Janis Joplin | Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits [Vinyl Album] LP

Drawing inspiration from Bessie Smith and Odetta, Janis Joplin developed a brash, uncompromising vocal style quite unlike traditional folk Madonnas.

In 1966, Joplin was invited to the Bay Area to front Big Brother & The Holding Company. Cheap Thrills, a joyous celebration of true psychedelic soul, contained two Joplin “standards” in “Piece Of My Heart” and “Ball And Chain,” but she left the group in November 1968.

Electric Flag members Mike Bloomfield, Harvey Brooks, and Nick Gravenites helped assemble a new act, known as the Kozmic Blues Band. I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! was coolly received, but the set contained several excellent Joplin vocals, notably “Try, (Just A Little Bit Harder)”, “Maybe” and “Little Girl Blue.”

The singer subsequently dissolved the band and undertook medical advice for drinking and drug abuse. A slimmed-down group, the Full Tilt Boogie Band, was unveiled in May 1970 featuring a tighter, more intimate sound. Sessions for a debut album were all but complete when, on October 4th, 1970, Joplin died of a heroin overdose at her Hollywood hotel.