This week (January 19), Janis Joplin he would have turned 78 years old. That is why, to celebrate and honor the life and artistic legacy of the singer from Port Arthur, Texas, we decided to put together a list of five of her best songs.
“Move Over”
This, one of the few songs Joplin has written, gets the record going Pearl with a great bang: it reminds the listener that it is, in fact, the queen of Rock n ‘roll. Furthermore, the track has a similar energy to the early Big Brother and The Holding Company albums with the same sophistication as his first solo work with the band Kozmic.
The song was recorded on the same day as “Me and Bobby McGee” and performed on Dick Cavett’s show, where Joplin explained that the song is about when men tell a woman that their relationship is over but that they don’t walk away. them and, in effect, take them hostage.
“Me and Bobby McGee”
An instant classic initially written by Kris Kristofferson and which Janis Joplin ended up including in Pearl, an album that would skyrocket to number one and sell millions of copies.
In an interview with Esquire, Kristofferson was asked how he came up with the phrase: “Freedom is just another word so there is nothing left to lose.” He replied, “I was working in the Gulf of Mexico on oil rigs, flying helicopters. I had lost my family to my years of failing as a songwriter. All I had were bills, child support and pain. And I was about to be fired for not letting 24 hours pass between the gas pedal and the bottle. my chance. But there was something liberating about it. Not having to live up to people’s expectations, I was somehow free. ”
“Work Me, Lord”
Written by Nick Gravenites, the song is absolutely exquisite and one of the best in the singer’s repertoire, although one of the most unknown. While the studio version is cutting and captures the curiosity of the listener, it was documented that fans had expressed that this version did not come close to replicating the astonishingly powerful live version at Woodstock in 1969.
The track really emphasizes the gospel choir side of Janis Joplin. The chord changes are significant because they elevate the track to heavenly heights.
“Piece of My Heart”
This work by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns is another instant classic that has stood the test of time as a singular entity, winning the hearts of lovers of slow love songs and lovers of grooving to a pleasant beat.
This time, Joplin’s vocal performance is everything you want and could expect of her: her unmistakable voice, her passion and her soul of a black singer in the body of a white woman.
“One Good Man”
Janis Joplin seemed to have been on a never-ending search for a good man. Throughout many of his songs, he often claimed that it shouldn’t be too difficult for a good man to be good, at least once, for a woman. Clearly, there was a lot of anguish in his music and that was evident in his impressionist singing style.
The track is also one of the few written by Joplin herself, which makes perfect sense.
