Janis Joplin

I've always loved Janis Joplin's music, and after the discussion we had about Lilith Fair, I figured Janis deserved a mention. I'm sure if she had lived long enough, she would have loved to have been a part of that tour!

Janis Joplin is perhaps the most famed female “rock singer” to date. Born January 19^th, 1943, in Port Arthur, Texas, her music is in a category that defines a generation while continuing to maintain its specific originality. Joplin had a raw, gritty sound to her voice that some have said would be well suited to today’s heavy metal genre. There are indeed many female singers in this realm of music who possess some of Joplin’s distinct vocal qualities. What discerns her from the world of heavy metal though is not just the time that she lived in, but also her stylistic uniqueness. She emerged onto the music scene around 1965 during the rock era in the time when the Hippie movement was prevalent and influential. Her music derives from the R&B bands of the day, combined with her own bluesy vocal style and the kind of folk-rock that was characteristic of the 1960’s. Her distinct trademark of having a section of a song reserved for instrumental improvisation where she would often talk to the audience about a subject she felt particularly passionate about and that tied into the message of the song was something that also set her aside from other artists. This part of her music can be observed in songs such as “Ball and Chain” and in some live versions of songs like “Cry Baby.”

Many of Joplin’s critics have said that her voice was simply too “manly” sounding, and that it was lacking in many of the “feminine” qualities that typically characterize the voice of a woman. The fact that Joplin’s voice did not conform to the standards of singing is hardly surprising; Janis Joplin did not conform to anything. She was a rebel and a misfit in almost as many ways as a person could be. This is one very identifiable instance where we see a woman who has risen to celebrity status defying societal standards and given conceptions about women. Joplin’s music and her vocal delivery of it blatantly say to the audience that a woman’s voice does not have to be pretty in order to be powerful and marketable, and a woman’s music does not have to be tame and dainty; Joplin in fact tended to release her wild side through her songs. Songs such as “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)” and her timeless classic “Piece of My Heart” contain rousing beats that rise and swell to a point of ecstatic release where Joplin lets out wild impassioned cries. It is really quite effective from an interpretive point of view.

In addition to criticisms about the sound of her voice, Joplin also encountered opposition about her image. She did not necessarily conform to the accepted American standards of beauty. She was an outcast in her teenage years for this reason. Her hair was mangy and unruly and her acne was so bad that she was left with deep facial scars before reaching adulthood. She was teased, jeered at, and called names throughout her time at school. Perhaps these physical shortcomings in regards to the accepted societal standards were what drove Joplin to her non-conformist ways. In one regard, Joplin was an inspiration to many American women who also fell short of the typical image of beauty. She has been called “the plain woman’s diva” by some.

Joplin’s success showed that it was not necessary imperative to be conventionally “beautiful” to make it big, and her fearless and fierce delivery of her music sent the message that it was ok for women not only to be ok with themselves and their physical appearance, but to let loose. Beneath the surface of her uninhibited and impassioned performance, there was also an underlying vulnerability that attracted audiences to her, and spoke – one might venture to say – to American women. While the Hippie movement was certainly underway at this point, women in America were just coming out of the repressive, stifling environment of life in the 1950’s where they were expected to be perfect compliant housewives for their husbands coming home from the war. Janis Joplin’s music was an overflowing outpouring of pure emotion that let the common woman know that it was ok to have feelings and to express them.

Janis Joplin is known as one of the most influential rock musicians ever to have lived. The fact that she was a woman has little bearing on this, or on her talent. What is interesting though is that the three different bands that she was associated with throughout her career – Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Kozmic Blues Band, and The Full Tilt Boogie Band – were all entirely comprised of males. One possible explanation for her association with Big Brother is that her distinctly “unfeminine” style attracted them to her. However, the other two bands she performed with were formed by Joplin herself, leading one to believe that Joplin may have actually identified more with the typically “masculine” qualities of rock and roll.

Drug and alcohol addiction played a large role in Joplin’s life and, to a certain extent, lessened her credibility and the legitimacy of her message. She had a reputation as a speed freak and a dope fiend, meaning that she was a heavy user of both cocaine and heroin. She was also a heavy drinker throughout most of her life. She would reportedly drink an entire bottle of Southern Comfort before she went onstage. This may be in part why she was reputed to be such an “uninhibited performer.” This also was presumably part of the reason why despite her messages as a woman to other women (and ultimately anyone who was hurting) through her music, she was not always considered a viable idol or role model. One might also argue however that this side of her increased the public’s accessibility to her because it highlighted her flaws and her sincere humanity. It also informed her interpretation and performance of her own music, no doubt. The amount of pain (both physical and emotional) that Joplin experienced from her troubled adolescence into her drug-addled adulthood is audible in her voice and her songs. She undoubtedly reached many people in just this way who were also hurting. Her music has remained a staple of rock culture for perhaps this very reason.