Ah, the sweet, sweet voice of an angelic genius and poet embodied in flesh is how I view my next artist. To say that I worship her would be completely off the mark, I enjoy her great contribution to music during short lifetime and these following cuts are from Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits.
Even though these songs are credit as Janis Joplin, she was never really a solo artist. Since most people associate these classic hits as “Janis Joplin”; I will be putting her name in Parenthesis before the name of the band that she recorded the song with/as.
Big Brother and the Holding Company was formed about 1965 and already had an established following when when joined their ranks in 1966. She was the vocalist for the band’s debut and sophomore albums. This Hit is from the latter, 1968′s Double Platinum Cheap Thrills.
Originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967, Joplin’s vocal performance totally transformed the song as her that Franklin herself stated that she heard “Piece of My Heart” on the radio by Janis Joplin when it was released and didn’t recognize it.[1]
Live Performance
Erma Franklin’s original performance
I love Joplin’s version of this song, but I also really like Erma Franklin’s version. For some reason, I always assumed this was a Joplin original.
Truth be told, I thought it was too until 20 minutes ago. The things you learn when you’re having fun!
Yeah, that’s been an entirely unexpected part of this process – discovering covers.
Yes indeed! It has most definitely been a process of new discoveries.