In Concert (Janis Joplin album)

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In Concert
Janis Joplin - In Concert.jpg
Live album by
Janis Joplin
Released
1972
Recorded
  • April 2 – June 23, 1968
  • April 4 – July 4, 1970
VenueDetroit, San Francisco, Calgary & Toronto
Length76:50
LabelColumbia
Janis Joplin chronology
Pearl
(1971) 		In Concert
(1972) 		Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits
(1973)

In Concert is a live album by Janis Joplin. It was released in 1972, after Joplin's death, as a double-LP record. The first record contains performances with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the second with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, recorded at various locations in 1968 and 1970. The album lacks any live recordings with her first solo effort with the Kozmic Blues band though songs that had been produced with that band were performed in the recordings of the Full Tilt Boogie Band. The Photographs used for the gatefold album were taken by photographer David Gahr in New York City in 1969 and 1970.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic3/5 stars[1]
CreemA–[2]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[3]

Content[]

The live performances of Down on Me and Ball and Chain included on the double album would appear on Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits album a year later. Two songs; "All Is Loneliness" and "Ego Rock" were performed April 4, 1970 when Joplin reunited with Big Brother & the Holding Company over a year after leaving the group, to perform at the Fillmore West venue In San Francisco. While the recordings with Big Brother and the Holding Company were taken from various performances from 1968 and 1970, the entire live recordings with the Full Tilt Boogie Band were performed at the Festival Express in Toronto and Calgary in Canada on June 28, and July 4, 1970, respectively.

On the original copies of the album side one was backed with side four, and side two backing side three, which was relatively common with multi-LP albums as it accommodated for the record changers which were popular during that period.

Critical Reception[]

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic gave a positive review of the performances on the double-LP record, highlighting Joplin's raw vocal performance and her delivery of describing her life through her performance to her audience. He also cited various parts of the record as "moving, parts are heart-breaking, and the rest is just great rock & roll".

Lester Bangs of the RollingStone gave a mixed review, describing the recordings as "second-rate", but compliments the energy delivered with the performances, stating; "Everyone is having a ball no matter how sloppy the music gets; in fact its sense of errant energy with no place to go but up is part of its power. Janis, the band, the audience, all feeding off of each other and giving back as much as they can of what they get." Bangs also noted that Joplin's increasing deterioration was "graphically" apparent in the recordings, stating; "On the record, we hear her as she gradually passes from the tailend of the initial exuberant phase with Big Brother, through the jarring difference between that on-stage persona and what emerges immediately in the Full-Tilt Boogie Band tapes, on which we hear a disoriented and thoroughly pathetic individual and a music whose raggedness is made even less palatable by the breakdown and sense of strain behind it."

Charts[]

Chart (1972) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report[4] 9
Germany 28
US Billboard 200 4
UK Albums Chart 30

Track listing[]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
1."Down on Me"traditional; arranged by Janis JoplinMarch 2, 1968 at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan3:07
2."Bye, Bye Baby"Powell St. JohnApril 12, 1968 at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California4:27
3."All Is Loneliness"Louis HardinApril 4, 1970, at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California5:45
4."Piece of My Heart"Bert Berns, Jerry RagovoyMarch 2, 1968, Grande Ballroom4:09
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
5."Road Block"Joplin, Pete AlbinJune 23, 1968, the Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, California2:59
6."Flower in the Sun"Sam AndrewJune 23, 1968, Carousel Ballroom3:03
7."Summertime"George Gershwin, DuBose HeywardJune 23, 1968, Carousel Ballroom4:45
8."Ego Rock"Joplin, Nick GravenitesApril 4, 1970, Fillmore West8:02
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
9."Half Moon"John Hall, Joanna HallJune 28, 1970, Festival Express, Toronto, Ontario5:14
10."Kozmic Blues"Joplin, Gabriel MeklerJune 28, 1970, Festival Express, Toronto4:45
11."Move Over"JoplinJune 28, 1970, Festival Express, Toronto6:37
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Recording dateLength
12."Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)"Ragovoy, Chip TaylorJuly 4, 1970, Festival Express, Calgary, Alberta7:51
13."Get It While You Can"Ragovoy, Mort ShumanJuly 4, 1970, Festival Express, Calgary7:04
14."Ball and Chain"Willie Mae ThorntonJuly 4, 1970, Festival Express, Calgary8:03
Total length:76:50

Personnel[]

  • Janis Joplin  – vocals with:

Big Brother and the Holding Company (Side A and B)

Full Tilt Boogie Band (Side C and D)

  • John Till – guitar
  • Richard Bell – piano
  • Ken Pearson – organ
  • Brad Campbell – bass
  • Clark Pierson – drums

Technical

References[]

  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Janis Joplin: In Concert" at AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (August 1972). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  3. ^ Bangs, Lester (June 8, 1972). "Janis Joplin: In Concert". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  4. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 162. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.


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