Janis Joplin 50 Years Ago - Vinyl Spins

Vinyl Spins. Sadly Janis Joplin passed away 50 years ago today. I mourned her up on our third floor today listening to some of her albums while gazing at the record sleeves just as I did more than 50 years ago with these very same records. 

I was a big fan of her when I was a teenager and fortunately got to see her three times. Oddly each time I saw her she was fronting a different band. First time was in 1968 at Philadelphia's Electric Factory with Big Brother & The Holding Company. Then I saw her at the Atlantic City Pop Festival in 1969 with her Kozmic Blues Band and then in Chicago at the Ravinia Park with her Full Tilt Boogie Band a few months before she died.

I've collected all of her albums, several live albums, a couple of best of collections including the Janis Box Set. We wonder what she would be singing now had she not died at 27 years old.

Janis on Vinyl in my collection:

• Cheap Thrills - Big Brother & The Holding Company, 1968
• I Got Dem Ol' Kosmic Blues Again Mama!, 1969
• Pearl, 1970
• Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits, 1973