Once upon a time…Once upon a time…

by Carmen Torresby Carmen Torres

There was a girl…

Janis Janis JopliJoplinn

Whose voice cried of loneliness…Whose voice cried of loneliness…

Her desire for acceptance was Her desire for acceptance was at the heart of her rebellion and at the heart of her rebellion and her success came because of her success came because of this rebellion.this rebellion.The sad part about rebellion, The sad part about rebellion, however, is that it usually however, is that it usually follows rejection, and that was follows rejection, and that was something Janis knew deep something Janis knew deep down her soul.down her soul.

ChildhoodChildhood

• She was born January 19, 1943

• Her parents wanted her to be a teacher but she wanted to be an artist

• Born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas, a small Southern petroleum industry town

Her adolescenceHer adolescence

• Her soft child-blond hair turned tufted and brown

• She tended to gain weight

• "She was unhappy and unsatisfied. The normal rapport wasn't adequate.“ her mother said

• Other kids at high school would routinely call her names like "pig," "freak" or "creep."

• She developed acne

She was differentShe was different• Janis graduated from high school in

1960 and attended Lamar State College of Technology

• She did not complete her studies at the University Of Texas, Austin.

• The campus newspaper wrote a profile of her in 1962 headlined "She Dares To Be Different."

• To be rejected by school was to be rejected by the town

The rebelThe rebel

• She stood up for the rights of African Americans and other people

• She broke with local social traditions

• She decided to reject her society

• Janis suffered from a double rejection

Looking for friendsLooking for friends• She almost immediately felt

out of place and lonely

• She began singing blues with an inborn talent

• She started her experiments with alcohol and drugs , specially speed

• She played the coffee houses in the small towns of Texas

The wanderer

TexasTexas

CaliforniCaliforniaa

San San FranciscoFrancisco

Port ArthurPort Arthur

San Francisco San Francisco communitycommunity

• She found a vital community there

• She was offered the singing position in a group called “Big Brother and the Holding Company”

• They played up and down the California coast

She became a drug She became a drug addictaddict

Around this time her drug use increased, and she acquired a reputation as a "speed freak" and occasional heroin user

A wish of happinessA wish of happiness• She also used other intoxicants and was a heavy drinker; her trademark beverage was Southern Comfort

• She was described as "skeletal” and "emaciated“ by her friends

• She was persuaded to return to Port Arthur

The breakThe break19631963

• She avoided drugs

• She began having a little confidence

• She engaged to a man who wanted to marry her

• She changed her lifestyle

• She was 20

Return to drugsReturn to drugs

• The man terminated plans for the marriage soon after

• She felt again lonely and depressed

• Her dream became a nightmare

• Janis never returned home

Her happiness, her musicHer happiness, her music

• Her first album was released in 1967

• She sang in three bands

• Her albums have gone gold, platinum, and triple platinum

She created her own She created her own stylestyle

• She was one of the first to use tattoos as part of her image

• She created an image that defined her every bit• Even her car had her own style

Old BuddiesOld Buddies• Her insecurities caused her to return to her old dear friends

Drugs: Heroine 200$ a dayBooze: 1 bottle a day

Dessert: Cocktail of amphetamines & barbiturates

Sex: she eventually contracted gonorrhoea

An attempt to give it up An attempt to give it up • By the 70’s she was suffering from the ravages of drug abuse, gonorrhoea and alcoholism

• Frequent trips in and out of Rehab were common for her

• She tried to record a new album

• She was hard-working and always sober while recording

Her sorrow, her deathHer sorrow, her death

When the heroin finally took effect, she was apparently caught off guard. Unconscious, Janis would fall to the floor, striking her head on the dresser on the way down. Her body would be found some 18 hours later, facedown, wedged between the dresser and bed .She was only

27A sad, lonely death

In the quiet morning

And in the hours that _______

Tossed by the tides of _______

Rolled in on a sea of ________

Rolled out on a mainline rail

I'm sure she walked by you

Her striding steps could not ____

Torment from a child who knew

There would be despair

No one could ______

She cried out her song so _____

It was heard the whole world ______

A symphony of ______

La La La La La La La

There was much ______

No one could _______

That poor _____

Barely here to tell her tale

She once walked tight at my _____

That in the quiet _______

And in the hours that ________

That poor ____

The great southwest unbound

In the quiet morning by Joan Baez For Janis Joplin

In the quiet morning

And in the hours that followed

Tossed by the tides of misfortune

Rolled in on a sea of disaster

Rolled out on a mainline rail

I'm sure she walked by you

Her striding steps could not deny

Torment from a child who knew

There would be despair

No one could repair

She cried out her song so loud

It was heard the whole world round

A symphony of violence

La La La La La La La

There was much despair

No one could repair

That poor girl

Barely here to tell her tale

She once walked tight at my side

That in the quiet morning

And in the hours that followed

That poor girl

The great southwest unbound

In the quiet morning by Joan Baez For Janis Joplin

She vanished into the OceanShe vanished into the Ocean

The end of a girl who just couldn’t find her way Her ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean

Her legacyHer legacy• The 1979 film The Rose was based on her life

• In the late 1990’s, a musical « Love, Janis » was launched• Her « greatest Hits » album still tops the charts

• She is still alive in rock fans minds

• Jimmy Hendrix had died two weeks earlier, Jim Morrison would die within a year. They were also 27

In Memory of JanisIn Memory of Janis

The end