Tag Archives: Janis Joplin

R. Crumb Articulates The Blues

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R. Crumb‘s influence on my art and blues music tastes started in 1968 with Cheap Thrills the second album from Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Crumb had originally intended his art for the LP back cover, with a portrait of Janis Joplin to grace the front. But Joplin who was an avid fan of underground comics, especially the work of Crumb, so loved the Cheap Thrills illustration that she demanded Columbia Records place it on the front cover. It is number nine on Rolling Stone’s list of one hundred greatest album covers.

I value R. Crumb’s insightful articulation of the blues.  He has created various collectibles which uniquely educate and tell us about the blues. One such collectible is the Heroes of the Blues Trading Cards.

The trading cards complement the book, R. Crumb Draws The Blues, in which his homage to the life of Delta bluesmen Charley Patton, is beautifully rendered. Almost of comparable quality is the story of jazzman Jelly Roll Morton‘s struggle with a career-damaging voodoo curse. Crumb’s fondness for pre-war (WWII) country and blues records predominates this title.

If this type of content peaks your interest in R. Crumb as an album art graphics designer, may I also suggest, R. Crumb: The Complete Record Cover Collection. For music/album cover fans (like myself) this is one of Robert Crumb’s finest books.

I also discovered that R. Crumb is very good friends with Eden & John’s East River String Band. He has illustrated three of their covers and plays mandolin on their latest album, Be Kind to A Man When He’s Down.

ALL ARTWORK IS COPYRIGHT ROBERT CRUMB UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

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The Monterey Pop Festival 1967

Posted on by Musicofourheart

Monterey International Pop Festival PosterIf time travel was an option, I would love to be transported back in time to The Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. When I look back on what Monterey Pop accomplished, the rich set of artists that performed, there was a magic that weekend that formed peace, love and the power of music for generations to come. It’s the music festival I would most want to attend and experience.

I would love to attend that festival at the age I was in 1967, close to 16. I would also like to experience the event fully with no understanding of the events as I know them now. What I mean is that I would love to witness each act unfold, be surprised by The Who and Jimi Hendrix, boogaloo to Otis Redding. I would just love to have been there from beginning to end.

Imagine meeting his Majesty Prince Jones as he walked amongst the crowd. Monterey Pop celebrated its 45th anniversary this past June.

Five years ago I wrote a blog post about the 40th anniversary of Monterey Pop It serves as a fitting testament to the event.

There are so many rock stars that are no longer with us who performed at Monterey Pop. For that reason alone revisiting the Monterey Pop Festival would be worth it.

Imagine seeing The Who go insane smashing their instruments amidst the smoke bombs and fireworks Keith Moon planted under his drum set. Or witnessing Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire. Hendrix was in top form that night as he one upped Peter Townshend of The Who.

There is a fantastic official Monterey Pop International Festival Web Site. I visit it often. I urge you to go hear Eric Burdon sing Monterey and watch the images, view the vast information available. Then go rent or own the rock documentary, Monterey Pop, directed by D. A. Pennebaker. That’s what I plan to watch later today. I own the deluxe video set (no surprise there folks…).

Cover of "Monterey Pop- Criterion Collect...

Cover via Amazon

If that’s not enough content for you, I wanted to point out that there is a new book available about Monterey Pop. Maybe Santa Claus will be good to me and put this under my Christmas tree, hint, hint ;)

A Perfect Haze, The Illustrated History of the Monterey International Pop Festival by Harvey Kubernik and Kenneth Kubernik ,Foreword by Lou Adler, Afterword by Michelle Phillips

I found this painting on the InterWeb by Grace Slick who appeared with Jefferson Airplane that weekend. She named it Monterey.

Monterey, a painting by Artist Grace Slick

1. Unknown (Drug Dealer)
2. Marty Balin (*JA singer)
3. Jorma Kaukonen
4. Janis Joplin
5. Ghandi
6. Jack Casady (*JA Bass)
7. Otis Redding
8. (Mama) Cass Elliot
q9. Pete Townshend
10. Groupie chick
11. Grace Slick
12. Roger Daltrey
*Jeffferson Airplane		 13. Jerry Garcia
14. Alice and White Rabbit
15. David Crosby
16. Keith Moon
17. Neil Young
18. John Philips
19. Jimi Hendrix
20. Ravi Shankar
21. Wavy Gravy
22. Ben Fong Torres
23. Brian Jones
24. Spencer Dryden (*JA drums)

I leave you with this video clip of Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding Company. This was THE  breakout moment for Janis and her band. Of all the performances that happened that weekend, this one is truly special. Enjoy.

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San Francisco Music and Art Scene – R. Crumb, Jim Marshall, and Stanley Mouse

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I was thinking about San Francisco today.I often transport myself there.  The music I played in the car today was recorded in San Francisco at Bill Graham’s Fillmore Auditorium in 1968, Cheap Thrills, Big Brother & The Holding Company. The album cover was drawn by underground cartoonist, R. Crumb. The liner notes for the remastered edition has photographs by the late Jim Marshall.

File:Cheapthrills.jpeg

I was browsing my Facebook stream this afternoon when I happened upon a very cool picture posted by Robert Altman.

There was a photo from a 1985 book on the San Francisco music scene of famed poster artist Stanley Mouse taken by the great rock photographer Jim Marshall. The copy of this book is from autograph collecter Matt Tadevich. Mouse took the time to add his touch.

I love the synergy of San Francisco’s music, Janis and Big Brother, Bill Graham, R. Crumb, Stanley Mouse, Robert Altman and Jim Marshall, who figures in both references.

Janis Joplin – The Pearl Sessions

Posted on by Musicofourheart

Yesterday would have been Janis Joplin‘s 69th birthday. Legacy Recordings took that opportunity to announce they will be repackaging a newly curated definitive two-disc edition of Joplin’s final studio album The Pearl Sessions. It contains newly discovered studio outtakes, live performances and other sonic rarities. It is due to be available on April 17, 2012.

The Pearl Sessions brings together, for the first time in one package, the original mono versions of the album’s 45s alongside the original LP tracks as well as the revelatory newly discovered alternate versions, outtakes and vocal takes of Pearl‘s classic tracks.

The Pearl Sessions includes newly discovered recordings of Janis in the studio, joking with producer Paul A. Rothchild and her Full Tilt Boogie bandmates as they work through what would become an essential part of Janis Joplin’s core catalog. Paul A. Rothchild is best known as the producer of the first five albums by The Doors. He also produced LPs and singles for John Sebastian, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Paxton, Tom Rush, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Lovin’ Spoonful,Tim Buckley, Love, and Rhinoceros.

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Disc One of The Pearl Sessions includes the original album as well as the original mono singles from the album.

Disc Two is a collection of behind-the-scenes recordings illuminating the Pearl sessions with highlights and insights revealed in candid studio dialogue, song demos and alternate takes including nine previously unissued tracks.

Pre-Order Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 CDColumbia/Legacy Recordings recently announced the release of Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968, a previously unavailable live concert recording of Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, recorded June 23, 1968 by legendary sound man Owsley Stanley, a/k/a “Bear,” who supervised the mastering of this release before his fatal car accident on March 12, 2011, in his adopted homeland of Australia. Dedicated to Bear, the album will be released on March 13, 2012, marking the one-year anniversary of his passing.

The Pearl Sessions Track List:

Disc One

The Pearl Album
Move Over
Cry Baby
A Woman Left Lonely
Half Moon
Buried Alive In The Blues
My Baby
Me and Bobby McGee
Mercedes Benz
Trust Me
Get It While You Can
Bonus Tracks – The Mono Single Masters
Me and Bobby McGee
Half Moon
Cry Baby
Get It While You Can
Move Over
A Woman Left Lonely

Disc 2 – The Pearl Sessions & more…

Overheard in the Studio…
Get It While You Can (Take 3) (Previously unissued)
Overheard in the Studio…
Get It While You Can (Take 5) (Previously unissued)
Overheard in the Studio…
Move Over (Take 6) (Previously unissued)
Move Over (Take 13) (Previously unissued)
Move Over (Take 17) (Previously unissued)
Me and Bobby McGee (Demo version)
Me and Bobby McGee (Take 5 – Alternate – Previously unissued)
Cry Baby (Alternate version)
A Woman Left Lonely (Alternate vocal)
Overheard in the Studio…
My Baby (Alternate take) (Previously unissued)
Overheard in the Studio…
Get It While You Can (Take 3) (Previously unissued)
My Baby (Alternate take)
Pearl (Instrumental) – Full Tilt Boogie Band
Tell Mama (Live – June 28, 1970 – Toronto)

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Rock Music Photographers, A-Z, Michael Ochs

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Michael Ochs is an American photographic archivist best known for his extensive collection of pictures related to rock music dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. The Los Angeles Times calls Ochs “America’s preeminent rock ‘n’ roll photo archivist”[2] and described his archive as “the dominant force in the rock image marketplace”;[3] The New York Times called it “the premier source of musician photography in the world”.[1]  […]

Rock Music Photographers, A-Z, Barry Feinstein

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Barry Feinstein’s signature photographic images are a wonder to behold. I often draw a breath when I study his interpretations of famous musicians. There are several photographers who have had exclusive camera rights to photographing Bob Dylan. Barry Feinstein’s camera lens captures Dylan at  some of his most fragile and honest moments. Barry Feinstein has […]

Fillmore East Poster and Handbill Art

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Bill Graham had east coast poster artists who he commissioned to design posters and handbills for The Fillmore East concerts. The most notable poster artists were Helen Hersh and David Byrd.

 

The poster and handbill for the  first concert at The Fillmore East, March 8, 1968, Big Brother with Janis Joplin, Tim Buckley and Albert King.

Helen Hersh

David Byrd

I was living on a multi-media commune outside Manhattan when several of my schoolmates from Carnegie-Mellon were opening the Fillmore East at the old 2nd Avenue Theatre in the East Village with Bill Graham from San Francisco. Manager Kip Cohen called to say they needed a poster artist and they all thought to call me, as I was the one visual artist amongst a group of theater graduates. At the time I was interested in crystal matrices and used a hex grid to create the hair as a mass of psychedelic photons in orange, yellow-green, magenta and black. Unlike the San Francisco Fillmore, we did not do a poster every week, but only for major stars like Hendrix. Film positive painted from behind in acrylic.