Holly George-Warren

I love Janis Joplin and love being immersed in her story. I can't say I really learned anything in this bio that I hadn't from the several others that I have read. This one leaned heavily on Janis' copious written correspondence with her family; and seemed less focused on her relationships with men, and more on those she had with women. Janis here is presented as frankly bisexual, if not lesbian with a daddy fixation.

I took issue when lyrics were misquoted. The most egregious example was the show more part in "Piece of My Heart" where Janis sings, "Nowma nowma nowma nowma nowma HEAR me when I cry-y-y-y, and baby I cry all the time!" This was transcribed on paper as "Never, never, never hear me when I cry." I can only think that when another artist wrote or transcribed the song, the word was "Never." If so, tell us what you're quoting. Because you're not quoting Janis. On no planet does "Nowma" mean "Never." (It means, obviously, "Nowma".)

My thoughts on the medical nature of addiction have evolved since I last immersed myself in Janis' life story. With so much attention to the opiate crisis, so many obituaries of young people in my local paper, and a harrowing recent book club meeting covering DOPESICK by Beth Macy accompanied by a gut-wrenching story of the addiction-related death of the son of one of the members of my own book club, I now more than ever consider addiction to be a brain-altering medical condition.

And this makes me ponder in a new light the narrative of Janis Joplin. How would it be different if she had lived? Luck played a huge part in who among her cohort lived and who died in the 60s. What if she had lived, cleaned up, moved on; would we still dwell so much on the "tortured soul" angle of her early years?

She indisputably had a lot of difficulties in her background. She tried to kick heroin multiple times, sometimes seeming to come oh-so-close, only to relapse - how it always goes. In the past, I would think, "What tortured her soul so much that she had to keep going back to it?" Now I simply think, "She was an addict. The addiction kept her coming back."

What is it about Janis? Right in the introduction, George-Warren nails it: "Janis was a walking live nerve capable of surfacing feelings that most people couldn't or wouldn't." When I'm asked what it is about Janis that so enthralls me, the only phrase I can come up with it "out there," accompanied by expanded arms. "She was so out there." It was all out there. Being "14 with no tits," as she put it. The acne, the high school hall put-downs that didn't seem to end with high school. She puts it all out there in a way I can't or won't. Janis is my live nerve. show less

I learned so much more than I ever thought I would about Janis Joplin. I was never a huge fan of her music but am fascinated by the time period in which she lived, not to mention the fact that she was a fellow Texan and grew up near some of my own family. I also can’t deny that she had quite a unique voice and seemed to be the epitome of free love and rebellion during a very tumultuous era. She indelibly left her mark on pop culture despite only living to the very young age of 27.

One of show more the things I was most impressed about was the many quotes that were taken from Janis herself and just how much information there was about her upbringing. Before reading this book, all I knew was that she was from south Texas, but I knew little else. Knowing where she came from really helps paint the full picture of this complex yet talented woman.

Janice has always came across as haunted, almost like there was this invisible cloak of despair that she always seemed to be carrying and could never be rid of. Maybe that’s why I was never a fan of her music. Maybe I felt her pain of years of not being accepted and being misunderstood, and drowning her sorrow in anything to keep her mind from running rampant. Deep down, she was an insecure little girl seeking approval, and sadly, I don’t think she was ever able to free herself from this.

It’s clear this was a well-thought-out and deeply researched novel, and it’s clear that it was a passion project for the author. I am grateful for her time and attention to detail in telling Janis’s story. I learned so much and I left her story feeling sadness. Janis lived a lot of life in a very small period of time but ultimately died alone, a life of someone with such incredible talent and passion gone in an instant. I will never see Janis nor hear her music the same again.

*I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I received from the author/publisher. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest, and my own. show less

A real eye-opener, but Gene, I still love ya! I read Gene's autobiography, "Back in the Saddle," nearly thirty years ago and enjoyed it. George-Warren's book goes much deeper, leaving the hero of all us front-row kids just a little gut-shot. Okay, so Gene fooled around and developed a drinking problem. Maybe finding that out is a bit disappointing, but we're all grownups now, and understand nobody's perfect. And, sadly, neither was Gene, but at this late date it doesn't change anything. I show more loved those movies and all his songs. I still love listening to the music, but watching the films now, as an adult, I'm a little embarrassed. But Gene Autry was such an important part of my kid-hood .. Well, I still love the guy. I won't say I loved the book, but it was an obviously well-researched and fair treatment of Gene's show-biz career and a welcome addition to my library. Good job, Holly George-Warren. show less

I have several other books about Janis Joplin, a singer, songwriter and interpreter of others' songs who died of a heroin overdose in 1970 at the age of 27. I came across this 2019 biography of her in the library while I was looking for something else. and had a quick look through to get an idea of the author's approach to her subject, as it is important to me that such a book takes the subject of an artist's life and music seriously, not just the salacious details of drugs, drink and other show more lifestyle issues. George-Warren has written a number of other biographies of musicians and books about the music industry and for respected quality publications like the US music magazine Rolling Stone, and I thought it was worth a try.

This is a sensitive and carefully researched look at Janis Joplin's short life, including her family, her childhood and education in a conservative oil industry town in 1950s Texas. I thought this part was really interesting. Joplin regarded her dad as a "secret intellectual" who liked to read and think about things, and who didn't share the conservative religious and political views of the society he had settled in. Her mum was more religious but was also a talented musician who started teaching her daughter to play and sing from an early age, and who had enjoyed nights out dancing on tables in her 20s.

Janis was a clever child and a very talented artist. As she grew up though, the life mapped out for even clever teenage girls and young women was restrictive and unappealing, and Janis began to rebel, though George-Warren outlines the contradictions - the stories about Janis Joplin at school and university were possibly more lurid than the reality. Importantly, she also explores Janis's influences and development as a singer/musician in Texas and California, as she came across Bessie Smith, blues, jazz and R&B and other black music, as well as rock and roll, folk and protest songs. Georgia-Warren mentions the racism of the society in which Joplin grew up and the challenge of her alternative influences, including her love for Bessie Smith. Going to college, though still in Texas, offered lots of opportunities to hear music and other cultural influences and hang out with an alternative "beatnik crowd" as much as formal education. Then Janis took a chance to stay with relatives and work in California, got into a mess with drugs and money problems, came back and tried taking a very conventional office job for a bit, before returning to 1960s San Francisco and finally becoming famous.

Throughout the book, the various phases of Janis Joplin's short life are explored through correspondence, older and more recent interviews with family and friends - she continued to write to her parents and much younger sister, Laura. The detailed endnotes also reference previous memoirs, including Myra Friedman (who was a friend and who worked with Janis Joplin) and Alice Echols, a feminist activist and writer. There are also a generous 32 pages of photographic plates, mostly black and white but with a few colour photos from Joplin's final, famous years - these include pictures of Janis Joplin through her life, of family, of her with a student band, and of her bandmates in Big Brother and the Kozmic Blues Band. There are also pictures of her with other friends and musicians.

This is an interesting read, though it makes me want to go back to the other Janis Joplin books, especially Alice Echols and one by little sister Laura Joplin with the letters Janis sent her. show less