Customer Reviews

In Concert

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My tattered copy of this album, that I purchased upon its release in '72, still gets played. I feel this is a great representation of the "live" Janis, and that many of the versions heard here are the best available. There just aren't any songs like "Flower In The Sun" anymore, it is my favorite example of the creative genius of Big Brother, other than "Farewell Song", which I wish was included here. This recording does include, however, my favorite version of the song that I feel best represents the incredible power of Janis' voice at its vocal peak, "Down On ME." To hear the bands brief warm-up on this song, with Janis chattering in the backround, as she steps up to the microphone, clears her throat.."Ahem...yes"...in her little Texas voice, and unleashes the first awesome notes, well... the goosebumps still appear to this day. To also hear the original released version of this song, a restrained, folksy studio rendition, and the couple of years later live version heard here... a whirling cyclone of un-fathomable intensity, is to hear two completely different songs. This collection, of Janis in all her incarnations, with the cover photo of her beautiful, jubilant smile, may be my favorite, it is the closest you will come to "touching her." Janis LIVES.

Since Joplin was known primarily as a live performer, her studio work was often viewed as a kind of compromise at best. Cheap Thrills had some live vocals and simulated a Big Brother concert effectively, but it never claimed to be the genuine (i.e. 'live') article.

So in 1972, about a year and half after her death, Columbia assembled these tracks from several different live performances with Big Brother and Full Tilt Boogie. It's "live,"--although some of the Big Brother tracks, notably "Down On Me" sound like they may have been doctored a bit--but somehow it doesn't quite convey the excitement of a Joplin concert the way "Cheap Thrills" did.

There are several great moments though. "All Is Loneliness" is completely recast here. Where it had been a kind of an eerie chant, with a brief vamp, on the Mainstream lp, it now is now an extended vocal improvisation--among the best on record. Someone once said that no one sang the words "lonely" or "loneliness" with as much feeling as Janis. This track bears that assertion out.

Although I loved "Pearl" and had great respect for the musicianship of Full Tilt, Joplin in Concert helps make the case for those who insist that Big Brother showcased Joplin in a way that her other bands could not match. She sounds like she's having the time of her life on "Road Block" and "Flower In the Sun." "Ego Rock" from a 1970 reunion concert has her in a classic blues one-upmanship battle with Nick Gravenites. She sounds much less strained here than on the Full Tilt Boogie tracks (also from '70). The FTB numbers, culled from tapes made during a Canadian train tour in the summer of '70, seem rawer than the Big Brother sides. It may have been a riotous time, but vocally, all that partying seems to have taken its toll. She tries to reach those high notes at the end of "Try," but she just can't pull it off. If these were the only extant tracks from her last days, you probably would have justified in saying that her voice was shot. The fact that she would go into the studio a few months later and record the triumphant "Pearl" proves otherwise.

Janis Joplin put out a handful of studio albums in her lifetime, and there have since been scores of Janis compilations after her passing. This collection is unique in that it really shows how powerful Janis Joplin was in concert. Whether she belts out heartbreaking songs or raps with the audience, this album shows how much fun she must have been to see live.

I read her biography "Buried Alive" by Myra Friedman, who was one of Janis' managers. One of the things that sticks in my memory was that seeing Janis Joplin live was a "roll of the dice." When she was on her game, you would see a fantastic concert you would never forget. When she was having a bad night, it was a thorough disaster.

Many of us are too young to have seen Janis Joplin live, but this CD has probably captured some of her more prime moments. I mean, if these tunes were her off nights, then her good nights must have been the purest of epiphanies!

The album starts off hot with "Down On Me," a song she recorded
with Big Brother & the Holding Company. The studio version was good, but this live piece leaves the former in the dust! Ditto with "Bye, Bye Baby," a whimsical but almost upbeat song of lost love.

Before going into "All is Loneliness," she introduces the tune by telling the audience about Moondog, the 60s underground poet who penned the song. Moondog, who passed away in the past few years, is one of those counter-culture figures who will never be remembered on the level of the Kerouacs and Dylans. I love when these little near-forgotten icons and tales of eras past make the final cut of concert albums, like a little historical footnote for future generations of music buffs.

One of my personal favorites on this album is "Flower in the Sun," a fall-from-grace tune that, if you didn't focus on the lyrics, would sound like an high-energy song of empowerment. When you listen closely to the lyrics, it works surprisingly well with the contrasting pace of the song.

While hits like "Piece of My Heart" and "Half Moon" don't soar above the studio cuts like the abovementioned songs, they are still excellent takes. And "Ball and Chain......" I would lay odds that even on her worst night, Janis Joplin could hit that song home. There is something about the way she belts out that song, be it studio or live recording, that will give you goosebumps.

This is one of those great albums that was always readily available in the days of LP past, and is still very available on CD. "Joplin In Concert" is a rare gem of a live album that any Joplin fan should pick up in case it goes out of print.

This album is all Janis Live- raw & exposed. I can't believe the other reviews talking about the 'uneveness' of the tracks or album. This is a great recording of some of her best songs, none of them weak nor unlistenable. People who note the 'uneveness'(God forbid) totally miss the point of her music and should probably just listen to Brittany Spears. Her studio work was ok, but by far the best recordings of Janis I've heard were live and this is an excellant example. There are 2 albums I've clung to for decades when I feel emotionally battered, discouraged or alone & need refuge, this one and Lennon's Plastic Ono Band.

Janis Joplin remains the greatest singer in this and any other world. Somehow her singing cuts through all the BS and emanates from the core of her being. In Concert gives a collection of live tracks starting with Down on Me, and a few others from the Mainstream album, but now done the Janis way, not the record company way. Bye Bye Baby was written for her by a friend and has that esoteric haunting quality. One great aspect of this album is the off the cuff spontaneous "raps" Janis gives the audience as well as improvised lyrics as evidenced in All is Loneliness, the comical Ego Rock, and her magnum opus, Ball and Chain. This is not her most powerful version of Ball and Chain, however a valuable version as it's her last version and has a sense of finality to it.

Flower in the Sun is one of those tunes that could only come from the '60s consciousness, written by a member of Big Brother. The Calgary concert recordings have an uncanny sense of finality to them, as well as an elusive spiritual quality to them.

I was a 15 and Janis had been gone 9 years when I bought this album which blew me away. Now Janis has been gone for 31 years and San Francisco has been transformed into a city of cell phone carrying airheads...However I still feel Janis' spirit here, hanging out in Golden Gate, Palace of Fine Arts, and the Haight.

When I need an attitude adjustment, I put on this CD, punch in Kozmic Blues, Flower in the Sun, Piece of my Heart, Try, the repeat button & I'm all set. In a time when a lot of singers gave lip service to Love, Janis Joplin was giving performances like these. Her voice wasn't broken. It was just getting broken in. It's not the notes she hits in your ear, but the notes she hits in your heart that matter here. Her music isn't for those who want easy listening. She gave a voice to pain & really does offer the listener a piece of her heart. Get it while you can.

This is the one you've been looking for. If you're a Janis neophite or a hard core follower, this CD captures the Janis experience like no other. Hear her wail, listen while she jokes, scolds and drinks with the band. Feel her power, laugh at the jokes, get an invitation to her house for a drink. Hear her famous intro to Try -

"A while back, I lived in San Francisco. I had a few pairs of jeans and a dog, I really thought I had my s*** together man, but every time I'd bring a piece of -- talent - home with me he'd go right straight down to the chick on the second floor. (There was this chick on the second floor see)..."

After hearing this one if you're not a fan, check your pulse, you may be dead.

Anyone who loves Janis will love this CD. The best part is that it's live.

Janis fans, don't miss out on this one! The comments and mini-stories she makes between her songs are worth a listen. Some are inspirations for her songs.

For some reason, I don't see this CD as much as I do the others in music stores. It's sometimes hard to find, so order it while you have the chance. Janis's narrative is worth listening to if you want to learn more about her...in her own words.

EXCELLENT AND BROUGHT BACK SO MANY GOOD MEMORIES...IT IS SO SAD THAT JANIS WAS LOST AND NOT HERE ROCKIN NOW...SHE WOULD CERTAINLY BE THE TOP FEMALE THAT IS CERTAIN...NO ONE WILL EVER FILL HER SHOES...