35 Years Later, Janis Joplin's Legacy Endures

Today is the 35th anniversary of Janis Joplin's death. It would be wrong to let the date go by unnoted, so, although I don't have time or energy to write a new essay, I can re-publish here a piece I wrote exactly five years ago marking the 30th anniversary. The article originally appeared on my Janis Joplin website, which I no longer maintain but is still on line here. For a full-on appreciation of Janis, see my review here. For a reflection on Janis in relation to artists of today, and a quick snapshot of the state of Internet marketing for indie artists five years ago, read on.

THIRTY YEARS ON

Originally published October 4, 2000

As we approach the 30th anniversary of Janis's death, I find myself thinking about the great music being made today that most people never hear because of the nature of our music industry.

Digital recording technologies and the Internet have opened up new opportunities for independent artists, but the challenges of attracting notice (not to mention funding) have only become tougher. It's now within the power of anyone with time and a few thousand dollars to put out a professional-quality CD. Then all one needs is Internet access to publicize and market it. But these developments have also increased competition and made it enormously difficult for an artist to stand out from the crowd.

Also, the listening public has fragmented so much that it's hard to imagine an artist like Janis breaking through today. Janis was many things: a blues singer like Bessie Smith, an R&B singer like Otis Redding, a stunningly original interpreter like Billie Holiday, a rock star, bandleader and songwriter. It takes not only a supremely talented and driven artist, but a welcoming public too, to make a superstar out of such a confluence of qualities. Because of her lifestyle, her early death, the searching nature of the era's young music fans, and of course the intensity of her performances, Janis became greater than the sum of her musical parts: she became a cultural icon.

Article Author: Jon Sobel

Jon Sobel is Co-Executive Editor of Blogcritics. As a writer he contributes most often to the Culture section, where he often reviews NYC theater; he also writes a semi-regular review round-up of independent music releases. …

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