Janis Joplin - Box of Pearls: The Janis Joplin Collection

Janis Joplin was one of the most exhilarating performers of an era blessed with riveting stage artists, but all but her most emphatic champions must concede her recorded oeuvre is problematic. With Big Brother & the Holding Company she was surrounded by up-from-the-streets cohorts who were spiritually attuned to Joplin, even if they weren't always musically in tune. After one rushed, premature effort for the Mainstream label, Big Brother hit the top of the charts with one of the touchstones of the San Francisco sound, Cheap Thrills. Barraged by critics who believed Joplin's skills as a blues and soul singer were being squandered in a psychedelic setting, the toast of Haight-Ashbury went solo with the up-and-down I Got Them Ol' Kozmic Blues Again, Mama. Joplin was hitting her stride during the 1970 Pearl sessions when she died of a drug overdose at age 27. The album's posthumous release was a critical and commercial smash. Box of Pearls binds the 1999 remastered and expanded versions of the aforementioned albums and tosses in a five-track rarities EP entitled, appropriately enough, Rare Pearls. Much of Box of Pearls is brilliant while portions are badly dated, but it's all Joplin. --Steven Stolder Amazon.com

A Real Jewel

The first concert I ever attended in my life was seeing Janis perform at Cal Expo, in Sacramento, just a few weeks prior to her death. I had been a fan since I was about 13, much to the dismay of my parents, who found her voice untenable -- well, Mom & Dad, this boxed set of just about everything Janis Joplin ever recorded will bring it all back for you -- just as it did for me -- except that I love every cry and screech and note of emotion with the same devoted passion today as I did 40 years ago.

Not only does this collection give us Janis in all her shouting glory from her days with Big Brother and the Holding Company, but we get a sense of her transition into her more bittersweet period of ballads and introspective songwriting that dominated her last years from the albums "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!" and "Pearl". Since all four of her original studio releases have been digitally remastered for the CDs in this box set -- and each album supplemented with previously unreleased bonus tracks and outtakes -- if you have Janis in your heart you now can have her forever in your ears. Like Janis sings "Get It While You Can...." May 10, 2008

old rocker

everything i thought if would be.

great artist, hours of great listening March 11, 2008

It's clear why my friend claims Janis as her Queen

Though, if my friend hadn't suggested I buy this collection of records, it is a sign, we don't always know what it is we are looking for. Lucky for me, the breatth of this angel was blown into my ear. February 26, 2008

Must Have

This is a must have for the Janis fans. Alot of music for a low price! November 27, 2007

Janis' impact on music is everlasting

The collection is an excellent box set for those who are only now learning about her amazing soulful, heartfelt, and deeply infectious approach to her music. It is basically a collection of her previously released albums put together as a box set. There isn't anything new here. The artwork on the box is typical of the psychedelic era in which she thrived and fabulous. Her death was a loss that left her fans wondering to this day how her music would have evolved. She was no flash in the pan. She had the potential for longevity. If you already have all of her albums, then obtaining this set would be purely for the avid collector of which I am. She is and always will be to me "The Pearl". Love ya Janis!

Roni November 19, 2007

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