Janis!

(And Her #1 Song)

(Click on the image to zoom in.)

It's a surprise to learn about the famous pop musicians who never made it to the Top 10: Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan. Even Bo Diddley, one of the true founders of Rock and Roll, never broached the Top 10 and had only 5 songs make Billboard's Top 100.

And yes, even Janis Joplin, the iconic singer whose performances in some ways defined the 1960's, likewise had only 5 songs in the Top 100. "Kozmic Blues" rose to #41, "Cry, Baby" to #42, "Down on Me" reached #78, and "Get It While You Can" squeaked in at #91.

But unlike Bo, Janis did have one song in the Top 10 - in fact, it reached #1. That was "Me and Bobby McGee" which in 1971 spent 15 weeks on the charts and 2 weeks at the top of the decad.

Given her fame it's sometimes forgotten that during her lifetime, Janis received criticism. Sometimes her performances became so emotional that she - and the musicians backing her - could detract from the music. Listening to "Summertime" - originally released on Cheap Thrills her first album recorded with Big Brother and the Holding Company - it's not immediately obvious that Janis is indeed singing the Gerswhin standard from Porgy and Bess. So in some ways the relatively restrained "Bobby McGee" was not typical of Janis's songs.

Another criticism - even heard today - is that Janis too consciously tried to imitate the singing of the black blues singers. However, many who were born in "Joplin Country" will hear less a conscious imitation of other singers but instead an influence of the music from her roots in East Texas, a region from whence have hailed some of the most creative and intelligent individuals in history.

True, Texas blues, like all blues, originated in the African American communities. But although segregation was the law of the land when Janis was growing up, in practice there was much mixing of the music and musicians regardless of ethnicity. After World War II, a number of white musicians learned their basic blues in Texas. Johnny and Edgar Winter hailed from Beaumont, Jimmie Vaughn and his brother Stephen Ray were from Dallas, Buddy Whittington from the neighboring Fort Worth, and Delbert McClinton from Lubbock. And of course Janis was from Port Arthur.

Sadly Janis never knew of the success of "Me and Bobby McGee" as the song was only released after her death at age 27 on October 4, 1970. That was only two weeks after Jimi Hendrix met a similar fate. Sad endings for the Flower Power Era.

There is one other song of Janis's that people will remember. That was her recording of the satirical "Mercedez Benz" which got considerable radio play and even "went gold" as they say. But it was never even listed on Billboard's charts possibly for technical reasons. So ultimately the song that set Janis's fame in the popular American culture was "Me and Bobby McGee" which in 1970 ended up ranked as #15 for the year with "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night taking the top spot.

So what songs achieved the distinction of being the #1 Hit of the Year? Well that stellar list includes the likes of "Sugar Sugar" (The Archies), "Surfin' USA" (The Beachboys), "Tossin' and Turnin'" (Bobby Lewis), "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch"¹ (The Four Tops), "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree" (Tony Orlando and Dawn)², "Walk Like an Egyptian" (The Bangles), and "Wooly Bully" (Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs).

Hm. Maybe not such a bad list to miss.