One Groovy Chick

Another person I have come to admire is Janis Joplin. I've never been the biggest fan of her music, but after watching a few interviews with her on YouTube, I've discovered that she was a fascinating woman.

She was surprisingly down to earth, even in 1970 a few months before she died. Her interview with Dick Cavett on the Dick Cavett show is riveting. I really like the part when she tells him she's going to her 10-year high school reunion. She said they laughed her out of school, out of town and out of the state, so she's "going home."

I'm drawn to people who are successful even though they are hated worldwide. I'm currently reading a biography on Janis. Not too many people liked her as a person. Jim Morrison couldn't stand her and, according to the book I'm reading, a lot of people in the Haight-Ashbury district avoided her. People close to her said she was brash, outspoken and rude (not too different from Ms. Courtney Love huh?). Perhaps that's the personality a woman in the 1960's needed to be a successful rock star. The formula still applies today (i.e. Hole, L7, Bikini Kill).

Another reason why people didn't really like Janis was because she was "ugly". No joke! Her hair wasn't styled the way a woman's should be and she had acne. Female singers are supposed to be beautiful and Janis wasn't (in the conventional way). What a dumb reason to not appreciate someone.

Janis lived an extraordinary enough life to warrant a good biography. Reading about her experiences growing up in small town Texas with few friends to having an abortion (before it was legal!) are intriguing. It's sad to read about her trouble with addiction and how she really wanted to stay clean for awhile before she joined Big Brother. It made me wonder what would have happened to her if she had stayed away from San Francisco.

Whether her music is for you or not, you've got to admire her ballsy attitude and her influence on women's role in rock music. She went onstage, ugly and all, and out-performed her male bandmates to the point where the name Janis Joplin is more well-known than either Big Brother and the Holding Company or Full Tilt Boogie. It's also nice to see that she is still admired, even 40 years later.