Janis Joplin: Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits Vinyl LP

Why you'll love it

This Columbia/Legacy LP gathers ten of her best-known recordings, from the Big Brother days to Pearl, including live takes of "Down On Me" and "Ball And Chain." It is certified 9x platinum in the US, and Robert Christgau gave it an A.

About the album

Janis Joplin's recording career ran from 1966 to 1970, and she packed more feeling into those four years than most singers manage in forty. This set, first out in June 1973, follows her from the San Francisco ballrooms to her final sessions.

From Cheap Thrills come the howling "Piece Of My Heart" and her slow-burning "Summertime" with Big Brother and the Holding Company, and "Bye, Bye Baby" goes back to that band's debut. "Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)" is from I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, while Pearl supplies the pleading "Cry Baby," Howard Tate's "Get It While You Can," her own "Move Over" and "Me And Bobby McGee," the Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster song that became a No. 1 hit. "Down On Me" and "Ball And Chain" come from the In Concert album, which is where she always sounded most at home.

The cover photo was taken in Cincinnati's Eden Park in June 1970. It's a lot of voice for one record, so you might want to turn it down a notch. Or don't; she certainly never did.

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