Essay on Janis Joplin - 989 Words

Janis Joplin One of the most colorful music legends of the 1960s was Janis Joplin. Blues legend Janis Lyn Joplin was born on January 19th 1943, the eldest child of parents Seth and Dorothy Joplin. Janis was born and raised in the small Southern petroleum industry town of Port Arthur, Texas. Her father was a canning factory worker, her mother a registrar at a local business college. Her non-aberrational upbringing coupled with the atmosphere of Port Arthur at the time; generally restrictive, intolerant, and unnurturing mustve made even Janis early childhood difficult. By all accounts, however, Janis seems to have been a normal and happy child, who fitted societys usual definition of pretty. It was in Janis adolescence that†¦show more content†¦By the time Janis graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1960, she had already decided she wanted to be a singer, and left home. At first, Janis found work in the country and western clubs of Texas, also singing folk songs for very little mo ney. Her ultimate goal in doing this was to raise enough money for a bus fare to California. She played the folk circuit around Austin for a short while, and then left for San Francisco. In the summer of 1965, Janis returned home to Port Authur for a year to question her life direction. Drugged-up and burned-out, she attempted unsuccessfully to conform to a straight lifestyle. Then, a fed-up Janis headed back to Austin, where she had previously experienced such hostility, and stayed there for a further seven months before she was on the move again this time to San Francisco, where the next, and most important, chapter of her life was to begin. By 1967, Janis had joined Big Brother and the Holding Company and hit the big time, or at least, had established a healthy following locally. Albert Grossman, arguably the most influential and important entertainment manager of the era, showcased them. Thanks to him, they secured a three-record deal with Colombia Records. The band played at Bill Grahams Fillmore Auditorium and, at the Monterey Pop Festival, California, where Janis gave a legendary performance. A year later, Big Brother released their first albumShow MoreRelated The Rose - Janis Joplin and the Lonely Sixties Essay2041 Words   |  9 PagesThe Rose - Janis Joplin and the Lonely Sixties [1] What is it about the Sixties that still linger in the minds of the American population forty years later? For many the Sixties was a time of liberation, a time of true freedom, but it was also a time of struggle and oppression. This was a decade that prided itself on overcoming obstacles of race, gender, and even sexuality. 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