Janis: The Way She Was (documentary movie)

Most likely, I first heard Janis Joplin when she hit big with her posthumous chart-topping cover of "Me & Bobby McGee", but I became a fan after seeing her performance in the Monterrey Pop Festival movie with the fabulously, chaotically psychedelic Big Brother & the Holding Company and their crazed guitar interaction working around Joplin's beautiful, bluesy shrieks.

Of course, I saw this documentary flick when it first came to my home town and have watched it many times since, and though I have always wished that there was more of Big Brother featured, it is still a pretty terrific overview of this wild woman.

There is lots of band footage, with much heavier concentration on the Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band than with her original group. But there is some very early - circa '67 - Big Brother from a local TV show (only a small segment - the entire show is worthwhile though and while I don't know if it is still available, it should be sought out) and one of the big highlights for me is seeing Big Brother in the studio recording "Summertime" for Cheap Thrills. I wish there was more of this ground-breaking footage!

Interviews with Janis abound throughout, from Dick Cavett to European TV shows and there is a particularly heart-rendingly tragic one at her 10 year high school reunion where she almost breaks down crying a couple of times as she remembers her mistreatment while living in Port Arthur, Texas. Apparently, no one treated her any better there as a star and the locals were annoyed with her negative comments about the town.

The live performances are from all over the world - from SF to Monterrey to Woodstock to Germany to Holland and more. Some classic bits here, with great audience participation, though personally, I dug the psychedelic mania of BB more than the soul/r'n'b of the later combos. But all of the groups had something groovy to add to her sound and gave her solid grounding to work with.

This gives a pretty good idea of Janis and her hopes & dreams, joys & sorrows. She was just an artistic freak who grew up in a small southern town and got picked on for her weirdness and - sadly - her homeliness. While she felt some validation in her stardom, she never really got over her insecurities, which contributed to her untimely death. This is a nice tribute to another talent taken from us too early.