GREATEST HITS spans the length of Janis Joplin's recording career, and features songs recorded with each of her three bands--Big Brother & The Holding Co., the Kozmic Blues Band, and the Full Tilt Boogie Band.
Producers: Paul Rothchild, Bob Shad, John Simon, Gabriel Mekler.
Reissue producer: Bob Irwin.
Originally released on Columbia (32168). Includes liner notes by Jaan Uhelszki.
Digitally remastered by Vic Anesini at Sony Music Studios, New York, New York.
Personnel: Janis Joplin (vocals, guitar).
Recording information: 12/13/1966-10/01/1970.
Photographers: Don Hunstein; Jim Marshall ; Daniel Kramer ; Baron Wolman; Clark Pierson.
Arranger: Janis Joplin.
Drawing inspiration from Bessie Smith and Odetta, Janis Joplin developed a brash, uncompromising vocal style quite unlike traditional folk Madonnas. In 1966, Joplin was invited to the Bay Area to front Big Brother & the Holding Company. Cheap Thrills, a joyous celebration of true psychedelic soul, contained two Joplin "standards" in "Piece of My Heart" and "Ball and Chain," but she left the group in November 1968. Electric Flag members Mike Bloomfield, Harvey Brooks, and Nick Gravenites helped assemble a new act, known as the Kozmic Blues Band. I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! was coolly received, but the set contained several excellent Joplin vocals, notably "Try," "Maybe," and "Little Girl Blue." The singer subsequently dissolved the band and undertook medical advice for drinking and drug abuse. A slimmed-down group, the Full Tilt Boogie Band, was unveiled in May 1970 featuring a tighter, more intimate sound. Sessions for a debut album were all but complete when, on October 4, 1970, Joplin died of a heroin overdose at her Hollywood hotel. The posthumous Pearl proved her most consistent work, with "My Baby," "Cry Baby," and the anthemic "Get It While You Can." The highlight was the chart-topping "Me and Bobby McGee," which allowed Joplin to be both vulnerable and assertive. Joplin knew few boundaries, artistic or personal, and her sadly brief catalog is marked by her bare-nerved honesty. ~ Rovi Staff
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (8/16/73, p.50) - "...Janis Joplin's GREATEST HITS is no final testament to an artist, nor is it a document of its period. It is a record for people who can't get her out of their minds, and for whom she has become some sort of ghost, a permanent image of rock's capacity for generating self-destruction....Janis Joplin, Superstar..."
Q (1/95, p.273) - 3 Stars - Good - "...It's not so much the timbre of her voice that stands out...but the sheer cathartic vitality that emanates from within. It's a soul-deep, blues act that was emphatically matched by her backing bands..."
