Review by Booklist Review
Joplin was called America's first female rock star, and George-Warren has written a biography as big, bold, and brash as its subject. She captures Joplin in all her frustrating and poignant complexity, not only her larger than life personality but also her insecurities, her bookishness, her intellect, and her deep desire for home. She embraced life, writes George-Warren, with a joyous ferocity even as she used alcohol and drugs to ward off the depression and bleak fatalism that dogged her. George-Warren describes Joplin's background ( I'm from pioneer stock ), her relationships with her brooding, atheist father and her outgoing, Christian mother; her neediness and feeling of being an outsider in her hometown of Port Arthur, Texas; and her deep-seated desire to be the center of attention even when she didn't feel she deserved it. George-Warren includes plenty of anecdotes, featuring the likes of Leonard Cohen, Kris Kristofferson, and Bruce Springsteen, who, at 19, turned down the singer's amorous advances, apparently terrified by her intensity. Joplin was a thrill-seeker, a hell-raiser, and a revolutionary, much of it to camouflage her self-doubt. She created a persona, an exaggerated version of herself, according to George-Warren, only to ask, What if they find out I'm only Janis? An insightful, compassionate, and, ultimately, tragic story of an artist gone too soon.--June Sawyers Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this excellent biography, George-Warren (A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton) paints a complex portrait of singer Janis Joplin (1943-1970). Drawing on archival materials as well as interviews with Joplin's friends, family, and bandmates, George-Warren begins with Joplin's life, stretching back to her childhood in Port Arthur, Tex., where she would "publicly flaunt her individuality." She was an outsider in high school and, in 1961, moved to Austin, where she attended the University of Texas and sang black music in a segregated folk music bar. Two years later she moved to San Francisco and immersed herself into the psychedelic rock scene, where she developed an addiction to heroin-on which she would overdose in 1970. George-Warren explores Joplin's evolution as a singer, including her early incorporation of Otis Redding's vocal techniques into her own performances, as well as her moments of impulsive brilliance, such as her first time singing "Bobby McGee"-live in Nashville in 1969, having just learned it-which she would record only a few days before her death. Indeed, as the author points out, a lonely Joplin spent the last year of her life "trying to find a way to reconcile her ambitions as a singer with her desire for some kind of loving attachment." George-Warren beautifully tells a moving story of a woman whose life and music inspired a generation. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
This superb biography captures singer Janis Joplin's complex essence, beginning with her Texas youth and early performing years through often stressful recording sessions, tours, and sold-out concerts. With her distinctive voice and onstage style, Joplin shared her unforgettable rock and blues sound with adoring audiences while privately craving love, approval, and a more traditional life. George-Warren (A Man Called Destruction) draws from scores of interviews, family archives, and additional research sources to examine Joplin's songs, musical and stylistic influences (Bessie Smith, "Big Mama" Thornton), and interactions with fellow performers. The author also describes Joplin's personal life sensitively and honestly, from family relationships, fine arts aspirations, and friendships to insecurities, defiance of convention, sexual relationships with men and women, and struggles with addiction. Conservative 1950s Texas, San Francisco's countercultural Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in the 1960s, and the era's eclectic music scene are well rendered. Extensive notes complement the text. VERDICT This poignant and ultimately tragic account of an iconic performer is a must for Joplin fans, but anyone who enjoys a good biography will appreciate this exceptional work.--Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A richly detailed, affectionate portrait of the legendary singer.George-Warren (A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man, 2014, etc.) builds this illuminating biography of Janis Joplin (1943-1970) from interviews with surviving members of her family, band mates, and friends from all eras of her short life. Raised in Port Arthur, Texas, where her father was a refinery engineer, Joplin was a rebel who showed a talent for art. She was an outcast in high school, especially after she began patronizing the segregated venues where she could hear black artists perform live. She had also discovered the Beats, which gave her a picture of a lifestyle she began to emulate. In college, she began to sing with traditional folk groups, showing off a voice inspired by blues legend Bessie Smith. After dropping out, she made her way to San Francisco, where she joined Big Brother and the Holding Company. The most talented of the group, she attracted a devoted following and began to indulge in the excesses of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. The author follows her tours with the band as well as her offstage life, which was full of sex and drugs. Touchingly, she still hoped for acceptance by her conservative family, as indicated in her letters home. After two albums, she had outgrown Big Brother and signed a record contract as a single artist with a new backup band. She was as big a star as any in the business, although her erratic lifestyle occasionally caused her to cancel dates. As her last album, Pearl, demonstrated, she continued to grow as an artist, but her death from a heroin overdose at age 27 cut her promising career short. George-Warren gives her subject a sensitive yet honest treatment, showing all dimensions of Joplin's life without minimizing her self-destructive side. Filled with evocations of the San Francisco music scene at its height, the narrative will give readers new appreciation for Joplin.A top-notch biography of one of the greatest performers to emerge from a brilliant era. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
