On Janis Joplin

Love, Janis is in previews here. Finally. Some friends just saw the show in dress rehearsal, loved it. Mayor Newsom proclaimed July 7 Janis Joplin Day in San Francisco since it's here where Joplin's career exploded in 1967 down at Monterey.Big Brother played all around the Bay Area thanks to Bill Graham. They were often booked along with blues & rock legends like Muddy Waters, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, and QuickSilver Messenger Service.
The first time I heard Janis Joplin was on my roommate's old "Hi Fi" in college, so it had to be awhile after Monterey when Columbia picked up Big Brother and released Cheap Thrills---I kept my vinyl: Cheap Thrills, 'Kozmic Blues', and Pearl.
What I didn't know until yesterday is that Joplin was an art major, drawing through high school and a bit at UT in Austin before dropping out to sing. The Hotel Monaco hosted an art show this weekend of her work and that of Grace Slick's. I always loved Grace Slick's singing voice, when she stopped singing, Slick picked up a paint brush. She's paid homage to her friend Janis with multiple portraits. There were wonderful vintage concert posters, album covers, the feather boas Joplin wore onstage and on the cover of Pearl. I sort of teared up when standing in front of the Cheap Thrills framed print, a feeling of nostalgia no doubt. I enjoyed reading the scribbles Joplin wrote about her subjects, she was intelligent with a great sense of humor. And some of her letter excerpts help give a perspective of a young woman who wanted to do something big---and she did. For reasons we'll never understand in the big scheme of things, living her great dream lasted only a few short years. More on Love, Janis after I see the show next week!