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Monday, September 25, 2006
DOWN ON ME
Eddie Head and His Family
Columbia : 1930
Available on: American Primitive v.1
Revenant : 1997
[Buy It]
Janis Joplin: the greatest white blues singer of her generation or minstrel show train wreck? Here are some of the "obscure soul classics that Joplin made her own" (thank you, Rolling Stone).
CRY BABY
Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters
United Artists : 1963
Available on: Cry Baby
Collectables : 1991
[Buy It]
GET IT WHILE YOU CAN
Howard Tate
Get It While You Can
Verve : 1967
Reissued: Hip-O : 2004
[Buy It]
PIECE OF MY HEART
Erma Franklin
Shout : 1967
Available on: Golden Classics
Collectables : 1994
[Buy It]
TRY (JUST A LITTLE BIT HARDER)
Lorraine Ellison
Loma : 1968
Available on: The Best of Loma Records
WEA : 1995
[Buy It]
Assessments of Joplin's soul power vary. I'm not a hater, per se: her version of "Summertime" is one of my favorites and that's saying something. But I saw this House of Blues (shudder) compilation called "Songs of Janis Joplin," and it's got Etta James and Syl Johnson covering songs that Joplin had covered. And that just felt so wrong. (Since when is "Trouble in Mind" Joplin's song? These people are crazy, them and their blues for tourists.)
Then again, when you listen to Big Mama Thornton, who, unlike the artists above, is not known for her subtlety and restraint, you can see what Joplin was going for. I think she does a fair approximation of Big Mama, actually. Except for Big Mama being able to sing and all.
BALL AND CHAIN
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton
Available on: Vanguard: Roots of the Blues
Vanguard : 2002
[Buy It]
Big Mama's also the kind of blues that's popular in Chicago, the kind I don't particularly like. I'm kind of burnt out on blistering guitar solos and I'm definitely over that whole Blues Brothers palookas-with-saxophones aesthetic. You know?
Still undecided? Check Janis on youtube.
Down on Me
Cry Baby
Try
Piece of My Heart
Summertime
Ball and ChainLabels: blues, megan
posted by Megan
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