Customer Reviews

I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!

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Back in the year, Janis Joplin's departure from Big Brother and the Holding Company for this aggregation and album to launch a solo career got mixed reviews at best---either people thought she wasn't a rock singer anymore; or, they thought she hadn't paid enough dues to qualify as the soul singer this album presented her to be. There were those critics who thought she should have dumped this band and returned (as would guitarist Sam Andrew, who came with her in the first place) to Big Brother---whose sloppy psychedelic blues flash got sloppy enough to prod her to leave in the first place when it looked like she was going to have a career no matter with or without them. It couldn't have been easy for even so stubborn yet sensitive an individualist as Joplin to record or break in a new band under that kind of pressurised oversight.

The only problem with this album, really, was a) the aggregation, a great idea on paper and full of outstanding musicians, didn't have all that much time to jell; and, b) the Bee Gees may have written "To Love Somebody" for Otis Redding, whose brand of soul was one of this band's most obvious influences, but Joplin and company took it too far over the top to deliver it as the soul ballad it was intended to be. The obvious highlights are "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)," an R and B chestnut given a sharp band performance and a classic Joplin reading; "Little Girl Blue," in which Joplin proves her deconstruction of "Summertime" was no fluke when it came to reimagining Gershwin; and, "One Good Man," an original Joplin blues that puts her back into her truest element with sensitive band support and an appropriately crying guitar break from guest Mike Bloomfield (who'd helped her put the band together in the first place).

The less obvious highlights include "As Good as You've Been to This World," a Nick Gravenites composition in which the band gives hints of what they might have become had they more time to knit together properly; "Kozmic Blues," a surprising soul ballad written by Joplin herself (with Steppenwolf producer Gabriel Mekler) that includes a haunting warning the singer herself should have heeded ("You got to live your life, you got to love your life, because some day you're gonna die") considering how soon some day would come for her; and, "Work Me, Lord," another Gravenites offering that might have become another tour de force for Joplin in concert but for the occasionally out-of-synch ensemble.

If you want a better taste of what this aggregation could have been, however, you'll get a classic chance to compare---"Kozmic Blues" has been remastered and reissued in a package that also includes their complete performance at Woodstock in 1969, an event for which Joplin is in absolutely top voice and form (something that wasn't always true of her last year and a half of life) and the band, while a little ragged, is as inspired as they would ever become. The set includes a few of the album's centerpieces, including "As Good As You've Been to This World," "To Love Somebody" (which sounded at Woodstock the way they merely hoped it would sound on the album), "Try," "Kozmic Blues," and "Work Me, Lord," plus a few of Joplin's established calling cards, including (and especially) a steamy reimagining of her already well-reimagined version of Big Mama Thornton's "Ball and Chain."

This is a great cd! Little Girl Blue is such a wonderful song. I highly reccomend this cd to any Janis fan and with such a low price who could pass this by?

Sound is as good if not better than Janis in person. Mega fan..She has no equal.

Janis Joplin was REAL, a true rock star. Probably too real for this phony world. In addition, she was an artist, with edges unsmoothed, which is one of the things that made her so real. On this, her first solo album, she works in various styles, with songs from diverse sources, and gives us a sampling of the talent she had, and could have developed further, if circumstances had been different.

"Try" starts off simmering, then moves continually forward & upward in intensity, and ends by rocking like nobody's business. "Maybe" is a basic torch song, and Janis and her band give it the good soul treatment. "One Good Man" is late night blues, with some blistering guitar licks. "As Good As You've Been To This World" continues in the same "juke joint" music vein, and it bears a message: "It's gonna come right back to you, babe." "To Love Somebody" is the best version of this song that I have ever heard, including the BeeGees original. "Little Girl Blue" is a standard written by the very show-biz team of Rodgers and Hart; but, complete with strings, an amazing vocal by Janis and a busy, alternate melody played on guitar, it is probably the most beautiful track she ever recorded. At the other end of the spectrum are 2 very somber tracks, "Kozmic Blues" and "Work Me, Lord". On these Janis explores some of those unavoidable and insoluble problems that we all face - time's inevitable march, loneliness, despair, the search for meaning in life and for a feeling of self-worth.

The bonus tracks are interesting if you love Janis, but they don't compare in quality to the tracks from the original album. Two of them are live performances from Woodstock, and you get to hear Janis talking to the crowd, in her usual direct, familiar way. And at the end of the last track, there is a vintage ad for the album that is, well, pretty hot!

We've been mourning the loss of Janis since her death in 1970. She seems to be irreplaceable. Other female artists (Pat Benatar, Melissa Etheridge, Joss Stone, Duffy) have talents similar to those of Janis, and have made good names for themselves in the world of pop-rock music; but none personifies an era the way Janis did, and still does.

Except for Sam Andrew, Janis leaves Big Brother and spaced-out San Franciscan blues jams behind replacing it with soul-inflected horns that are more reminiscent of the Memphis Stax records of, say, Sam and Dave. The band sometimes sounds stiff, even unsure. "As Good As You've Been To This World" is a mistake. The intro drags, the arrangement is weak and Janis isn't powerful enough to make it take off. They don't cut the break on "Work Me Lord" either. But those are the worst moments.

Overall, Janis's moods do vary here, which is a testament to her talent. The melancholy of the horns on "Maybe" push her to great heights in her ability to reach that high note, truly revealing her essence. Amazingly, the band adds perfect punctuations to "Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)" providing Janis an ideal setting for her to move unaffectedly along with it. She does her thing and the track gets better and better. My two favorites are the white-blues noise of "One Good Man", highlighted by Mike Bloomfield's icy slide guitar as well as Janis's good-humored sass, and the Broadway standard "Little Girl Blue" where she learns the art of nuance. It's an achingly powerful performance done so poignantly that you know she sings of this firsthand.

This is far and away the best joplin album. So soulful. i dont know what the one guy was saying about the sloppy ensamble.A step up from big brother really. it has a real live feel. this is just an awesome album to put on and sip wine with.

the reason that big brother and holding company worked is because the snarling twin lead guitars laden with fuzz and distortion perfectly matched the gravelly grit of janis's voice.

if you take the guitars out of the equation, it kind of tames down janis. it is like trying to make a kitten out of a tigress.

bought this for my wife , she loves it , was a brand new in factory pkg. perfect shape !

i got this for "one good man" because mike bloomfield tears it up on guitar.its worth the price alone.it turns out that i like the whole cd.

Case was cracked and contents were in good condition...Tad bit slow on delivery. Over all it was a good transaction.