In the 1960s, blues rocker Janis Joplin turned the music industry upside down with her soulful ballads, becoming the emblem of San Francisco rock and the hippie movement. She poured out hits like “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Piece of My Heart” and “Ball and Chain” until meeting a tragic end in 1970.
Although most are familiar with her powerful voice, fans received a more personal account of the musician in 1992 when her younger sister, Laura Joplin, wrote the biography “Love, Janis.” The book rose to the bestseller list and has recently inspired a musical of the same name. Both Janis Joplin’s songs and her story will be voiced with the Los Angeles premiere of the production “Love, Janis” this Thursday. In an interview with the Daily Bruin’s Laura Picklesimer, Laura Joplin discussed the genesis of both the biography and the musical, her personal memories of Janis Joplin and dealing with the grief of her sister’s early death.
Daily Bruin: What inspired you to write a biography about Janis?
Laura Joplin: The genesis of the idea was when my brother and I went to our hometown in Port Arthur, Texas, and we attended a memorial celebration for Janis. We expected a small, little civic thing where you shake the hand of the mayor, and instead literally thousands of people came. There were busloads of people that drove in from states far away, from Canada; everybody was there wanting to welcome Janis home. She had made a big thing about being shunned in her hometown and kind of being kicked out of the town in high school and everything, so this was the first time that the town was opening its arms to her, and many of her fans wanted to come.
DB: Was it difficult to write a biography of someone so close to you?
LJ: I had to deal with a lot of my own grief; that was the big thing in getting into writing the book. And then it was just being willing to look at her and understand more of what this person who I knew (was). She was older than I, so we had very different life experiences as kids. I just wanted to know what had happened to her.
DB: Did the process of writing the book help alleviate some of the grief?
LJ: Sure, I got (to talk to) many of her friends and got to talk to people that I had known when she was growing up, and I realized that they knew the same girl that I knew. But they also knew her in a whole different situation than I had ever experienced.
DB: Why did you decide to integrate Janis’ own letters into the narrative?
LJ: The letters allow her to put her own ideas in there and (show) what it was really like without the time for reflection and perspective, but in the moment, right then.
DB: What are some of the brightest memories you have of Janis that you included in the book?
LJ: The things that I like to think about and that jump out at me are the silly, small, little everyday things like Janis reading me bedtime stories or “Raggedy Ann” and playing catch and riding bicycles over at the house. And then when I got older, just being girls together and talking about how to wear your hair, and does this dress look good, simple things like that.
DB: How did the musical “Love, Janis” come about?
LJ: I was living in Denver at the time, and I happened to read a play called “Lost Highway” about Hank Williams. And I just loved the way that the author had put all of the different sides of Hank Williams into the play. … When I talked with him, the interesting and wonderful thing was that he had grown up in San Francisco and had been involved in going to dances and seeing Janis perform so it was just a wonderful fit. He fell in love with the letters and the research. So then he went off to write, and I didn’t see the show until the first dress rehearsal.
DB: When you did see the musical, what was it like to watch a performer playing your sister?
LJ: It was just so incredible for me. It was like having her come back for a brief visit. I recognized her voice because it was her language that the actress was using, and the music fit in and it was so wonderful. I feel really blessed that I get to have my sister come home, even if she says the same thing performance after performance. It’s still nice to have the visit. I’ve seen the show 100 to 150 times myself, but it’s a real pleasure still.
DB: There are multiple actresses playing Janis in the musical. Is there a particular reason behind this?
LJ: One of them plays the inner person, the private, offstage character, and the other plays the public person, the onstage, singing Janis. And certainly the songs that Janis performs, there are almost 20 songs in the show, and they really push the singer. She’s right out there one after another, so it makes sense to have someone else talk in between, because it’s kind of hard to finish one of those big, belting, high-energy songs and then sit down and say “dear mother” when she’s talking from a letter. So this just worked really well with the two actresses and allowed us to look at the two sides of Janis. We all have debates within ourselves, and here we can portray some of that conflict onstage.
DB: What are some of the important events from Janis’ life that attendants can expect to see played out in the musical?
LJ: The Monterey International Pop Festival, which was the time that Janis and Big Brother and the Holding Company hit the national spotlight and Janis was really recognized as the incredible singer that she was. But I also think that the private moments are the ones that are most special, because she’s every girl who ever had dreams to live out her fantasies, and here she is going for those dreams. We get to experience that inner delight and fear and excitement, and that’s very special.
DB: What do you think the musical offers to college-age students in particular who might not be quite as familiar with Janis as older audience members?
LJ: I think they get to meet her in the present time. It isn’t a historical perspective; this is Janis in the moment becoming a star and sharing her most intimate thoughts with the audience. And I think that being able to be in the present allows you to feel the promise and the energy and the excitement of the ’60s.
DB: Do you have a personal favorite of Janis’ songs?
LJ: If I had to pick one, I think that the song “Mercedes Benz” is really unique and special. It reminds me of her sense of humor, and I really like that.
DB: Is it strange hearing your sister on the radio?
LJ: I think shortly after her death, it was a difficult thing for me, but now I’m just really proud of her that she still communicates and means so much to so many people. And isn’t something like that just wonderful?