia out 113 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,600 Speaker 1: to negotiate. Jerry stepped up to the mic and pleaded 114 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:06,919 Speaker 1: with the fans to keep their cool. Just give us 115 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: a half hour of coolness while we figured this out, 116 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: he asked, and true to his word, thirty minutes later, 117 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: festival organizers came back to the stage and announced the 118 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: free show that the bands would play the next day 119 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: in Coronation Park. The near riotous masses were pleased. The 120 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: whole tour was over and a little over a week 121 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: it may have had more lows than highs. And the 122 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: one high that everyone could rely on, however, was Janice. 123 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: Janice was always a high, no matter what city they 124 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: were in, no matter how drunk she'd got them all 125 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: the night before, she'd whined her right leg out, bring 126 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 1: it back suspended in the air. Her drummer, Clark Pierson 127 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: would watched that leg like a hawk, and then she'd 128 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: kicked her leg out in front of her and the 129 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,559 Speaker 1: band on que would rocket and the cry Baby, the Garnet, Mims, 130 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: R and B classic that she made her own over 131 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: and over again. Every night. The dead loved to watch 132 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: Janie performed from the wings, This specially Ron pig Pen mccernin, 133 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: who was still in love with her. But what the 134 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: dead didn't like was when Janice got them drunk and 135 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: they weren't a beer band man. She said she was 136 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: trying to liberate them, set them free, pull them off 137 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: the same old trip they've been taken for years, and 138 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: put them on a different trip from once, a different track, 139 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: head towards a new destination. Destination trunk. But the dead 140 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: had more than a few tricks up their sleeves. They 141 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: were highly skilled in the fine arts of dosing and revenge. 142 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 1: On the last night of the tour and Calgary, the 143 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: Dead made Janice a birthday cake, told him it wasn't 144 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: for her birthday. Her birthday was back in January when 145 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: she turned seven. Whatever, the cake was the thing, but 146 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: it wasn't just any cake. Sure, it was made from flour, eggs, milk, 147 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: and sugar, the usual, but it had a secret ingredient, 148 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: the grateful Dead special ingredient. And they laced the cake 149 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: with enough LSD to send Ken Kesi to the moon 150 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: and back and offered Janice up a big slice. Here 151 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: you go, Janice. They told her no hard feel things 152 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: about getting a drunk thing, and Janice took a big 153 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:05,439 Speaker 1: bite of the acid cake well the dead attempted to 154 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: muffle their laughs. A member of the Calgary Police Department 155 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,839 Speaker 1: happened by, and they offered him a slice too. It's 156 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: Janice's birthday, they exclaimed, even though it wasn't, and the 157 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: cop couldn't say no. Before the slice kicked in, Janice 158 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: looked around at the motley crew of musicians, rhodies, manager's friends, lovers, pranksters. 159 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: They were her people. She was one of them. None 160 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: of them would ever think of leaving her, doing it wrong, 161 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 1: or ridiculing her, unlike those who had done her wrong 162 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: over the years. Janice Joblin was sitting on top of 163 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: the world. She was far away from the pain of 164 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,560 Speaker 1: Port Arthur, the desperation of Chicago. But before long, this 165 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: train would run on the track, the tour would end, 166 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: and Janice would be back in larks Were and back 167 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: to reality. And Janice didn't know it at that moment 168 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 1: as she took another bite. It was the last birthday 169 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: cake she'd ever eat, in the last tour of the 170 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: Canadian countryside she'd ever take. She'd never see Toronto again, 171 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: or wouldn't her Calgary In just three months time, Janice 172 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:35,200 Speaker 1: Joplin will be dead. Peter Alban was the first one 173 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: to notice the sweater. It was Kashmir. It was conspicuous 174 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: that sweater. It was August in Chicago, and who wore 175 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,719 Speaker 1: a Kashmir sweater in August in Chicago. But even more 176 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: conspicuous was the fact that Peter had never seen that 177 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: sweater on Janice Chop him before. She didn't even strike 178 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 1: him as a Kashmir sweater kind of gal. And yet 179 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,119 Speaker 1: there she was, reclined in her seat, laughing her huge, unbridled, 180 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,839 Speaker 1: defall laugh, tapping free the ash at the end of 181 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: her cigarette, throttling the neck of a near empty bottle 182 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: of Soco, wearing that fucking cashmere sweater. She certainly didn't 183 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: bring it with her On the flight from San Francisco 184 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: to Chicago. Their band big brother in the holding company, 185 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,839 Speaker 1: had flown into O'Hare with next to nothing besides their 186 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,719 Speaker 1: gear and the clothes on their backs, no suitcases overflowing 187 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: with extra pairs of shirts, no money in their pockets, 188 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,199 Speaker 1: no place to stay. They didn't even have a manager anymore, 189 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: just a jet plane in the rear view, a jet 190 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: plane that took them halfway across the country and dumped 191 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: them in the middle of the Windy City for a 192 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: month long residency at a cloud called Mother Blues on 193 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: North Wells and the heart of Old Town. Mother Blues, 194 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: of course, that was Peter remembered Mother Blues. That was 195 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:46,839 Speaker 1: where we saw the cashmere sweater. It was draped over 196 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 1: the back of a chair in the Rain Blues apartment. 197 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 1: Loraine Blue, and the woman who owned Mother Blues, the 198 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: woman who was Mother Blues and whose apartment next door 199 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:56,480 Speaker 1: to the club doubled as a rooming house for the 200 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: musicians who passed through and the street kids who never left. 201 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 1: And they called her Blue. She was legendary in Old Town, 202 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: mythical even. They said she divorced her husband and went 203 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 1: into business to support her kids. And so now X 204 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: wasn't exactly coming through in the Provider department, And they 205 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: said she poured the concrete of the building herself, right 206 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 1: in the very spot where the rising moon had once 207 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: stood before it suspiciously went up in flames. And they 208 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: said she raised four hundred kids in that apartment next 209 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: door to the club, the club that bore the name 210 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: that everyone called her. And like a hard boiled Chicago 211 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,839 Speaker 1: blue song, Lorraine Blue was tough caring but careful, kind 212 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 1: but skeptical. She took one look at Janis and the 213 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: boys when they blew into town, and they're petruly stink 214 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: and loose California lingo wafting from every armpit and moth 215 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:44,000 Speaker 1: that she thought, what the fuck is with these California hippies? 216 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: Chicago would be the band's wake up call, and Lorraine 217 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,959 Speaker 1: Blue would do the dialing. Peter knew that Janis had 218 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: stolen the sweater. He was sure of it. One minute 219 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:55,319 Speaker 1: it was in the apartment, in the next it was 220 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: wrapped around Janie's body. And whether it belonged Blue or 221 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: one of the four children who came in went it 222 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: didn't matter. They couldn't afford to fund this up to 223 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,719 Speaker 1: make enemies. They were already making enemies, looking the way 224 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 1: they looked, talking the way they talked, and they were 225 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: close enough to the edges. It was no money, no prospects, 226 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: no crowds, and no way to get back home. The 227 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,920 Speaker 1: residency was all they had, even if the promoter had 228 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: given up hope and had stopped paying them regularly, Even 229 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:21,840 Speaker 1: if they had to hire a girl slathered in day 230 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: glow paint and glitter and wearing a seran rap turban 231 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: and leotard to dance provocatively while they played, just to 232 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:31,079 Speaker 1: get asses off the streets and inside the way Peter 233 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: figured it. But they started lifting stuff that wasn't there. 234 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:35,839 Speaker 1: It started making a bigger scene than the one they 235 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,679 Speaker 1: made by simply rolling in the town. They could jeopardize 236 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: the whole thing, and then they'd be on the street 237 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: on their houses. San Francisco was a long way down, sure, 238 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: a big brother in the Holding Company were a big 239 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 1: deal in their hometown. They were one of the big 240 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 1: bands leaving the charge in the San Francisco scene, a 241 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: scene that included the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane. 242 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: But it was the summer of nineteen sixty six and 243 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 1: that's seen had an open wide just yet. So Chicago 244 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 1: was a hard cell. People looked at them funny, made 245 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 1: comments about their long hair and the way they dressed, 246 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: and the band thought it would be different than it 247 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: wouldn't be an uphill battle, but it was a huge 248 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: uphill battle, and the hill was a goddamn mountain. Chicago 249 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: didn't know Dick about Big Brother in Chicago didn't care 250 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: about Big Brother either. Chicago was mecca for the blues. 251 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,040 Speaker 1: You can get knee deep in it there, Muddy Wolf, 252 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: Buddy God, Jimmy Read, John Lee Hooker, that my namesakes 253 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: Little Walter Jacobs and a lotis rush, but I degress, 254 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: and no one taking a one way flight from San 255 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: Francisco in August of nineteen sixty six wanted to get 256 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: knee deep in Chicago blues more than Janice Job. All 257 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: the other female singers in San Francisco were on a 258 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 1: Joan Bias trip, folksing social protesters. But Janice was Bessie 259 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: Smith and a sea of Jones. She sang the blues 260 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: like she had lived the blues like she lived the 261 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 1: raw nerves of each line, and she had lived it. 262 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: She lived in towns that didn't want her, surrounded by 263 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: people who rejected her, called her name, was looked down 264 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: on her, even in San Francisco, the very place that 265 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: she was helping to put on the musical map. She 266 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: was a woman in a man's man's world, a booze 267 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: guzzling beat nick in a hotbed of acid heads. She'd 268 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: been used in, duped lied to, and victimized. She came 269 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: from a Texas oil town, Port Arthur, there was as 270 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: conservative as she was liberal as backwards as she was progressive. 271 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: She had to succeed, She had to put the past 272 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: in the rear view mirror. She made her way back 273 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: to San Francisco a failure. Then it was only a 274 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: matter of time before she wound up back in Port 275 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: Arthur again, busted and broke, and for all she knew, 276 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: it would be the last chance she had blown Chicago 277 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: liberation didn't come easy. Chicago wasn't a big, friendly jam 278 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: session where she and the boys rubbed elbows with the 279 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: guys with names like Muddy and Sunny Boy and Slim 280 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: and Wolf. Chicago was a slog. Chicago was playing your 281 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: guts O for a few drunk town he's gathered around 282 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: the bar. Chicago was getting raised eyebrows and condescended comments 283 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 1: from passers by on the street. Chicago was getting a 284 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: coveted review in a local paper only to be called ugly. 285 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: Chicago was not hit, not hitting the way that Janice 286 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: and the gang were hitting. Chicago was hostile. Chicago was Hatersville. 287 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 1: Chicago was the real world that looked at California like 288 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: its own separate universe of nuts and flakes, and the 289 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: Chicago wasn't enough now our own bandmates wanted to get personal. 290 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: Peter wanted a big confrontation with Janice. She knew it. 291 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: She could feel it coming, the way he was looking 292 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: at her, and the accusatory questions he was dropping like 293 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: b He wanted to have it out with her about 294 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: the stupid cashmere sweater that probably didn't really belong to 295 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: anyone anyways. She could tell it was coming, the lecture 296 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: of the public flogging, the way all the guys in 297 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 1: the band would occasionally take a moment to dress her down, 298 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: the girl in the crew. She was only the fucking 299 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: lead singer. Man, Yeah, I took that stupid sweater, she 300 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: told me, loud enough so that the rest of the 301 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,359 Speaker 1: band could hear. Her laugh was like a nervous punctuation. 302 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: She wanted to end the conversation move on to more 303 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: pressing matters at hand, but she also recognized how wound 304 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: up and anxious the whole band was at the moment. 305 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: She hadn't forgotten about the offer that Paul Rothschild from 306 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:09,240 Speaker 1: Electra Records had made her, not the band, not big brother, 307 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: but just her before they left San Francisco for Chicago. 308 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,200 Speaker 1: Peter hadn't forgotten either, no one in the band had 309 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: No one could forget that. Rothschild came directly to Janice, 310 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,920 Speaker 1: behind all of their backs, to coax her away from 311 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:27,640 Speaker 1: Big Brother and the holding company in order to become 312 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: the new member of a big blue supergroup he was 313 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 1: putting together. It was exactly what she was looking for, 314 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,320 Speaker 1: an opportunity to get free, but it was a big gasque. 315 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: It meant leaving behind the very group that had put 316 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: her name on the San Franciscan Math, and with Big Brother, 317 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: she was part of a group, a member of a gang. 318 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: The guys and Big Brother weren't her backing band. They 319 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 1: were equals, for better or for worse. She told the 320 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: band she would think about it, do this Chicago thing 321 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,440 Speaker 1: right out Big Brother a little longer, because on Sundays 322 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: she couldn't imagine ever being without them. But on other days, 323 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: days when they were stuck two thousand miles away from 324 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: home with no money and no one had turned to 325 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: days when she had to endure the third degree from 326 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: the bass player for swiping a goddamn cashmere sweater off 327 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: the back of a lonely chair in the rain Blues department. 328 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 1: Some days, being without the band was all she could 329 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 1: think about. Then she could truly be fraid. We'll be 330 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: right back after this word, word word. The line outside 331 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 1: the bathroom was at least ten girls teeth, some had 332 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: flowers in their hair, others had flowers painted on their faces. 333 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:44,919 Speaker 1: Some more long hair and long dresses, some more tinted 334 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,920 Speaker 1: glasses and beaded headbands. Some seemed to float like visions, 335 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 1: and sheer gowns that sprouted wings when they spread their 336 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: arms out to the side. In the bathroom, door would 337 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 1: open and one of the girls would walk out, a 338 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 1: look of bliss or shock across her face, stuck there 339 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: with sweat and lust, a look that pulsated in time 340 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:07,560 Speaker 1: with the rapid heart palpitations she was experiencing. The next 341 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 1: girl online would seek into the bathroom, and the door 342 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: would shot slowly behind her, and the whole thing would 343 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: start up again. A man's voice, a woman's voice, some 344 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: light banging, followed by excessively loud banging moans, groans, a deep, 345 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:24,400 Speaker 1: manished victory cry, complimented by a high pitched, ecstatic squeal. 346 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: The girls in line outside the bathroom turned to each 347 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: other in mine, blushed and giggled, ran their fingers in 348 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: between their knuckles to calm their nerves, and they scanned 349 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: around the hallway to make sure they weren't going to 350 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: get busted by some rent to car. As soon as 351 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:42,080 Speaker 1: the sounds beyond the door subsided, they would all turn 352 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: to face the bathroom once more, eyes wide. A hush 353 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: fell over the group. Then they strained to hear something, 354 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: anything from inside the bathroom that would continue to feel 355 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: the visuals they concocted inside their heads, and they waited 356 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,720 Speaker 1: for that door to swing wide open once more. It 357 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: would be there turn soon. It was June seven at 358 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: the Film War in San Francisco, and though the Jimmie 359 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: Hendrix experience had just wrapped up the last of their 360 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: six nights the hippest of hippie auditoriums, the real place 361 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: to be was backstage, and the rumors spread quickly throughout 362 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: the audience as they made their awkward shuffle on mass 363 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 1: towards the exits in the house public address system mushering 364 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 1: three thousand out into the indifferent San Francisco evening with 365 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:27,199 Speaker 1: the music of the Blues Mangoose as soundtrack, and the 366 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: backstage opportunity was whispered from the ear to ear, girl 367 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 1: to girl, some had dates on their arm and tried 368 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,199 Speaker 1: not to seem too disappointed when they laughed off the 369 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,280 Speaker 1: rumor and kept a steady course for the exit. But 370 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: those who were intrigued stopped in their tracks, verified that 371 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,879 Speaker 1: the information was valid, and then scanned the auditorium for 372 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:49,119 Speaker 1: the most direct route to the secret destination backstage. The 373 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: line never seemed to get shorter or longer. Every time 374 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: a girl will go into the bathroom, another would appear, 375 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: eyes darting around out of breath, like she had just 376 00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: scaled a prison fence to freedom. As this it and 377 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,399 Speaker 1: my here did anyone see me? All ten girls in 378 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,119 Speaker 1: line were surprised when around the corner came Big Brother 379 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: in the Holding Company, one of the bands that had 380 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,000 Speaker 1: opened the show that night. The girls didn't immediately recognize 381 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,199 Speaker 1: the guys in the band. They all looked like just 382 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: other nondescript hippie guys from any number of up and 383 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: coming bands. Long hair, thick, mutton shops jeans. It was Janice. 384 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: They recognized. Janice was their city's new star, and they 385 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: all gasped when they saw her flank by. These four 386 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: could be anybody san fran Dus, but didn't care to 387 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,439 Speaker 1: leave the line. They couldn't lose their place. Janie had 388 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: a bottle in one hand and a smoke and the other. 389 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,200 Speaker 1: She never left home without them. If there was a 390 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:42,159 Speaker 1: Janis Droplin action figure, the accessories would be a bottle 391 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: on a smoke. What's going on here, Janice shouted at 392 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: the girl's waiting in line, who in turn. We're trying 393 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,719 Speaker 1: to get Janice's attention from where they stood. What's the action, ladies. 394 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: One of the girls in line, tall blonde, a thick 395 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: Paisley headman keeping her pigtails in place, spoke up. Jimmie 396 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,400 Speaker 1: Hendricks is in there, she said, excitedly. He's handing out 397 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,879 Speaker 1: quickies as fast as he can. Yeah, I know, the 398 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: girl piped up. You want in, Miss Choplin. We'll let 399 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: you cut the line. Cut the line, Miss Joplin. Janie's 400 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: response echoed down the backstage hallway, a laugh so genuine 401 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,679 Speaker 1: and resounding that it began low at the bottom of 402 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: her belly and bounced its way up through her chest 403 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: and throw, and arrived with such confidence and clarity that 404 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:24,440 Speaker 1: it literally threw her head back. It was a smoker's laugh, 405 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 1: a drinker's laugh, the laugh of a prankster. The guys 406 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: and Big Brother tapped each other on the arms, had 407 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,119 Speaker 1: their own little private chuckles, like hey, can you get 408 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: a load of that question, Like Janis Joplin is gonna 409 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:38,120 Speaker 1: wait in line for Jimmie Hendricks. Janis and the boys 410 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: kept on walking right past the bathroom, past a lot 411 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: of girls, and know the exit door. Janice hoped that 412 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: the laugh had been loud enough but masculating enough that 413 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 1: Jimmy heard it through all the panting and moaning that 414 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: was surely bouncing around the bathroom tile, loud enough to 415 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,159 Speaker 1: knock his mail ego down a peg. Janice didn't have 416 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: time for that. Ship didn't have time to wait in 417 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,480 Speaker 1: line so that a rock god, a fabled sex god, 418 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,920 Speaker 1: could find time to make her another notch on his bedroost. Sure, 419 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,800 Speaker 1: Jennis found liberation in sex, but she did it in 420 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: her way. She caught the shots. She didn't wait patiently 421 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: in some line of submissive bimbos. She'd rather be the 422 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: one in the bathroom making the line of submissive mail 423 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: bimbos wait their goddamn turn. She'd fought against type her 424 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: entire life. At Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur, 425 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: she took shipped from rednecks like Jimmie Johnson, Yes that 426 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,640 Speaker 1: Jimmie Johnson, who called her a slut in a horror 427 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: just because she was different. She wasn't a blockhead like 428 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: the rest of them. The jocks would toss pennies at 429 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,880 Speaker 1: her when she walked by in the hallway, and when 430 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: she stood up for herself when she came back at 431 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: them with a loud funk, all of your motherfucker's. She 432 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,920 Speaker 1: was the one who got in trouble. And then when 433 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 1: she did start hanging out with the boys, the progressive 434 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: boys who were just as vocal about political and social 435 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 1: issues as she was, the slut and horror insults came 436 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,400 Speaker 1: rushing back. She found no reprieve in college either, where 437 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: she was voted ugliest man on campus, not even woman 438 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: ugliest man. That ship's harsh. Now, Janice and her band, 439 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 1: big brother in the holding company, we're opening for Jimmie Hendricks, 440 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 1: and she was having the last laugh. She was calling 441 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,440 Speaker 1: the shots. Those ship kickers back in Port Arthur were, 442 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: no doubt apoplectic, which suited her just fine. What would 443 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 1: they say if they saw her now saw her? Janice Choplin, 444 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: the low self esteem kid with bad acne and a 445 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 1: red hot temper if they saw her taking a hot 446 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,880 Speaker 1: ship rock star to bed. Take Jim Morrison, for example, 447 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,760 Speaker 1: She took Jim Morris into bed because she wanted to 448 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: do it. She made it happy, she seduced him. But 449 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,439 Speaker 1: one night, after the Doors played the film More, Janice 450 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:40,520 Speaker 1: went to dinner with the band, and when they wound 451 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,360 Speaker 1: up back at her apartment, Janice was brazen about it too. 452 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: In the middle of the after party, guys in the 453 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: doors mingling with guys from Big Brother, and there's Jim's 454 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: girl Pam being shy on the edge of the couch. 455 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: In the middle of it all, Janice decided to take 456 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: Jim back to her room for a romp in the sheets, 457 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: and hey, if Pam wanted him so bad, you could 458 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: put a fight. It was janice version of the Jimmy 459 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 1: Hendrick's quickie line. No guy told her what to do, 460 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: no girl did either, And after they'd done the deed 461 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: and Pam had run off sobbing, Janie rolled over in 462 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: bed to see Jim laying there with a dumb grin 463 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 1: on his face, a grin so big and dumb that 464 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: it looked painted on Jim thought he was a bad boy, 465 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,240 Speaker 1: but Janis knew the truth. She knew Jim was just 466 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,160 Speaker 1: a dumbass poser who only wanted to be a bad boy, 467 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: not to mention a laws he lay. The real bad 468 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: boys were inspiring. They were creative, they were magnetic, They 469 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: were outlaws without being outlandish, and they could often be found. 470 00:25:33,000 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: Of all places in Texas, the Bulkan Gas Companies small 471 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:05,439 Speaker 1: tableaus of liquid were morphing into a large scale visual stimulus. 472 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: The colors were swimming around the band members corduroy pants 473 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: and chelsea boots and velvet suit jackets as a house 474 00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:15,120 Speaker 1: gear on stage. For some of the audience, the band 475 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: didn't even need to be playing. The trippy visuals were enough. 476 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 1: The puffs of grass and tabs of LSD made everything entertaining. 477 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,199 Speaker 1: You could be entertained all night by whatever appeared in 478 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: front of you, as long as you were cool about it. 479 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 1: Kept another down low because even though this was Austin 480 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: in the year nineteen sixty six, Austin was still in Texas, 481 00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: and Texas was still a long ways away from embracing 482 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: the Burgin and counterculture movement. The band knew it, and 483 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: they were living proof. There were none other than the 484 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: thirteenth Floor Elevators, and they were playing shows under the 485 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 1: radar while on bail. The Elevators dared to challenge the 486 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: status quo of Texas, and the Rednecks of Texas responded. 487 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,919 Speaker 1: Texas was terrified on them. The psychedelic rock groups threatened 488 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 1: the moral fabric of a odd, fearing American state, and 489 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,639 Speaker 1: so Texas would hunt down the Elevators, led by the 490 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: eighteen year old Rocky Erricks, and arrest them, broadcast the 491 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,359 Speaker 1: bus on local television, and make them the enemy of 492 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:15,560 Speaker 1: the old fashioned conservative values. It was a few months earlier, 493 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,640 Speaker 1: in January of nineteen sixty six, when the raid happened. 494 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,560 Speaker 1: The band was hanging out at Tommy Hall's place, talking 495 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,880 Speaker 1: about their latest rehearsal, arguing over which covers they'd include 496 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 1: and they're set that week while taking big tokes of 497 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,879 Speaker 1: killer grass. Tommy was the group's electric drug player, the 498 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,679 Speaker 1: first and best of his kind, a musical role he 499 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: had invented and then used to set the Elevators apart 500 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,119 Speaker 1: from everyone else frat bands like The Wig, the Baby Cakes, 501 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: and The Fabulous Chevels. The Elevators miked up Tommy's old 502 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 1: clay whiskey jug and he would blow these propulsive, ghostly 503 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,159 Speaker 1: notes that sounded like transmissions from another planet. Tommy was 504 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: demonstrating some of the new moves he'd created, these double 505 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: notes that he'd get what he flipped his tongue is 506 00:27:57,359 --> 00:27:59,920 Speaker 1: he tutored on the drug's top. When the door was 507 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: flung open Austin police, then the vice squad was inside, 508 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 1: warrant held high for all the sea. They found two 509 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: pounds of marijuana inside, and then even more when they 510 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 1: searched the apartments of other band members, including Rockies. The 511 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 1: band spent the night at the Travis County Jail before 512 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,719 Speaker 1: being released on a thousand dollar bond. And now they 513 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 1: made their moves with stealth, one eye over their shoulder 514 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 1: and near to the ground. Rock shows as Guerrilla Warfare 515 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty six, Texas and the band appeared out 516 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: of nowhere in the particular night and assembled their gear 517 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:36,000 Speaker 1: quickly and with surgical precisions so precisely, in fact, that 518 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:37,560 Speaker 1: no one in the crowd would have guessed they had 519 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: all dropped acid on the drive over, and the audience 520 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 1: couldn't help but stare at the giant I hovering above 521 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:45,880 Speaker 1: the pyramid that was painted on John Ike Walton's kick 522 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: drum and all seeing Eye, the eye of Providence. The 523 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 1: eye hypnotized one person in particular, Janis Chopolin. Janis was 524 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: on the bill that night as well, just like a 525 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:02,000 Speaker 1: conservative Texas square that everyone back home wanted her to be. Dour, 526 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,440 Speaker 1: black dress and all she sang lonesome covers of Buffy 527 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: sat Marie's Code and Ray Charles Is drowned in my 528 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 1: own tears. She had escaped Texas once, already a poetic 529 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: journey to the promised land of liberation way out in California, 530 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: but it was a bummer trip. She returned to her 531 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,800 Speaker 1: hometown of Port Arthur, defeated and skinny, and with a 532 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,560 Speaker 1: meth habit to threaten to kill her. But she knew 533 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: that Port Arthur was just as deadly for her shooting 534 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 1: meth in San Francisco. So it was a relief when 535 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,080 Speaker 1: she enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin and 536 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:37,320 Speaker 1: crawled out of her oppressive hometown once more. In Austin, 537 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:39,400 Speaker 1: she fell in with the like minded crowd of beat 538 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: Nix artists and musicians, the Long Hairs that would radicalize 539 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,680 Speaker 1: Texas from the inside out. She brought her guitar to therapy. 540 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: Her music was her therapy, and played shows at folk 541 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: clubs in Houston and Austin. And then she saw Rocky 542 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: at the Methodist Student Center Auditorium, standing tall, hair short, 543 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: looking as respectable as the vice squad wanted him to be. 544 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 1: But underneath that facade, Rocky was an outlaw. They were 545 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: all outlaws. She saw the eye of Providence and she 546 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,960 Speaker 1: was under its spell. And then Rocky sang his voice, 547 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: sharp and raw, shrieking and screeching, and she was under 548 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: a spell. And just like the thirteenth floor elevators carried 549 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,520 Speaker 1: out from the Methodist Student Center Auditorium on the wind, 550 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: Janice would let herself be carried off by a car 551 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: full of hippies who had driven all the way from 552 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: San Francisco just to find her her old friends. She 553 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,520 Speaker 1: had Helms was putting together a band and thought Janice 554 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 1: would be perfect as a singer, so perfect that she 555 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: had personally sent a few of his finest freaks on 556 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 1: a road trip to track her down. It was like 557 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:42,400 Speaker 1: it was faded, like she had been set up to 558 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 1: witness Rocky and his band, only to then be transported 559 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 1: back to the West Coast, where she could become exactly 560 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: what she had just witnessed in Texas, be an outlaw, scream, 561 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: screech and wail, but do it far away from Texas, 562 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: where the world wasn't ready for that kind of freedom, 563 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,600 Speaker 1: the freedom to sing what you wanted, be who you wanted, 564 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: and live how you wanted. In this time, she was 565 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: determined that she wouldn't go back home again. She told herself, 566 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,920 Speaker 1: she wouldn't run into the same problems she had experienced before. 567 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: There was a revolution happening out west, a revolution with 568 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,360 Speaker 1: electric kool aid and Hell's Angels and be ins and lovings. 569 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: A revolution that beckoned to her, called her to its 570 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: center stage, where she could leave all the pain behind. 571 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:31,560 Speaker 1: In San Francisco, she could be set free. I'm Jake Brennan, 572 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: and this is the twenty seven Club, all right. This 573 00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: episode of The seven Club is brought to you by 574 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: disgrace Land, the award winning music and true crime podcast 575 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,600 Speaker 1: that I also housed. Disgrace Land is available only on 576 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: the free Amazon Music to hear tons of insane stories 577 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: about your favorite musicians getting away with murder and think 578 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:03,840 Speaker 1: very badly. Nirvana, Prince Jerry Lee Lewis, The Grateful Dead, 579 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,840 Speaker 1: The Rolling Stones, Cardi B and many many more. Go 580 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,840 Speaker 1: to Amazon dot com slash disgrace Land, or if you 581 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: have an Echo device to say hey Alexa play the 582 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:16,440 Speaker 1: disgrace Land podcast. 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