Pearl (Janis Joplin album)

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau(A-) [2]
Rolling Stone(favorable) [3]

Pearl is the fourth album by Janis Joplin, released posthumously on Columbia Records, catalogue PC 30322, in January of 1971. It was the final album with her direct participation, and the only Joplin album recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, her final touring unit. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200, holding that spot for nine weeks. It has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.

Content

The album has a more polished feel than the albums she recorded with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Kozmic Blues Band due to the expertise of producer Paul A. Rothchild and her new backing musicians. Rothchild was best known as the producer of The Doors, and worked well with Joplin. Together they were able to craft an album that showcased her extraordinary vocal talents. The Full Tilt Boogie were the musicians who accompanied her on the famous Festival Express in the summer of 1970, and many of the songs on this album were introduced on the concert stage in Canada.

Pearl features the hits "Me and Bobby McGee" written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, and "Move Over," written by Joplin. Joplin sings on all of the tracks except "Buried Alive in the Blues", which remained an instrumental as she died before being able to add her vocals. The recording sessions, which began in early September, ended with Joplin's untimely death on October 4, 1970. The iconic album cover shows Joplin reclining on her Victorian Era loveseat with a drink in her hand, conveying that this is Janis Joplin as she really is.[4]

Legacy

A reissue of Pearl remastered for compact disc was released August 31, 1999. It included four previously unreleased live recordings from the Festival Express Tour, recorded on July 4, 1970, as bonus tracks. In 2003, the album was ranked number 122 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[5] A two-disc Legacy Edition appeared on June 14, 2005, with bonus tracks including a birthday message to John Lennon of "Happy Trails," and a reunion of the Full Tilt Boogie Band in an instrumental tribute to Joplin. The second disc included an expanded set from the Festival Express Tour, recorded between June 28 and July 4, 1970.

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Move Over" (Janis Joplin) — 3:43
  2. "Cry Baby" (Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns) — 3:58
  3. "A Woman Left Lonely" (Dan Penn, Spooner Oldham) — 3:29
  4. "Half Moon" (John Hall, Johanna Hall) — 3:53
  5. "Buried Alive in the Blues" (Nick Gravenites) — 2:29

Side two

  1. "My Baby" (Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman) — 3:26
  2. "Me and Bobby McGee" (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster) — 4:33
  3. "Mercedes Benz" (Janis Joplin, Bob Neuwirth, Michael McClure) — 1:48
  4. "Trust Me" (Bobby Womack) — 3:17
  5. "Get It While You Can" (Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman) — 3:27

1999 bonus tracks

  2. "Tell Mama" (Clarence Carter, Marcus Daniel, Wilbur Terrell) — 6:32
  3. "Little Girl Blue" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) — 3:50
  4. "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" (Jerry Ragovoy, Chip Taylor) — 6:52
  5. "Cry Baby" (Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns) — 6:29

2004 bonus tracks

  2. "Happy Birthday, John (Happy Trails)" — 1:12
  3. "Me and Bobby McGee" (demo version) — 4:46
  4. "Move Over" (alternate version) — 4:27
  5. "Cry Baby" (alternate version) — 4:59
  6. "My Baby" (alternate version) — 3:59
  7. "Pearl" (instrumental) — 4:29

2004 disc two

  1. "Tell Mama" (Clarence Carter, Marcus Daniel, Wilbur Terrell) — 6:49
  2. "Half Moon" (John Hall, Johanna Hall) — 4:38
  3. "Move Over" (Janis Joplin) — 4:41
  4. "Maybe" (Richard Barrett) — 3:57
  5. "Summertime" (Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin) — 4:39
  6. "Little Girl Blue" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) — 5:10
  7. "That's Rock 'n' Roll" (Full Tilt Boogie) — 5:03
  8. "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" (Jerry Ragovoy, Chip Taylor) — 9:11
  9. "Kozmic Blues" (Janis Joplin, Gabriel Mekler) — 5:29
  10. "Piece of My Heart" (Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns) — 5:21
  11. "Cry Baby" (Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns) — 6:31
  12. "Get It While You Can" (Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman) — 7:20
  13. "Ball and Chain" (Willie Mae Thornton) — 8:15

Personnel

Additional personnel

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1971 Billboard 200 1
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart

References

  1. ^ All Music review
  2. ^ Robert Christgau review
  3. ^ Rolling Stone album review
  4. ^ "The Gazz link". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help) [dead link]
  5. ^ The 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time
Preceded by
Jesus Christ Superstar by Original Cast
 Billboard 200 number-one album
February 27–April 30, 1971 		Succeeded by
Jesus Christ Superstar by Original Cast
Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
May 17–June 20, 1971 		Succeeded by
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