Janis was a bright, precocious child with a winning smile and a manner about her that charmed people (Joplin 28). She was a child who liked people and she got the same treatment in return. She showed great respect for older individuals and went out of her way to help others. Everyone seemed to love young Janis. Her sister Laura looked up to her very much. They shared a special bond that some young people today have never experienced. Even though there was a six year age difference, they always got along great. Janis displayed an independence that pleased her parents when it showed her creativity and originality. Mom was quick to follow up on an interest expressed by her children, especially if it was artistic in nature (Joplin 29,36). Her parents let her practice the piano and sing regula

d to sleep with everyone she knew, and I think she accomplished that. "Was she a lesbian? Was she a junkie? You never knew what Janis was up to next" (Dalvano 1). During the Monterey Pop time, Janis seemed to make it with other rising stars such as Jimi Hendrix, Country Joe, and Jim Morrison, but as it always was in the past, they were purely physical (Amburn 199).

Janis formed a new band called the Full Tilt Boogie and the future looked promising, although her heroin use was now affecting her relationship with others. David left her, and Linda moved out because Janis could not make proper decisions at her requests (Amburn 270). At the time that Full Tilt Boogie was ready to go public, Janis's new obsession with Tequila was hurting her physically. The doctor told her that she could not just slow down, it had to be total abstinence, but she was not ready for that commitment and she continued to drink (Joplin 283). The band toured successfully and the audiences loved Janis's new choice of musicians. Janis was ecstatic with her new band and life never seemed better. Janis saw herself as a wild woman. Because of this, and some encouragement from friends, Janis took on the new name Pearl. Pearl was a partier, and Janis was the one inside Pearl who was sick of it all (Moser 2).

Oddly, a doctor agreed with her. "She did feel that her alcohol use was a problem, and her doctor agreed," (Joplin 264). Janis was not ready to deal with her alcohol abuse so doctors focused mainly on her heroin use. They put her on methadone and she seemed to be quitting successfully. Her musical taste was softening also. She released "Me and Bobby McGee," a more refined tune, which was written by a great love of hers Kris Kristofferson (Amburn 256). On Dec. 19, 1969, The Kosmic Blues Band played their final performance. 1969 was a year that Janis looked back upon the most. Janis had lost control of her self-image, and she was beginning to see that she had to make some changes. The year of 1969 was a turning point for Janis (Joplin 266).

was copying her inspiration Bessie Smith who lived life battling drug and alcohol addictions. By 1964, Janis increased her speed use. Drugs initially gave Janis the sense that she was getting somewhere. Life looked brighter, sounds seemed louder, and she felt more creative (Joplin 127). After meeting a young man and falling in love with him and his speed addiction, she finally hit bottom. Speed had really taken its toll on her life. She weighed only 88 pounds and she was terrified by what she had done to herself. This artistic influence seemed to be more of a problem than an aide. She was so strung out that her friends held a collection to buy her a bus ticket home. She intended to "go back home and straighten out, go back to college, even get married." That isn't exactly what happened (Leahy 2). In May of 1965, she left San Francisco and headed back home to Port Arthur, Texas.

Without Janis as their singer, Big Brother and the Holding Company were nothing. She put everything she had into her lyrics and performances. "Her big raw voice is an instrument in the process of being destroyed by the passion with which she plays it" says a critic from Time Magazine. "Singing with Big Brother was the first time I was able to make my emotions work for me," Janis explained. "I put everything I have into the songs. I think if I hadn't gotten a chance to really sing like that, I would have destroyed myself" (Joplin 179). The band had plenty of work and Janis had lots of friends who loved to party. Janis wanted to work on her image and love life. Janis wanted to look glamorous but most photographers and others told her that she looked better au natural... it captured her best. Her love life seemed to be flourishing on the other hand. A man named Travis Rivers and Janis were really hitting it off. They were in love but they did not have any set commitment to each !

Fame was what she ended up with. Janis made Big Brother a h

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Approximate Word count = 3319
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)