Janis, baby!!!

[jps]

[kiramdear]

Wow, I never saw this before. She's definitely feeling no pain here. Cool with the horns and the audience participation.

[jimk]

What can I say but, "Oh wow!" What a find.
JimK

[jingle_jangle]

I was (as were many) shaken and very impressed when I saw Janis for the first time in "Monterey Pop", back in '69. I recall the iconic shot of Mama Cass mouthing "WOW!!!" during Janis' performance in the film.

I was a Janis fan briefly from that time until her passing. Once the event of her death left the public consciousness, most of us moved on, and I have to remark that she was completely off my radar for decades; sometimes even an irritant as one of her intense vocals would pop up in a set of songs on Rational Radio. Of course I owned "Cheap Thrills", but it rarely got dusted off, and as time went on, I regarded her backing band, Big Brother & Etc., as way behind her in the talent department. They sounded stiff and overtaxed--like a group just learning to be together...goes to show how little I understood...;

Then Kira--maven of the SF music scene--brought by a bootleg of a live set by Big Brother at the Carousel in SF in '68, which has very recently been re-mastered and legitimately released. It was nothing less than an epiphany. BB's strength and all of their magic was captured in their live performances, not their studio work. I realized that, truly "you had to be there".

Dave Getz, their drummer for a couple of years prior to "Cheap Thrills" and Woodstock, is a family friend (Juliana and Dalia sing occasionally with his Brazilian jazz quartet) who told me about how cautiously Janis first sang with BB and how small-town Texas she seemed, with country girl dresses and a beehive hairdo. He mentioned that it took her awhile to loosen up and get into the groove that she's now known for. At one time before their success, BB was playing a club in Chicago's Old Town, and the locals just didn't know how to react to their mix of howling blues and psychedelia. On the bill that night were Chicago's second most popular electric blues band, Siegal-Schwall, who "got" BB and revived their spirits after the gig; Jim Siegal told Dave that BB was headed for greatness. He had that right!

So, very recently, since hearing the Carousel bootleg, I was re-introduced to JJ and BB, and am thrilled to re-capture the feeling of my late teens with a whole new flavor. This is an SF-tinged mood now, brought to me by a performance that proves in spades how under-rated BB was in my mind. After all, I'd never seen them live!

[beatbyrd]

Until 3 days ago, I hadn't ever seen Janis on YouTube. I was following some unrelated chain through YT and happened to stumble upon this video. Like others, I stopped paying attention to BB & the HC and Janis soon after she left us. I'm not sure why I clicked on this video, but I'm glad that I did. With all of the lukewarm flavors of the month that have come and gone since Janis was in her prime, it's refreshing to again see a talent that could burn white hot.

[jps]

Tom works real well with Janis' voice.

[beatbyrd]

Tom works real well with Janis' voice.

One of the things that struck me about the video was how Janis apparently brought Tom's game way up. He looked like he was having fun, but I get the sense that he was desperately trying to keep up with her. I also was reminded of "the party" segment of Laugh-In.
Janis could go from a smolder to an inferno in an instant.