Janis Joplin tore the song out of her gut, the longing, the need to be loved, the pain, the vulnerability, the energy. Her career was meteoric – taking off in 1967 after her performance at the Monterey Pop Festival; she was a memorable act in 1969 at Woodstock; by October, 1970 she was dead at the age of 27. She left only four albums, but performances that are as powerful today as when they were made more than a half century ago.
Where did that unique voice come from? What magic combination of experience, talent, drive and happenstance created Janis Joplin?
Join us on Sunday, Feb. 23, 12:30pm at the Revue Cinema for a documentary and discussion about this remarkable artist.
We will be screening Janis: Little Girl Blue by Oscar-nominated director Amy Berg. Our guest, music historian Rob Bowman will also help put Joplin’s life and unique art in perspective and explore her powerful legacy.
In her documentary, Berg has compiled interviews with Joplin’s family, childhood friends, musical associates, TV host Dick Cavett and such noted colleagues as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. She’s included Joplin’s own words from letters she wrote to her parents over the years. New audio and video of Joplin in concert and in the studio and footage from her emotional return to Texas for her 10th high school reunion, add texture to Joplin’s remarkable story.
Get tickets in advance here or at the cinema.
Here’s an excerpt from Berg’s statement about the documentary, which proved a seven-year challenge:
“Janis Joplin was—and still is— a force majeure in music, a rock and roll pioneer beloved by millions nearly 40 years after her death. Watching footage of Janis performing remains nothing short of mesmerizing. Her impact was worldwide, yet her material was intensely personal. The music and lyrics Janis created were often inspired by bits and pieces of people she knew and met along her journey. Songs were always about more than just Janis.
“In this film, we will show how her music became the comprehensive expression of humanity through rock and roll.
“For all the praise and adoration she and her music inspired, what may be most striking about Janis is how utterly lonely and unlovable she often felt once the crowds went home. Music became her whole life and her shows provided a pulse for Janis to keep going.
“Janis is still a vessel for our collective pain– the raw, eloquent voice through which our suffering gets duly acknowledged and nakedly expressed. She lifts us up while caressing and accepting the pain that lives in each and every one of us. This explains why her live performances were so electric. When Janis got on stage and let it all go, the joy—and the pain—she released was absolutely intoxicating. With the utmost love and respect, the filmmakers will honestly and openly explore this range of emotions – from the depths of tragedy and sadness to the heights of ecstasy and elation – because we feel such authenticity is exactly what Janis would have wanted.
“When she belts out “Ball and Chain” at Woodstock, Janis uses her open and battered heart to channel the blues of people like Odetta, Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton. When she sings, “I know you’re unhappy…Baby, I know just how you feel” on the Rodgers & Hart classic, “little Girl Blue,” Janis is wailing for all the misfits and outcasts she’s collected and connected with over the years.
“But our film will explore more than just the tortured magic of Janis’ music and the depths of her pain and suffering. We will also create a cinematic celebration of her exuberant spirit and the impact Janis has left on the world after all these years. Her lust for life can be seen in the hundreds of iconic photos that catch Janis overcome with laughter — her image so powerful you can almost hear the famous Janis cackle. Janis had an unyielding power to throw her pain aside and be in the moment at level 10. Her message, she once told a reporter, was simple: ‘Get off your butt and feel things!”