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May 01 2020

TO WHERE I AM NOW

At some point in the seventies, pretty much against the already mixed flow of my musical taste that was straddling the Glam singles of T. Rex, The Sweet and Mott The Hoople, the Rock LP sound of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Uriah Heep with the softer sounds of Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young and Roy Harper and the spacey sounds of Hawkwind and Pink Floyd, I found myself falling in love with Janis Joplin.

It wasn’t a poster on my wall, my walls were full of posters already from the middle of Sounds magazine (all thrown away by my family when I moved out, along with my Michael Moorcock books and my complete set of World Cup football star coins collected from the petrol station). I saw that magical woman on the inside of the double In Concert album released in 1972, two years after her death, with concerts from San Francisco, Detroit, Toronto and Calgary. Side 1&2 were with Big Brother And Holding Company and Sides 3&4 with Full Tilt Boogie Band. Her voice and her picture captivated me. When I heard her sing Summertime I was completely mesmerized, enchanted, under her spell. I listened to that album so many times, studied the bangles around her wrist and marvelled at her straw hair. Also inside the gatefold were the sleeve notes written by Clive Davis who signed her to CBS records and who would later sign the ex band to Arista. If you think I just cut and pasted this from the net, no, I didn’t, I typed them out myself with my dodgy typing technique of error and fix later. I can’t find them online anywhere, it seems like a service to Rock ‘n’ Roll that needed to be done…so here they are:

I first saw Janis Joplin at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967. She was then an unknown, being given the opportunity to perform on the same stage with the reigning greats of the popular music world. Janis instinctively sensed this was her moment because she was never more vibrant, more electric or more triumphant. Seeing her for the first time was an experience I’ll never forget. She tore at your insides and tingled every nerve. Her raw power and electricity was awesome. From Monterey Janis went on to become a world wide phenomenon. A tough and earthy exterior hid a vulnerable, sensitive ego, with both fighting and interacting all the time. “Piece Of My Heart” and “Summertime” – “Ball and Chain” and “Me and Bobby McGee” – each was a different part of a tremendously unique person and performer.

Janis lived like a flame in the wind – always at her most intense. The flame was, of course, her brilliant talent, itself a living thing always visible and audible in performance. Not a quiet talent but a robust, vigorous, bursting flare of creativity. She honored it and fed it with every last ounce of physical and emotional energy at her command. The result, the effect, was undeniable – a force so compelling it rode down fatigue, strain, endurance, to the very limits of human capacity.

But she was human, a human being. Given a gentler time, she might have lived more years. But she also might have burned less brightly, less intensely. The wind into which she sang was the wind of the 60s, a time of unprecedented cross-currents. The air of the time was a wind that blew away cobwebs and prejudices by the thousands, but was cruelest to those who stood exposed and did not try to hide.

Janis sang in the eye of the hurricane. She didn’t simply “sing” a song – she ravaged it, tore it to shreds, exploded it. And yet, at the right moment, she could be incredibly gentle. Caressing each word with tenderness and understanding. The energy of a lifetime she put into a few short years. Janis “live” could sing down the wind. Or start it up again if it fell silent. Her records – recordings of these “live” performances – are her testament. Hearing them now, they inspire not so much mere admiration and applause – but awe. We are awed that one human being – yes, greatly gifted and talented but still one person – could give so much.

Clive Davis (President CBS Records)

Some years ago whilst staying at the Highland Gardens Hotel in Los Angeles I discovered that this hotel used to be called The Landmark Motor Hotel and this was the place where Janis Joplin died. I asked reception if I could visit her room (Room 105) and they said yes. I wound my way around the corridors until I came to the door. I let myself in and closed the door behind me. I just stood there. The room didn’t seem to have changed much since that fateful day on October 4th 1970. There was an old wooden closet of some kind that seemed like it had been there since the sixties. I just closed my eyes and thought about her. There was no ghost, nothing left, just that voice resonating through my brain.

As you might have guessed, music tonight has been exclusively Janis Joplin, In Concert from 1972 that I mentioned at the beginning featuring two of her bands, Big Brother And The Holding Company and the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Next came Pearl that was released three months after her death in 1970 reaching No.1 in the US Charts and featuring her classic vocal performance on the Kris Kristofferson penned song, Me And Bobby McGee, a No.1 US single and who can’t love her a cappella Mercedes Benz and irreverent sense of humour.

Cheap Thrills by Big Brother And The Holding Company was the other album that I played to death starting with Combination Of The Two. I never knew which of the two guitarists, James Gurley or Sam Andrew, was playing all those mad solos, I loved the wild approach. Joplin’s voice on this album is so amazing. Somehow she sings low gruff and soft sensitive high notes at the same time. This is my favourite album by Janis and especially great with this raw band, it also reached No.1 on the US charts in 1968. For some reason I never got the first Big Brother album with Janis, something I have to fix.

I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama (1969) with the Kozmic Blues Band was the band and album between Cheap Thrills and Pearl. At this point she had left Big Brother under pressure to work with studio musicians. This was a step away from the Psychedelic Blues Rock of Cheap Thrills and headed more in a Soul direction with brass, Janis took Sam Andrew with her for this album with a new band. It also featured Mike Bloomfield from Electric Flag on guitar who also played with the controversial electric band that Dylan brought to the Newport Folk Festival.

Go love Janis, she’s amazing.

Song Of The Day today is Janis Joplin live singing Summertime at Gröna Lund in Stockholm with Full Tilt Boogie Band in 1969.

Written by Marty Willson-Piper · Categorized: Blog

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there's any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

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You usually don’t spend the day in the studio an You usually don’t spend the day in the studio and the night at a gig but if you put the studio next to the gig then there’s a greater chance. So @salimnourallah did just that, he put the gig and the studio next to each other and made it possible for me to spend the day recording and the evening playing live 🎵

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TO WHERE I AM NOW A visit in the studio today fro TO WHERE I AM NOW

A visit in the studio today from old mate Mark Burgess from The Chameleons who has been hanging in Texas recently. I was thinking about the two of us growing up in the northwest of England and all these years later finding ourselves in such an unlikely spot together. We fixed a few issues in the universe and I carried on recording some guitars until Mark had to leave. Mark had played at the Galactic Headquarters next to the studio this year as Olivia and I had four years ago and this reminded me to remind myself to remind everyone to remind their friends that we will be playing there with Salim on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, for the ultimate in intimate performance. You can get tickets here (follow link below).

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TO WHERE I AM NOW Sadness manifested in a buildin TO WHERE I AM NOW

Sadness manifested in a building, today we went to visit Paisley Park. Prince built Paisley Park in Chanhassen, about twenty minutes southwest of Minneapolis. It opened in 1987 and he recorded his later albums there. Apart from Prince, REM also recorded and mixed Out Of Time there, recording Kate Pearson’s vocal on Shiny Happy People vocal. Madonna had Prince play guitar on three songs from Like A Prayer and the two co-wrote Love Song, finishing it remotely due to Madonna not being able to stand the cold weather and the rather desolate location of the studio. Of course, there are things around but it’s not in the city and it’s not in the countryside, it’s in a suburb, no distractions, just what Prince wanted.

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"These are awesome sessions that I highly recommend for guitar players of all levels. Very informative, frank discussions on everything related to guitar and music in general. Definitely a must for anyone pursuing songwriting."
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"Marty knows how to bypass scales and get to the heart of feel and timing. His musical knowledge spans multiple cultures and genres. Perhaps most importantly, Marty is a cool dude. I highly recommend his guitar guidance." (Jed B., MN, USA)

"Ok, so you’re sitting in your home and Marty is across the world but is actually right here teaching you how to play guitar and write songs. He is a delight to talk to and he is your teacher, meaning he wants to see you get something out of his lessons. You know he’s paying attention and wants to steer you in the right direction. I am so grateful and humbled that he offers his time in this manner. This is an amazing opportunity for anyone who admires anything from his enormous body of work. How often do you get to learn from somebody that inspired you in the first place? Amazing." (Ann S., CA, USA)

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there’s any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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