Janis Joplin is one of those artists that makes me create strawmen out of my in-laws. They've never actually said anything to me about Janis Joplin one way or the other, but I have this vivid, false memory of them saying "Oh my god, Janis Joplin is the voice of our generation!" and meanwhile they can't name a single song besides "Me and Bobby McGee" and their Alexa immediately switches over to "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane (I sincerely love my in-laws).
But the thing is that, before this week, I would've been the same way, right? At least with the "not being able to name a song besides" thing. Opposite of the strawmen, I wouldn't lean into it. I'd instead become extremely suspicious. If this artist is supposedly great but I've spent 33 years of my life only knowing one song, what does that say about the artist?
(Obviously, the question of "what does this say about me?" is answered by the fact that I am yet again starting an entry of AYoBS with the whole "this is why I am listening to this artist this week" i.e. I'm a fucking HACK.)
Let's get it in print to make it plain: Janis Joplin has a singular voice. I know this because you, the reader, can read the words "Janis Joplin" and immediately hear her voice in your head. I've always thought that croaky/smoky female voices sound cool as FUCK. This was an argument that I actually made pretty recently, weirdly. Two of the coolest people I've ever known—one of my paternal cousins, and erstwhile PoYB contributor Kait—have Janis Joplin voices, and one might surmise that their vocal stylings have something to do with how cool I think they are. (I was making this argument about my infant niece, who was born with some throat issues, who is going to have a Janis Joplin voice because of it, and who is absolutely going to be the coolest fucking person on the planet.)
So, like, to consider the specific songs on Pearl, I'd almost rather not even bother with the context. E.g. if this were any other pop star, I'd say there is something to be said about the fact that the byline artist only has two writing credits on the album, like maybe I'd question the veracity of the contribution made by that artist. But Joplin's voice is so powerful that it supersedes all such concerns. Writing credits mean fuck all in this particular context, since the songs would be fuck all without Joplin singing them.
Another context that I'd rather not explore today is the fact that Janis Joplin accidentally OD'd at the tail end of the recording sessions for Pearl (hence the fact that a goddamn Janis Joplin album has a goddamn instrumental!). I have a noted history on this blog of giving more weight to albums over which Death casts a pall. I didn't get that sense on Pearl. I mourn Joplin' death, but I did not feel any supernatural urges while enjoying it. Sometimes an artist lends so much weight to a piece of art that not even death can counteract that.
Did I bury the lede here? Sometimes I do that. Sorry. Here's the lede: Pearl is a fantastic album. But maybe it wasn't quite a burial, because Pearl is fantastic BECAUSE of Janis Joplin's voice. Sure, also because the Full Tilt Boogie Band were in the fucking pocket the entire time. Credit to them. But if every song was like "Buried Alive in the Blues" (the instrumental), then this AYoBS entry would be like "ho hum this was fine." I praise the band because they were able to create an environment for one of the greatest singers of all time to once again flourish.
But that's me making an argument that is extremely close to the strawman in-laws argument, isn't it? What the fuck to do I know about Janis Joplin? I don't know anything, besides this one basic fact: she sounds great. She sounds so good that we're still talking about her now. It's been over five decades since she took a fatal dose of heroin, and some douche who was born nineteen years after her death is currently singing her praises on a shitty blog. I'm trying to acknowledge this. I don't know the Janis Joplin story from just listening to Pearl. But I know more than I did before. And the highest praise I could say about any artist that shows up in this column is: I WANT TO KNOW MORE.
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