The final recording moments of Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin remains an enduring emblem of free-spirited rebellion, a musician whose voice echoed the unfiltered emotions of an entire generation. Renowned for her formidable stage charisma and a voice that echoed raw emotion, Joplin carved an unmatched mark as a quintessential countercultural music figure of the 20th century.

Joplin’s breakthrough unfolded at the legendary 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, which catapulted her into the limelight. Soon after, she lent her vocals to two albums alongside the psych-rock ensemble Big Brother and the Holding Company. Notably, their 1968 release, Cheap Thrills, solidified her presence in the musical landscape.

However, as the fervour of the ‘Summer of Love’ waned in 1968, Joplin found herself entangled in a tumultuous journey of personal vices. Her encounters with sex, alcohol, and heroin became increasingly intertwined with her life. As the new decade dawned, she embarked on a fresh musical venture, assembling a band named Full Tilt Boogie, aspiring to replicate the triumphs she experienced with Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Determined to forge ahead, they ventured to Los Angeles, aiming to lay down tracks for a new album titled Pearl, and despite Joplin’s struggles, the members of Full Tilt Boogie attested to her work ethic. They acknowledged that she indulged in drinking or drug use only after the day’s rigorous recording sessions concluded at the Sunset Sound Studio.

Amid the recording process, Joplin lodged in Room 105 at the Landmark Hotel on Franklin. On October 3rd, 1970, she neared completion of Pearl and dedicated the day to immersing herself in the instrumental track of ‘Buried Alive in the Blues’, intending to record the vocals the following day. That year, Joplin also wrote and recorded ‘Mercedes Benz’ at Vahsen’s, a Port Chester bar in New York.

Joplin and her companion Bob Neuwirth, accompanied by actors Geraldine Page and Rip Torn, made a pit stop for drinks before their show at the Capitol Theatre. During their time there, Joplin reminisced about a Michael McClure song she had encountered, recalling its initial line: “Come on, God, and buy me a Mercedes Benz.”

“At the Port Chester bar, Janis sang the line a few times,” Neuwirth told the Wall Street Journal. “It was like a sea shanty. Janis came up with words for the first verse. I was in charge of writing them down on bar napkins with a ballpoint pen. She came up with the second verse too, about a color TV. I suggested words here and there, and came up with the third verse — about asking the Lord to buy us a night on the town and another round.”

On October 4th, 1970, Joplin was discovered by the Full Tilt Boogie’s manager, unconscious on the floor after shooting up heroin. Joplin’s remains were cremated, and an aircraft scattered her ashes over the Pacific Ocean. Pearl emerged in January 1971, immortalising Joplin’s unparalleled talents and earning a quadruple platinum certification, standing as a testament to the enduring adoration her fans hold for her to this day.

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