

The coffee bar folk scene was an early haunt for Janis after she left Port Arthur, Texas for the Bay Area. A key early recording of Janis is The Typewriter Tape. Mr Kaukonen wasn’t mentioned earlier idly (nor Jack, but hold that thought). But it was underpinned by love, not sales-driven melodrama – and who ever agrees with storyline priorities when a tale you know is retold? Who, also, is fit to judge – certainly not the writer (years ago, in some cases) of many Bay Area Toppers, when the glaring omission of Janis is uncomfortably noted. Yes, it’s padded out yes, fans will find stuff omitted that they feel are more crucial than bits left in.
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With Jorma Kaukonen (and Jack Casady when able) streaming weekly free performances, my teenage love of San Francisco was rekindled after working through the Airplane, Quicksilver and Dead LPs, roughly three months before what will be the 50th Anniversary of her death, I got to Janis – of course, via Cheap Thrills, a key Haight Ashbury document.Ī long-overdue viewing followed of Laura Berg’s excellent 2016 film Janis: Little Girl Blue. Then, late March 2020 brought lockdown: working from home with the facility to spin a platter or two in the background. Late in 2019, I treated myself to a mighty Thorens TD-124, before all stock ones are bought up by the trade and pimped up to unattainable prices. Add to this Rothchild's own remembrances from and observations about these sessions, Holly George-Warren's excellent liner notes, some rare photographs, and hardcore Joplin fans and historians have an excellent retrospective package which, while illuminating the process of the creation of Pearl, doesn't replace it in the canon.For me, the last twelve months have been about vinyl. In addition, there is an instrumental version of "Pearl" (that could have been left off as it reveals nothing and is wholly uninteresting), a live version of "Tell Mama," with a breakneck tempo that makes one wonder why it was chosen, and a performance of "Half Moon," from the Dick Cavett Show in 1970.

Alternate takes of "Cry Baby" and "My Baby" are compelling. There are three takes in a row of "Move Over." The alternate of "Cry Baby," while inferior to the album take, reveals the song's deep emotional attraction for Joplin. Sometimes they rival or even surpass versions that ended up on the final product: the fifth take of "Get It While You Can" (there are three here) and the demo of "Me & Bobby McGee," where she is accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. Musically, there are multiple alternate takes of some album cuts. The genuine camaraderie between her, her band, and her producer offers ample evidence that these sessions were as much fun as they were work. There is also plenty of humor, including comments about Richard Nixon and an unnamed rock star that Joplin claims she wouldn't bed because he's boring and a nerd.
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It offers proof of Joplin's exacting standards when it came to getting across the maximum emotional impact of a song, as well as her vulnerability - asking for guidance from Rothchild as to how to approach a particular take (he hands control right back to her). The studio banter by Joplin, producer Paul A Rothchild, and the Full-Tilt Boogie Band is priceless. It's the second disc that holds the fan treasures. The two-disc package includes the original album and mono 45 masters of six of its tracks - including "Me & Bobby McGee," "Move Over," and "Get It While You Can." These are interesting, but they don't hold a candle to the stereo album mixes. That's fine given its design and contents it appears it was meant to be. Not to state the obvious, but the reality is that The Pearl Sessions by Janis Joplin is primarily for completists and musical historians.
