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YMMV / Janis Joplin

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  • Covered Up: Three of her biggest hits, "Piece of My Heart" (originally by Erma Franklinnote ), "Cry Baby" (Garnet Mimms), and "Me and Bobby McGee" (Kris Kristofferson, first recorded by Roger Miller), were covers. (As was her more modest hit, "Ball and Chain" (Big Mama Thornton).) She had arguable examples with some other songs as well - for people of a certain age, George Gershwin's "Summertime" may be more associated with her than it is with Porgy and Bess.
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • When she heard about the death of Jimi Hendrix, Joplin said "He beat me to it." Just a week later she was dead.
      • In turn, she was on the receiving end of this with a (possibly apocryphal) quote from Jim Morrison. In reference to Hendrix and Joplin's deaths at age 27, Morrison reportedly told friends, "You're drinking with number three." He would also die at age 27.
    • Her final recording was "Mercedes Benz" on October 1st, 1970, three days before she died, which means the last words she ever said on record were "That's it!"
  • I Am Not Shazam: Before she made it big, people assumed that she was the "Big Brother" of Big Brother and the Holding company.
  • Signature Song: Piece of My Heart or Me and Bobby McGee
  • Tear Jerker: Little Girl Blue. Even more so when you know her story. You can really hear the hurt in her voice, especially when she peforms the song as a guest on Tom Jones' tv show.
    • "The drinks are on Pearl."


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