Pearl's A Singer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Southern Comfort

(The marketer's dream): During the times that hallucinogenic drugs were all the rage Janis kept her distance. Whilst she would later, tragically, turn toward heroin her vice during this time was alcohol. She proved to be a heavy drinker and her drink of choice was Southern Comfort. Numerous photographs surfaced of her with the said bottle either in tow or within screen shot.

The drink became synonymous with her and, in the process helped to dramatically increase its sales. The distillery eventually presented Janis with a lynx coat as a way of acknowledgement and appreciation.

Answer: A tattoo

(The trendsetter): Tattoos have been around for thousands of years and in this day and age they are commonplace and have grown to be an accepted part of modern culture. In the 1960s and 1970s it was almost unheard of to have a woman of note wearing a tattoo. Janis was one of the women whose influence would lead to the changing of that guard. She approached Lyle Tuttle, a notable US tattoo artist, and requested two tattoos. The first was publically visible and was placed on her wrist. Whilst it took the shape of a Florentine bracelet that Joplin had found while on a tour of South America, Janis was heard to say that for her it was a symbol of women's liberation. The second, a love heart that was penned onto her breast, was not for the public, this was the one that was (a) for her and her friends and (b) the treat for the boys. After the tattoos were done Janis threw a party that night to show off Tuttle's work. Tuttle, who was invited, ended up tattooing eighteen of her friends through the evening.

Sources for this question were:
https://www.pcs.org/blog/item/janis-joplin-tattoo-trailblazer/
https://www.tattoodo.com/a/2015/12/janis-joplin-the-first-tattooed-celebrity/
http://ezinearticles.com/?Janis-Joplins-Wrist-Tattoo----A-Symbol-of-Feminine-Power&id=1989951

Answer: Jim Morrison

(The bad girl): The story was told by Paul A. Rothchild who, at the time, was the Doors' producer and was also working on Joplin's album "Pearl". He'd arranged for the pair, whom he'd coined the King and Queen of Rock 'n' Roll to meet up at a party in Hidden Hills. Janis liked what she saw and so did Morrison. Unfortunately, while Janis got "charming" drunk, Morrison had gotten "cretin" drunk which pushed Joplin to leave the party. Morrison followed Janis to her car at which point he was told, in a less than kind manner, to remove himself. Jim, not one to take no for an answer, reached into the car and grabbed hold of Janis' hair. Janis grabbed a bottle of Southern Comfort and smashed it against Morrison's head, knocking him out.

Source: "Break On Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison" by James Riordan (2006).

Answer: All is Loneliness

(The lonely girl): To put it delicately, Janis was known to have a penchant for men and had had several lovers in her time with no relationship of any real standing. She often said that despite being constantly surrounded by people she forever felt alone.

She once said "onstage, I make love to 25,000 - then I go home alone". There are two echoes in that statement - she felt at her best when she was working, pouring her heart out to a willing audience but to her, the giving only went one way. This is further reflected in a comment by Nina Simone at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival when she said (of Joplin) "it pained me to see how hard she worked. Because she got hooked into a thing, and it wasn't on drugs.

She got hooked into a feeling and she played to corpses". Louis Hardin, better known as "Moondog", was blinded at the age of sixteen.

He made his living by selling his poetry in New York between the 1940s and 1972. He moved to Germany and settled there in 1974. An inspiration to many musicians he would release numerous albums and invent a range of instruments throughout his career.

Answer: False

The first song to achieve this feat was Otis Redding's "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" in 1968. Joplin's single would be the second to do so. Janis manages to convey tenderness, desperation and aching in this remarkable rendition. Acknowledge that Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster had managed to craft the original into a beautiful song but when Janis added her heart to this it was lifted to a level its authors didn't imagine.

In Kristofferson's words "The first time I heard Janis Joplin's version was right after she died. Paul Rothchild, her producer, asked me to stop by his office and listen to this thing she had cut.

Afterwards, I walked all over L.A., just in tears. I couldn't listen to the song without really breaking up. So when I came back to Nashville, I went into the Combine [Publishing] building late at night, and I played it over and over again, so I could get used to it without breaking up".

It is moments and comments like these that make you realize what a remarkable interpreter of song the world had lost with her passing. If you're not convinced enough by Janis' version of the above song then listen how she raises the bar on George and Ira Gershwin's "Summertime", Big Mama Thornton's "Ball and Chain" or the Boris Ragovoy composition "Piece of My Heart", all of which appear on the 1968 album "Cheap Thrills" by Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Answer: Billie Holiday

(The reverent): To understand the impact that Billie Holiday had on a young Janis Joplin you only need to hear one of her quotes; "Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday... they are so subtle, they can milk you with two notes. They can go no further than from A to B, and they can make you feel like they told you the whole universe".

When Janis left Texas early in 1963 and headed to North Beach, San Francisco, primarily to be a hippy and "just to get away", one of the first things she packed was Holiday's autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues".

Her friend Richard Hundgen was quoted "it was like a Bible to her".

Answer: John Lennon

(The tender heart): On October 1 in 1970 Janis completed two recordings. One that would solidify her legend, "Mercedes Benz", and the other was a one minute greeting to Lennon that was built around an old Dale Evans song called "Happy Trails". In, what some describe as prophetic vein, the track includes the line "happy trails to you, until we meet again".

She would pass away three days later. In an interview with talk show host Dick Cavett Lennon confirmed that he'd received the recording, not long after Janis' passing. If you are interested in listening to it a copy was made available to the public as part of a three CD box-set, simply titled "Janis", in 1993.

Answer: Bessie Smith

(Aware of her roots): Bessie Smith was a singing force in the 1920s and the early 1930s with hits such as "Crazy Blues" and "Downhearted Blues". She died in 1937 as a result of severe injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. Despite being a major influence on so many recording artists she was laid to rest in an unmarked grave.

As a teenager Joplin had befriended a group of school outcasts, one of whom introduced her to the works of Smith and a number of other artists from that same era. This fortuitous meeting would not only influence Joplin to become a singer but to shape the direction that her music would take.

When Joplin discovered Smith's fate she was aghast and put forward the funds to have a proper tombstone created on the site.

This act would later be immortalised in song by the great Dory Previn whose song "Stone for Bessie Smith" would appear on her 1971 solo album "Mythical Kings and Iguanas".

Answer: Her ashes were scattered upon the ocean

(Woman of the world): Joplin died in Hollywood and her service was also held there - at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Mortuary in Los Angeles. She was cremated and some of her ashes were scattered from a plane into the Pacific Ocean. The rest were scattered along Stinson Beach in California.

The service had been kept quiet and private and was only attended by her parents and her aunt. Her will allowed for $2,500 to be set aside for a wake which was then held in San Anselmo on October 26, 1970.

It almost seems ironic then that, as she found herself giving in life and yet feeling so alone, so she was in death.

Answer: Stevie Nicks

(The inspiration): As Stevie tells the story, in early 1970 she and Lindsay Buckingham, as members of a band called Fritz, were the opening act for Janis at a gig at the San Jose Fairground. They were well into their set when Stevie spied a furious Joplin at the side of the stage telling them to get off in a less than delicate manner. Nicks described that any animosity she may have felt toward Joplin at the time soon evaporated when she saw Janis at work on stage. "She was so beautiful because she made such a powerful and deep emotional connection with the audience. She really gave you piece of her heart". Nicks was so moved she said that this provided her with the inspiration to "find her own voice and develop a style of my own".

This a condensed version of the events, a more complete story can be found in the CD liner notes to "Big Brother and the Holding Company's Live at Winterland '68", released in June of 1998.