Pearl - Janis Joplin

This is the album we both wanted for tonight. There have been too many morose men and not enough crazy women in our Martini Saturdays.  We made smokey martinis with Hendricks, Coal Ila scotch and a twist of lemon. Then we sat outside and smoked a cigar. Janis Joplin's Pearl takes us a million miles away from home.

It's impossible to passively listen to Janis; she demands you participate. For us, this participation involves frantically swaying around with our eyes closed like hippy lunatics. Not knowing a lot of the lyrics doesn't stop us too from doing our best interpretation of Janis wailing. We sing along in a shrill falsetto to Cry Baby, even though it completely ruins the song. We don't think Janis would have minded, even if the dogs of the neighbourhood do.

Full Title Boogie are a brilliant rhythm and blues band; energetic, boppy and emotive. But it's Janis' vocals that kick the songs on Pearl into the stratosphere. She wails and moans, screams and cries and veers from joy to anger to love to laughter. She was the first true rock chick and I don't think you can name another woman that goes close to her. They're all a bit too calculating in their rock chic.

This album is polished despite not being finished. Buried Alive in the Blues is a rocking, balls out, rhythm and blues track. It assumes a degree of pathos when we read that the reason it is instrumental is because Janis died before she could record the vocals. 

Me and Bobby McGee feels different to the rest of the album. It's pure, tremendous country, inciting women the world over to sing karaoke. It was written by Kris Kristofferson who is not in the basket. Perhaps he should be.

It sounds like Janis is having a grand old time with her first and only cut of Mercedes Benz. The giggle at the end of the song is my favourite part of the album. My mum introduced me to Janis with this song and I have belted it out with her countless times. Janis should be prescribed to strengthen any mother-daughter relationship going through teen angst.

The last two songs, Trust Me and Get It While You Can are impassioned pleas to seek love and comfort. Janis' voice is raw by this point, as if she banged out all the vocals in one sitting.  She completely throws herself at every song, the energy of the performance exhilarating. If we could time travel to any point in history, we'd choose one of her gigs. Perhaps the ones where she isn't too intoxicated.

Pearl is a revelation on every listen. Soft or loud. At a party or on a quiet Saturday afternoon. Feeling good is easy when you listen to this album. It is such a pity that Janis joined so many other artists who self-destruct so tragically young.