or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
More Buying Choices
46 used & new from $15.00

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Janis
 
See larger image
 

Janis [BOX SET]

Janis Joplin
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews) More about this product

Price: $47.98 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 5 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Tuesday, November 10? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
21 new from $25.20 22 used from $15.00 3 collectible from $47.98

Amazon's Janis Joplin Store

Janis Joplin
Find all the CDs, MP3s, and vinyl, plus photos, videos, biographies, discussions, and more.

Visit Amazon's Janis Joplin Store

Frequently Bought Together

Janis + Box of Pearls: The Janis Joplin Collection + Live at Winterland '68
Price For All Three: $99.96

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Janis ~ Janis Joplin

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

  • Box of Pearls: The Janis Joplin Collection ~ Janis Joplin

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details

  • Live at Winterland '68 ~ Janis Joplin

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Get $1 worth of MP3 downloads from Amazon MP3 after you order your item. Here's how (restrictions apply)

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Live at Winterland '68

Live at Winterland '68

~ Janis Joplin
4.8 out of 5 stars (28)  $6.99
Nine Hundred Nights - Big Brother and the Holding Co. with Janis Joplin

Nine Hundred Nights - Big Brother and the Holding Co. with Janis Joplin

DVD ~ Peter Albin
3.4 out of 5 stars (18)  $13.49
In Concert

In Concert

~ Janis Joplin
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  $7.98
Janis Joplin:The Woodstock Experience (2 CD)

Janis Joplin:The Woodstock Experience (2 CD)

~ Janis Joplin
4.5 out of 5 stars (10)  $14.99
18 Essential Songs

18 Essential Songs

~ Janis Joplin
4.1 out of 5 stars (22)  $8.98
Explore similar items

Product Details

  • Audio CD (November 23, 1993)
  • Original Release Date: November 23, 1993
  • Number of Discs: 3
  • Format: Box set
  • Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
  • Label: Sony
  • ASIN: B00000286P
  • Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #132,692 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A host of contradictions--the insufficiency of her collaborators, the spectacular potential of her voice, the inconsistency of her efforts--have left Joplin's historical legacy a tangled mess. The new 3 CD box set, Janis, captures that mess in all its glory but does little to untangle it. Typical of compiler Bob Irwin's decisions was his choice to replace the familiar version of George Gershwin's "Summertime" from the "Cheap Thrills" album by a weaker but unreleased alternate take. There are too many examples of strangled singing by Joplin's male partners in Big Brother and not enough examples of her incendiary live performances. The album begins with Joplin's first-ever recording, a vocal-and-autoharp version of "What Good Can Drinkin' Do" taped in a friend's living room in Austin in '62. That's followed by two unreleased blues recorded with guitarist Jorma Kaukonen in a San Francisco living room in '65 and eight songs from the controversial (and hard-to-find) 1966 debut album, "Big Brother & the Holding Company." "Cheap Thrills" is represented by five cuts, four outtakes and one live version; "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!" is represented by seven cuts, one outtake and two live versions; and "Pearl" by eight cuts and three outtakes. Other rarities include a longer spoken introduction to "Mercedes Benz" and two live performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

The 48-page booklet features nude photos of Joplin on the outside and feminist essays about her on the inside. Ellen Willis compares Joplin's self-created image to Madonna's, ignoring the crucial fact that Joplin was a brilliant singer while Madonna is hardly any kind of singer at all. Ann Powers addresses the music itself and correctly points out that Joplin's art was not merely unmediated emotion but a premeditated mix of gambles and craft, of Bessie Smith's open-throated wails and Otis Redding's gruff shouts. She was some kind of singer, and that's what she should be remembered for. --Geoffrey Himes



Product Description

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(2)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

20 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (7)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Janis at 50, October 4, 2000
This review is from: Janis (Audio CD)
This remarkable collection was released in 1993, a de facto companion release for sister Laura Joplin's biography _Love, Janis_ , with both serving to commemorate Janis' 50th birthday. If you were aware of that fact, at the time, it only served as a reminder of what a presence was lost on October 4, 1970--and what a great great middle-aged broad Janis (to paraphrase Bill Graham, the presumable announcer on _Cheap Thrills_) would likely have been had she lived.

I write this on the 30th anniversary of Janis' death, and can't help wonder how Janis might have been at age 57. It is, of course, impossible to say, but whether you fantasize that she would be as outrageous as ever--still performing and raising hell--or living in virtual retirement (perhaps returning to her first love, painting), she would nonetheless have remained a fascinating figure.

One thing is certain, as this box set attests, she would indeed have continued to grow and develop musically for as long as she chose to record and perform. There is no denying that her voice altered drastically over the course of her brief career, and there is every indication that, by the time of her death, she had lost much of her upper register (compare the studio version of "Try" on disc 2 to the "live" version that appears on disc 3 and you'll notice how she cannot begin to recreate those scalding wails with which she closed out the song only a year before). But Janis was also a resourceful singer, and when her attempt to reach those impossible high notes fails, she takes another tack and begins to vamp over the the band's instrumental finale. It's not as exciting, but it shows that she was thinking, and that she was capable of compensating for any vocal limitations (whether they were temporary or permanent).

The youthful Janis Joplin had a remarkably flexible voice. Her earliest recordings have her affecting a country blues style--as exemplified by the three previously unreleased acoustic tracks that begin this album. But she also used to claim that she could sound like Joan Baez when she felt like it, a claim given credence by her performance on "Coo Coo," an early Big Brother track, which closes with her trilling quite beautifully over some Eastern influenced guitar. On this song, as with another somewhat lesser known Big Brother song, "The Last Time," she barely seems to pause for breath. There is a youthful exuberence on nearly all the early tracks that more than makes up for any lack of sophistication. But that's the kicker, and that's, ultimately, my point. The strains put on Janis' voice would ultimately diminish its power, but I am convinced, based on the quality of the _Pearl_-era tracks that she was already learning to compensate for a lack of her earlier full-throatedness. "Me and Bobby McGee" was a masterpiece of phrasing over belting, and there would certainly have been more to come in that vein had she lived.

This set may not be perfect. Some might argue that its substitution of some inferior "alternate versions" ("Cry Baby" being the best example) serves to lessen the overall quality of this collection, making it a must only for completists. But I would argure that,despite its flaws, it presents us with a portrait of Janis' entire career--which brief as it was, demonstrated a variety and musical growth that few could match over the course of a much longer lifetime.

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Something for everyone, July 27, 2002
This review is from: Janis (Audio CD)
This box set walks the line between appealing to collectors and to the average listener. The project is basically well-thought out with the exception of a few of the tracks.

First, I definitely love the alternate version of "Cry Baby" released here. You hear Janis cracking up at herself as she misses a high note but never a beat, meanwhile letting it rip with this great studio take. The track includes a hilarious vamp/rap with Janis in fine form lamenting the guy who opts for the road instead of her satin sheets, fur and chicken. She cracks herself up again when she says, "And that should be identity enough for any man." You just gotta love it.

Another superlative moment that cannot be found anywhere else [18 Essentials does not include the studio discussion featured here] is the acoustic demo of "Me and Bobby McGee," featuring a solo Janis accompanying herself on guitar. Again, the track includes an introductory studio discussion with Janis's hilarious comments about her guitar playing and recurring Texas accent. But more importantly, the track reveals how Janis herself mapped out one of the great recordings in rock history. She's the one who kicks it up a notch during the la-la-la portion of the song before exclaiming "that's when somebody else has to take over.." It's vintage Janis and worth the price of the box set to obtain.

Another standout is the very hard-to-find Saturday afternoon performance of "Ball and Chain" at the Monterey Pop Festival. This is the quintessential moment for Janis and Big Brother and the Holding Company, the one that left Mama Cass looking on in awe. The Sunday night version is the one always featured in Janis documentaries in which she performs in her gold lame pantsuit. The Saturday afternoon "Ball and Chain" is rock n' roll history as it happened, and therefore an essential choice for the box set, even though the Cheap Thrills version is even more mindblowing.

Disappointments include the alternate choice of "Summertime," which while decent, doesn't begin to compare with the incredible sonic moments displayed in Amsterdam with the Kozmic Blues band. Another strange addition is "One Night Stand" produced by Todd Rundgren. This track is available on "Farewell Song," performed with the Butterfield Blues Band, but on the boxed set, it so speedy she sounds like she's singing on helium. What happened? How could the compilers/engineers make such a mistake?

There are two versions of "Try" here, one with the original Kozmic Blues band and the other with Full Tilt live. Anyone who has seen the movie "Janis" knows the spoken introduction featured with Full Tilt occured at Toronto, not Calgary, and that the compilers of the "In Concert" album from where this track originated, cheated by cutting and pasting the intro onto the Calgary track, totally unnecessary, in my opinion, because the Toronto performance was better.

But I digress. Because the fact is, no compilation ever seems to be perfect. So back to what else is good about the box set... I like the "Trouble in Mind" typewriter tape with Jorma the K playing acoustic guitar in his living room. Here's where Janis sounds just like Bessie Smith, which gives the listener an excellent taste of how Janis once sounded during the Coffee Gallery days of the early 60s. The box set also features Janis's first ever recorded performance, "What Good Can Drinkin' Do?", a Janis-penned original.

Lastly, the artwork and booklet are really hip and cool. I agree with the previous reviewer that the Ellen Willis essay could have been left behind, but Ann Powers' writing is very enlightening, especially for the younger listener
.
If you are a true Janis fan, you really must buy this boxed set.
Yes, you'll probably end up programming your favorite cuts and skipping others, but that's what box sets are for, right?

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars This is the Wrong box set., October 27, 2002
By Sergio Dessic "reallywuki" (Upstate New York, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Janis (Audio CD)
OK, if you are new to Janis, skip this and go straight to the Box of Pearls CD box. If you are a collector like me, there are some tracks here that are not featured elsewhere, though only a few.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars JANIS
ONCE AGAIN I HAD THESE ON CASSETTE AND WANTED THEN ON CDS IT IS EXCELLENT SET.
Published 2 months ago by Harold M. Clayton

4.0 out of 5 stars best of janis
I love this set for the lesser known cuts. I have been a big fan since I bought her first album on Mainstream Records. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Brucefanatic

5.0 out of 5 stars review
this new way of reviewing is very time cunsuming and irritating.
the product and seller are outstanding but amazon's review set up
is a borish time waster!!!!
Published 5 months ago by Robert L. Bunker

4.0 out of 5 stars Ultimate Janis-To-Go...well, almost
Janis listeners Karen and Gregor (below) have already pointed out the flaws and inconsistencies of this compilation but I can only concur with both of them on the indisputable... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Jennifer N. Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars And this is where it all began
Subdued by the whimsies of my friend, and hoping to aid in removing a brick between us, I could see she wasn't open to my preaching, "Fins to the Left of me, Fins to the... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Jeffrey R. Smith

4.0 out of 5 stars The Rose
I became interested in Janis Joplin after seeing the movie The Rose. I was just captivated by the power in her voice. I had the soundtrack from a documentary of her life. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Yolande Webster

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite!
I bought this box set a few years ago and loved it. It got lost in the shuffle when I moved, and I was quick to buy it again. Well worth it.
Published 23 months ago by E. Rudacille

3.0 out of 5 stars "What Happened"?
After hearing and loving the great hit "Ball and Chain" with Janis along with Big Brother and the Holding Company and seeing that this song was included in this set I jumped at... Read more
Published on August 22, 2005 by J. F Kopeck

5.0 out of 5 stars at least one of these disks is always near my cd player
I have had this box set since 1994 and still take great joy in it. Some of what's here Janis did better elsewhere, it's true. Read more
Published on December 31, 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars for collectors only
i feel this set is for collectors only.i am a colletor so i am glad i have it.there are pros and cons to support this and here they are.. Read more
Published on November 28, 2001 by J. Bringle

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Discussion Replies Latest Post
Mood Stabilizers... 79 24 minutes ago
Why vinyl? 18 27 minutes ago
Bands from Australia 291 37 minutes ago
Protest the Hero Vs. Scar Symmetry Vs. Obscura 2 38 minutes ago
Cozy Revisited. 26 39 minutes ago
Song Title Tag VI 4520 2 hours ago
Norton Buffalo R.I.P. 0 3 hours ago
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   




SoundUnwound Says...

Janis opens new browser window by Janis Joplin opens new browser window is mainly Album-Oriented Rock (AOR), quite Hard Rock, with hints of Blues”

Disagree? Cast your vote now! opens new browser window

Share your knowledge and explore the rest of the music world at SoundUnwound.com opens new browser window

SoundUnwound Logo

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Janis
50% buy the item featured on this page:
Janis 4.5 out of 5 stars (20)
$47.98
Pearl
14% buy
Pearl 4.6 out of 5 stars (30)
$7.98
Box of Pearls: The Janis Joplin Collection
14% buy
Box of Pearls: The Janis Joplin Collection 4.7 out of 5 stars (32)
$44.99
Essential Janis Joplin
12% buy
Essential Janis Joplin 4.8 out of 5 stars (13)
$15.98


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Music by subject:












i.e., each title must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.