She had two younger siblings, Laura and Michael. Janis Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on ( )January 19, 1943, to Dorothy Bonita East (1913–1998), a registrar at a business college, and her husband, Seth Ward Joplin (1910–1987), an engineer at Texaco. Įarly life Joplin in 1960 as a graduating senior in high school ![]() She remains one of the top-selling musicians in the United States, with Recording Industry Association of America certifications of 18.5 million albums sold. NPR dubbed Joplin as " The Queen of Rock" and named her one of the 50 Great Voices. Rolling Stone ranked Joplin number 46 on its 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and number 28 on its 2008 list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. She was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. It reached number one on the Billboard charts. A second solo album, Pearl, was released in January 1971, just over three months after her death. Joplin died of a heroin overdose in 1970, at the age of 27, after releasing three albums (two with Big Brother and the Holding Company and one solo album). Her most popular songs include her cover versions of " Piece of My Heart", " Cry Baby", " Down on Me", " Ball and Chain", " Summertime", and her original song " Mercedes Benz", her final recording. Five singles by Joplin reached the US Billboard Hot 100, including a cover of the Kris Kristofferson song " Me and Bobby McGee", which posthumously reached number one in March 1971. She appeared at the 1969 Woodstock festival and on the Festival Express train tour. After releasing two albums with the band, she left Big Brother to continue as a solo artist with her own backing groups, first the Kozmic Blues Band and then the Full Tilt Boogie Band. In 1967, Joplin rose to prominence following an appearance at Monterey Pop Festival, where she was the lead singer of the then little-known San Francisco psychedelic rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company. One of the most successful and widely known rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage presence. To learn more about Erma Franklin, check out this article that traces her career, and something of who she was as a person, too.Janis Lyn Joplin (Janu– October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. It was while she was with Aretha that her alto voice provided an essential element to the vital push me-pull you call-and-response dynamic that made so many soul favourites of the era work so well. This interpretation won her a Grammy nomination, even if she’d lose her association with this song to others for many years.īy the mid-70s, Erma Franklin left the music business, returning only occasionally to back up Aretha as she’d once done concurrently with her own solo career in the ’60s. It’s not a song about being a glutton for punishment so much as it is one of sheer defiance. She’s tough not because she’s in a harrowing relationship that she can’t get out of, but rather because she doesn’t need to be in the relationship, and chooses it anyway. Erma’s character on this song is more restrained, less needy, and even stately. She never loses her cool. Really, this is what distinguishes Erma’s version of the song from almost everyone else’s. On Erma’s version, this “woman can be tough”, because her character carries herself above the behaviour of her louse of a lover. A lot of singers have since taken it as gospel. Janis’ character is wilder, angrier, more desperate. But, Janis plays the role differently than the original version by Erma Franklin. I love the Janis Joplin version of “Piece of My Heart” that she performed while fronting Big Brother & The Holding Company, of course. And “Piece Of My Heart” is certainly a spotlight for her unique talents. Despite being related to one of the most game-changing soul vocalists of the 20th Century, elder sister Erma had a sound of her own. This would be one of Franklin’s best known tracks, later to be joined by her version of The Doors’ “Light My Fire”. It would help to shape the way songs were sung in general, in soul music, and in rock music, too. The song would later become something of a late-20th Century standard with versions by Dusty Springfield to Sammy Hagar (?!), Faith Hill, to Joss Stone.īut, Erma Franklin recorded it first, setting the stage for the song’s long life in various annals of the pop charts.Not only would this tune be an R&B hit. The song is by big time R&B writers and producers Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns and put out on Shout Records as a vehicle for Erma Franklin. ![]() ![]() It’s “Piece of My Heart”, a 1967 single that would be more famously associated with Janis Joplin by the next year. ![]() Listen to this track by Duchess of Soul and sisterly presence to the Queen (but definitely her own woman), Erma Franklin.
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