![]() ![]() There are three takes in a row of "Move Over." The alternate of "Cry Baby," while inferior to the album take, reveals the song's deep emotional attraction for Joplin. Sometimes they rival or even surpass versions that ended up on the final product: the fifth take of "Get It While You Can" (there are three here) and the demo of "Me & Bobby McGee," where she is accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. Musically, there are multiple alternate takes of some album cuts. The genuine camaraderie between her, her band, and her producer offers ample evidence that these sessions were as much fun as they were work. There is also plenty of humor, including comments about Richard Nixon and an unnamed rock star that Joplin claims she wouldn't bed because he's boring and a nerd. It offers proof of Joplin's exacting standards when it came to getting across the maximum emotional impact of a song, as well as her vulnerability - asking for guidance from Rothchild as to how to approach a particular take (he hands control right back to her). The studio banter by Joplin, producer Paul A Rothchild, and the Full-Tilt Boogie Band is priceless. It's the second disc that holds the fan treasures. The two-disc package includes the original album and mono 45 masters of six of its tracks - including "Me & Bobby McGee," "Move Over," and "Get It While You Can." These are interesting, but they don't hold a candle to the stereo album mixes. That's fine given its design and contents it appears it was meant to be. Janis was a great artist, who went too soon, and this album right here shows that.Not to state the obvious, but the reality is that The Pearl Sessions by Janis Joplin is primarily for completists and musical historians. The album ends with the song “ Get It While You Can” and it makes for a pretty good closing track to a pretty solid album. Anyways, it’s followed by “ Trust Me” – and it’s a pretty good track, definitely loving the vocals and musicianship. Then comes “ Mercedes Benz” which is a nice little vocal track, about Janis wanting a Mercedes. The ending musicianship is pretty amazing. “ Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose” – that line right there is one of the strongest lines I’ve ever heard in a song. After that comes the very first Janis Joplin song I ever heard, and still love to this day, almost a whole 17 years later – “ Me and Bobby McGee” – it is absolutely one of the greatest songs of the 1970’s, the musicianship, the vocals, the lyrics – absolutely everything about this song is amazing. “ My Baby” opens the B-Side, and what an opening track it is! Janis just belts out one hell of a track and it’s honestly so great. Though, I definitely prefer vocal tracks. The A-Side ends with the track “ Buried Alive in the Blues” is a pretty good instrumental track and a nice way to end the A-Side. After that comes “ Half Moon” – which definitely opens with that bluesy sound to it, it’s well worth the listen simply for the musicianship, and Janis’ vocals are beyond superb. I feel with each song Janis sings, she tells some sort of a story. Then comes “ A Woman Left Lonely” – which is a slower and quieter song, but Janis is so talented it just doesn’t matter how slow or quiet the song is because Janis just makes it work so well. After that comes another one of Janis’ greatest songs, “ Cry Baby” – which I remember hearing along time ago in that John Travolta movie, I think it was “ Look Who’s Talking” (That was a good movie.) anyways, Janis is amazingly talented, as it can be heard in this song, as she goes from singing at a normal level, to hitting high notes so amazingly. Janis was one of the most talented artists of her generation. The musicianship, the vocals, the everything is absolutely great. The album opens with Janis singing “ Move Over” which is one of Janis’ finest hits. Janis Joplin is one of the many artists I grew up listening to on a daily basis, and one of the many reasons of my eclectic music tastes. ![]()
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