Janis: Her Life and Music by Holly George-Warren

Author:Holly George-Warren [Holly George-Warren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781476793108
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2019-10-22T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

WOMAN ON THE VERGE

I just may be a “star” someday. You know, it’s funny: as it gets closer and more probable, being a star is really losing its meaning. But whatever, I’m ready!

—JANIS JOPLIN

Janis was no longer just a local sensation poster girl for the exciting new music represented at Monterey. National and UK newspapers and magazines ran her photo alongside articles praising her voice. The Monday-morning headline in the San Francisco Examiner that accompanied Phil Elwood’s coverage, “Dreams Come True in Monterey,” seemed particularly appropriate. He called Janis “the real queen of the festival,” who “repeated her triumph Saturday afternoon… in an encore performance last night.” Most journalists lauded Janis while ignoring her bandmates, or at best, describing them as her backup musicians. The Village Voice’s Richard Goldstein referred to them as “sidemen” who “focused on Janis, cradling her with their riffs and coaxing her vocal flights.” One of the most meaningful validations for Janis arrived on June 22, via a telegram from her parents: “Congratulations on being first page Los Angeles Times Monterey Festival report. Barbara’s sending us a copy.” The telegram was signed: “Your Port Arthur fan club.” Also came word that the Joplins were planning a family trip to the city where their daughter had become a star.

As much as her bandmates relished their commercial breakthrough, they weren’t eager to cede control of Big Brother to Janis and clung to the idea of the group as a democracy. But her position had changed almost overnight, with the group’s attorney Bob Gordon noticing that “she was serious about her career. There was a lot of input from everybody in the band, but Janis was clearly the leader.” Firmly established as Big Brother’s focal point, she became the band’s spokesperson—journalists primarily wanted to talk to her. When Peter Albin and James Gurley lost their status, low-level resentments began to escalate. As for Janis, her “entire personality attained an almost frightening intensity,” is how Sam Andrew saw it. The fame she’d always wanted was at hand, and she knew it.

In the weeks following Monterey, Gordon and Julius Karpen began fielding calls from Clive Davis at Columbia Records, as well as scouts from Mercury and Atlantic Records. They were invited to attend Columbia’s annual convention in Florida, where Davis made an initial low offer to sign the group. But Mainstream’s Bob Shad remained unwilling to discuss selling the band’s contract. Instead, to capitalize on the rapturous Monterey press, he quickly assembled and rushed out Big Brother & the Holding Company—again, with no input from the band. Today the album has a certain charm, with a folk rock sound and quirky songs showcasing Janis’s fresh, self-assured vocals, the album’s most obvious attribute. But the ten tracks recorded in August and December 1966 did not accurately convey the group’s current music; the entire LP was shorter in length than just one of Big Brother’s live jams.

The band members denounced the album immediately and refused to participate in any publicity efforts. They

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