Janis Joplin
Pearl

THE REVIEW

03/10/1970. Landmark Motor Hotel in Hollywood.
A lifeless body on the bed, taken by a heroin overdose.

That's how she left at only 27, in one of the periods considered among the most flourishing of her life, a few days after Jimi Hendrix and a little before Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, the pearl of blues rock, the muse inspiring numerous future singers such as PJ Harvey and Patti Smith.

Born in a small town in Texas, overweight and plagued by acne, Janis was the laughingstock of everyone during her adolescence; she escaped her "native den" at only 17, finding solace in blues, first as the only necessity of life, then as the ultimate expression of her personality. Alone with her poignant, hoarse voice, deteriorated by alcohol and smoke, she wrote the most beautiful vocal pages of white blues; she screamed with an inhuman voice but also knew how to whisper with extreme sweetness.

Her songs were not so much lyrics supported by musical bases but desperate cries against the society of the time, her voice used as an outlet by everything and everyone. "Pearl" is perhaps, at the level of recorded albums, the greatest musical expression of the singer, although it was the live performances that best optimized her talent, as it was the stage and the contact with the audience that made her immense vocal heritage explode. Joplin is to be remembered not so much at the level of composition of lyrics and music as much as in the interpretation of them. High and low tones provide the backdrop for the album from beginning to end, tones that give the idea of reliving the singer's life, sweet and sincere moments, alternating with others of extreme solitude, where her screams against the world made all those who listened to her tremble, it seemed as if she was almost asking for help, seeking something positive in a world that had until then brought her only loneliness and suffering.

The desperation of "Cry Baby" where Janis takes her voice to the highest expressive levels and the beautiful interpretation of "Mercedes Benz" sung without any instrumental support are truly to be framed. Worth noting is the reinterpretation of "Me And Bobby McGee", the instrumental "Buried Alive in Blues" and the ceremonial "MY Baby"; the closure is left to "Get It While You Can", in one word, epic.

Listening to "Pearl" is like making love with 25,000 people, savoring in the air the scent of those years, then falling asleep with Janis by your side.