Born: Jan. 19, 1943
City and Country of Origin: Port Arthur, Texas
Music Training:
Awards:
Top Recordings: "Bye Bye Baby," "Me and Bobby McGee," "Get It While You Can," "Down on Me"
Janis Joplin Biography: She was born and raised in the hot and humid conservative gulf oil town of Port Arthur, Texas. There was nothing extraordinary or rebellious about her as a child. It wasn't until she entered high school that she began to experience peer rejection. She was overweight and had a serious acne problem. A sign of her rebellion was her outrageous dress and her abrasive language. She joined a small group of equally antiestablishment youth who encouraged even more antisocial behavior. As a result she rejected everything that towns like Port Arthur stood for. In 1960, after her graduation she enrolled at Lamar College in Beaumont, Texas. She spent the summer of 1961 in Venice Beach, California where she was exposed to the art and culture of the bohemian lifestyle. Reluctantly, she returned home and enrolled at the University of Texas in Austin. She became interested in the local folk music scene in Austin, but at this time Janis had a limited range sweet sounding voice. She sang with a local trio called the Waller Creek Boys. Influenced by the music of Bessie Smith, Odetta, Leadbelly and ever growing taste for alcohol her voice began to develop the deep raspy bluesy sound which became her trademark. In January of 1963 Janis, along with a friend, hitchhiked to San Francisco where she sang at North Beach coffee houses. It was here that she first became involved with drugs using amphetamines which helped her lose weight. When she returned home to Port Arthur she was exhausted and only weighed 88 lbs. Back home she abandoned her hippy lifestyle and adopted the conservative lifestyle of the local residents. She regained her strenght and her weight. She even planned on getting married, but was left standing at the altar. Her friend Chet Holmes set up an audition for her as the singer for a band that he was managing in San Francisco called Big Brother & the Holding Company. Holmes owned the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco and the house band was BB&THC. She returned to the Bay Area and once again adopted the counter culture lifestyle. In June of 66 Janis debuted with the band and soon became a local favorite. In August, after a brief stint in Chicago, Illinois the band signed a recording contract with small Mainstream Records. They recorded their first album and went on tour where they appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival. Appearing the first night on the same stage as other relatively unknown rock stars Who, Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix the performances which were captured on film became legendary. They signed a management agreement with Bob Dylan's manager Albert Grossman who got them a recording deal with Columbia Records. Their first album with Columbia "Cheap Thrills" became a chart topper. Janis' whirlwind life success led to a downward spiral of more and more alcohol and drug abuse, heroin becoming her drug of choice, finally ended on October 4, 1970 when after a night of drinking and drug use she was found dead in her room.
Died: Oct. 4, 1970

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