JANIS JOPLIN - PIECE OF MY HEART
My dad took me to see Janis Joplin perform at Queens College in the winter of 1969. It was a sunday night...I was actually getting ready for bed and looking forward to watching the Smother's Brothers show because they were gonna repeat a showing of the Beatles doing Hey Jude....You have to realize this is well before youtube,Vcrs etc. SO, these chances to see glimpses of the Beatles were few and far between, and for anyone who knows me, you know how big that is/was to me.
So he tells me we are gonna go see Janis. I had never heard of her yet. He wanted to go because he said she had been compared to Bessie Smith. I was 11. It was a winter night. He was teaching at the time. We braved the weather, sure that school would be snowed out the next day. We didn't worry about how we got home, just wanted the snow out.
Well DAYAM, the show was so great. She was just so amazing. And it was a fairly small venue. I became so honored that he wanted me to go with him. Talk about a performer who gives it all away..and leaves nothing behind. She was all that. I was blown away. She did many encores and my dad said he was gonna stay for every single one. I was very cool with that. It was an amazing night.
Unfortunately when we got outside the snow was minimal. We waited for the busses home and had to go to our respective schools the next day.
posted by Annie Van Bergen at 4:49 AM
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