...Just four days before her death on October 4, 1970, she told journalist Howard Smith, “You are only as much as you settle for.”
Janis: Her Life and Music by Holly George-Warren; Hardcover, 400 pages; Expected publication: October 22nd 2019 by Simon Schuster; ISBN: 1476793107 (ISBN13: 9781476793108)
More is generally made of Janis Joplin being outrageous and provocative in order to draw attention to herself. A smart, but troubled child, who could never overcome her need to be loved. Contrary to Bob Dylan’s great song, She Belongs to Me, Joplin was an artist who did look back. What is not made enough of was Joplin’s personal style, her acceptance of her inadequate body, and the courage she displayed in posing nude.
...Just four days before her death on October 4, 1970, she told journalist Howard Smith, “You are only as much as you settle for.”
Unfortunately, Janis did settle for heroin and booze, and they both did her in. As grateful as she seemed to be for her earned success and popularity in certain circles, she was a helpless defeatist when it came to love. Nothing ever worked out long-term for this intense and dedicated artist.
...She would later give the Swindle her own name: the kozmic blues, which to her “means no matter what you do, you get shot down anyway.”
Janis, and one of her early bands, suffered a bit of trouble in West Hollywood with a night of broken strings, guitars out of tune, and too much Southern Comfort. But still, Janis and the band... managed to “permanently alter...the emotional atmosphere of the city, ...according to Ron Koslow in the music paper KYA Beat, “We won’t be the same until Janis and her voice come back to us. She’s a cross between Besse Smith, Joan of Arc, and a Bengal tiger, a very, very beautiful animal who all at once makes you want to laugh and cry and shriek with terror.”
To be liked and appreciated was pretty much all Joplin wanted. Only in her music and stage performance did she achieve her goals. All else failed for her. Desiring love, relationships, sobriety, and one day having a family of her own all fell short and unrequited. Hers is a sad story, and no matter how hard we try to rewrite it, or put a better spin on it, the results remain the same.
...She again wowed the audience: “Kids surround the stage, spilling over with the joy of being reached,” Goldstein reported. “Because to hear Janis once is to have been laid, lovingly and well.”
There is more in this book to ponder and learn than any movie or documentary that features Janis Joplin has achieved thus far. Holly George-Warren did a great job showing us the life behind an always rising star. But then Janis burned. And still, we, who cannot tolerate or understand a person different from us, pour more water on her, begrudgingly trying to put an eternal flame away. But in contrast, it is Holly George-Warren who gracefully throws more fuel on her iconic flame.