And Janis was not only just singing to them she was singing for them. I've talked to people who saw her back in 1966, '67, and they talk about it as if it was yesterday, especially women, I think, because she was able to express deep-down emotions - shame, disappointments, hurts - that I think a lot of women in her audience couldn't express themselves. She wasn't just standing up there singing she was basically emptying out her guts through that amazing voice of hers and touching her audience members like they had never been touched before. And there was this authenticity that came across. GEORGE-WARREN: What made Janis really different as a live performer is that she connected with her audiences by tapping into her deepest feelings. GROSS: For people who haven't seen her live or on film or video, how was her live performance different? And Janis created this incredible image that went along with her amazing vocal ability, her talent and also her live performance, which was very, very different than most of the women that came before. Janis Joplin broke down a lot of barriers to become the woman that she was in the 1960s, when at that point in time there weren't too many women taking center stage, not only on stage, in the recording studio, but even as far as a point of media attention. (Laughter) We're eliminating, like, girl groups we're talking about, like, rock-rock. GROSS: So why do you - why do you and so many others consider Janis Joplin the first woman rock star? And I presume when we say rock star, we're eliminating - like, rock 'n' roll. HOLLY GEORGE-WARREN: Thanks so much for having me again. GROSS: Holly George-Warren, welcome back to FRESH AIR. You know you got it if it makes you feel good. Oh, have another little piece of my heart now, baby. Break another little bit of my heart now, darling. I want you to come on, come on, come on, come on, and take it - take another little piece of my heart now, baby. But I'm going to show you, baby, that a woman can be tough. And each time I tell myself, well, I think I've had enough. Didn't I give you everything that a woman possibly can? Honey, you know I did. Didn't I make you feel like you were the only man? Yeah. This is "Piece Of My Heart," recorded in 1968.īIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY: (Singing) Oh, come on, come on, come on, come on. Let's start with a track that was Joplin's commercial breakthrough with her band Big Brother and The Holding Company. She's on the nominating committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and teaches at the State University of New York at New Paltz.
Holly George-Warren is also the author of "The Road To Woodstock" and biographies of Alex Chilton and Gene Autry. Her final album, "Pearl," was released posthumously. Joplin's brief life was ended by a heroin overdose in 1970, when she was only 27. As we look back at pivotal moments in 1960s rock history, she is usually there - the Monterey Pop Festival the vibrant Haight-Ashbury scene in San Francisco the streets, the clubs and studios of gritty New York City Woodstock," unquote.
She wasn't afraid to cross boundaries - musical, cultural and sexual. My guest is the author of a new biography of Janis Joplin called "Janis: Her Life And Music." Holly George-Warren writes, quote, "Joplin's confident musicianship, brash sexuality and natural exuberance locked together to produce America's first female rock star.
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