POSTHUMOUS ALBUMS: Feeling Good Was Easy When She Sang the Blues

Someday we'll do Blackest White Singers Week, if only because I am looking for an excuse to watch my favorite Rick Astley video. Oh, hell, we can do it now. But somewhere on that list, probably atop it, would be Janis Joplin. Pearl, as she was called, died in 1970 at the age of 27, leaving a only a few albums but millions of admirers.

At the time of her death, Joplin was working with venerable producer Paul Rothchild, known for his work with the Doors. If the guy could wrangle Jim Morrison, the logic went, he could get Janis to straighten up, too. The sessions were productive and happy, best expressed by Janis' joyous take on "Mercedes Benz," which she co-wrote. Most famously, these sessions produced the single "Me and Bobby McGee," written by sometime lover Kris Kristofferson. The song, when sung from Kristofferson's perspective, could be heard as a song for Janis, a traveling blues singer much like the title character.

On October 4, 1970, Janis died. Pearl was released four months later and became her best-loved album. Years earlier, back home in Texas, her campus newspaper declared, "She Dares to Be Different." In the 46 years that have passed since that headline, nobody has disputed this fact.

TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION: "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin
AVAILABLE ON: Pearl; iTunes