Videos

The Birth of a Powerhouse: Janis Joplin’s Iconic “Ball and Chain” Rendition at Monterey Pop 1967

Published Jun 19, 2023 By Joefrech Luga

Youtube @criterioncollection

The year was 1967, and the world of music was about to witness something truly magical. The Monterey Pop Festival was about to take place in California and was already being hailed as the biggest music festival of the year.

But little did the world know that this festival was going to change the course of music history forever. At the heart of it, all was Janis Joplin, a performer whose legacy would live on for generations to come.

It was when the virtually unknown Janis gave the world a piece of her heart, and the world was never the same. From being an up-and-coming star, Janis stepped off that stage a legend of her own.

As San Francisco Examiner music critic Phil Elwood aptly said, Janis was “the real queen of the festival”. And it wasn’t something witnesses imagined.

Because the magic that was her renditions was like no other. Watch and relive the song that roused not just the fortunate concertgoers at the time, but also the generations of music fans who saw and heard snippets of her supernatural performance.

The Stage: The Monterey Pop Festival

The Monterey Pop Festival marked a turning point in popular music and youth culture. It was one of the first large-scale rock music festivals in the United States, drawing together a diverse lineup of artists and a massive audience. The festival encapsulated the changing social and political climate of the 1960s, becoming a platform for promoting peace, love, and artistic expression.

The three-day music festival was held June 16 to 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. A reported 90,000 people enjoyed an event borne from a culmination of the counterculture movement of the 60s that stemmed from music and the arts. 

Monterey Pop was also generally believed to be one of the beginnings of the hippie social and cultural phenomenon known as the “Summer of Love” in 1967. 

Beyond the trappings of peace and love, the festival embraced experimental and innovative performances, incorporating elements such as guitar pyrotechnics, theatrical stage antics, and mesmerizing vocals. These performances challenged the norms of the time and revolutionized the concept of live performances.

As a musical experience that became a template for the music festival experience and catalyzed the global spread of countercultural values and artistic expression, its success paved the way for subsequent festivals, both in the United States and abroad, such as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival, many of which have their own legendary stories to tell.

The real magic was, of course, the performances. Apart from Janis, artists like Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and Otis Redding showcased their talents in groundbreaking and electrifying ways. Genres,  such as psychedelic rock, soul, and folk-rock, were shaped and explored in ways like never before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbjBsgFXToE

Established artists that boosted the Monterey lineup include the Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, and the Byrds.

What’s more amazing was the fact that all performers performed for free, except Ravi Shankar and Country Joe and the Fish. It was the height of the counterculture, with the spirit of Haight-Ashbury seeping into the groups; most were against profit and stardom.

The people behind Monterey Pop even struggled to make many of them perform, and only agreed after learning about where the money from the event was going.

It was a major turning point for the career of a young and upcoming Janis and her band Big Brother and the Holding Company. But they nearly turned down the chance to perform due to the aforementioned woes.

Thankfully, they did, and the rest was history. Janis was crowned the queen of Monterey Pop and a pioneer of the hippie movement.

The Star: Janis Joplin Before Monterey

Janis Joplin’s ascent as a rising star of psychedelic rock began well before her iconic performance at Monterey Pop. Her raw talent, blues-inspired vocals, and captivating stage presence garnered attention and admiration from both audiences and the music industry. 

On the other side of the same unfortunate coin were her reputation for being rebellious and a “speed freak”, having modeled herself after her favorite female blues artists and the Beat poets.

She got involved in drugs early on and was even arrested in San Francisco for shoplifting in 1963. She drank heavily and was deteriorating fast. She was saved by her group of friends and had her sent back to Port Arthur in Texas.

Janis got back to her feet within a year and attended psychiatric sessions while playing and recording with her guitar. A year before she became part of Big Brother and the Holding Company, she recorded seven songs, including her original composition, “Turtle Blues”.

These songs were released in 1995 as an album called This Is Janis Joplin 1965 by former Big Brother and the Holding Company lead guitarist James Gurley.

Janis’ unfiltered approach to music made her a standout in the psychedelic rock scene that was flourishing during this time. Her style attracted the attention of the Big Brother band and was recruited by her former hitchhiking buddy and the band’s manager Chet Helms.

Janis and her band went around San Francisco and Chicago to play gigs but did not attract much attention to the point that their promoter had run out of money. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, the band went on to participate in events and record tracks for their debut album.

As her popularity grew higher, Janis was also desperately trying not to get involved in drugs due to her previous near-death deterioration. She even had a mental breakdown after seeing guests doing it inside the apartment where she lived after signing up for Big Brother and the Holding Company.

But drugs were prevalent in the musician circles she interacted in, seemingly following her everywhere she went. She failed to resist and went on a downward slope

By the time she became so famous as a solo artist, she was beyond redemption. And she paid the heaviest price for it.

She shone so brightly, but ever so briefly.

The Magic: Janis Joplin’s Performance

It’s a performance that almost never happened. And almost never recorded.

But just like the brightness of the sun in midday, Janis’ brilliance can’t be suppressed. The enigmatic singer’s groundbreaking performance at Monterey Pop only added more allure to the story of her rise and fall.

Her road to fame was not an easy one. Apart from her drug woes, she faced numerous obstacles throughout her career, including the constant struggle to be taken seriously as a female artist in a male-dominated industry.

Despite the challenges, Joplin persevered, and her performance at Monterey Pop was a testament to her talent and determination.

Janis Joplin’s setlist at the festival was a reflection of the turbulent times in which she lived. Her performances of “Ball and Chain,” “Piece of My Heart,” and “Summertime” were filled with raw emotion and left audiences speechless.

Everyone who heard her described Janis’ voice as a force of nature. It was raw, emotional, and soulful. Her voice had the power to transport audiences to another world and make them feel every word she sang. Her raspy, bluesy tone was unlike anything else in the music industry at the time. 

The performance and the legends surrounding it were not just about the music. It was about the emotional connection she had with the audience. She sang from the heart, and her audience felt every word. It was a transformative experience that left a lasting impression on everyone who was there.

Joplin’s connection with the audience was evident from the moment she stepped on stage. She was vulnerable, authentic, and unapologetically herself. Her performance was a celebration of individuality and self-expression, and it resonated deeply with the audience.

All of these were only immortalized in interviews of witnesses and written testaments of those who were there when Janis became a musical deity.

There was a reason why: It was only partially recorded, and the two videos of the songs that reached the public were only made possible thanks to the insistence of D.A. Pennebaker, the filmmaker who created the concert film ‘Monterey Pop’.

It was the film that made the legendary festival more amazing than it was, as the film traveled beyond the US.

“We gotta have her in the film,” Pennebaker remembered after seeing Janis’ performance. “We had been told we couldn’t film it because her agent wanted money or something.”

The filmmaker knew he had to capture the incredible moment. “When she first stood there and belted that thing out, I thought, “Jesus, this is incredible.”

When they asked the band for permission, Janis ran up to him and agreed, and the spontaneously-decided second set the next day was filmed behind their agent’s back. And the otherworldly rendition of “Ball and Chain” caught on tape found its way to the list of greatest performances ever recorded.

The second video-recorded song of Janis’ Monterey performance, “Combination of the Two”, was only released to the public in 2002 after Criterion Collection released the boxed set of the concert film.

The Aftermath: After Monterey Pop

The Monterey Pop Festival may have been over, but its impact was just beginning. 

After the festival, Janis Joplin became a household name. The Monterey Pop gig was seen as a game-changer in the music industry and established her as one of the greatest performers of all time. 

Shortly after Monterey Pop, her band hammered in and capitalized on the popularity of her performance and released their debut studio album, Big Brother & the Holding Company, in August 1967.

Further down the road, Janis went on to record some of her most iconic songs, including “Piece of My Heart” and “Me and Bobby McGee,” and became a feminist icon and a symbol of the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

The singer left the Big Brother band and went solo with different backing bands, and her popularity never waned. But her drug use also went way worse. 

On Sunday evening of October 4, 1970, 27-year-old Janis Joplin would later be found dead in her room at Landmark Motor Hotel by her road manager. She died of an accidental heroin overdose, possibly compounded by alcohol.

Her death at such a young age and at the height of her popularity shocked the whole world, especially when coupled with the recent deaths of her co-Monterey Festival alumni Jimi Hendrix and Canned Heat vocalist Alan Wilson, both also aged 27.

This eerie coincidence sparked rumors about the fabled 27 Club, a  bizarre list of dead musicians and actors that just added more mystery to the life of Janis Joplin.

Janis Joplin may have left the world way too soon, but her legacy definitely lives on. Her music continues to inspire new generations of artists, and her spirit lives on in the hearts of her fans. She was a true icon of music, and her performance at Monterey Pop will forever be remembered as one of the greatest moments in music history.

Her legacy extends beyond her music, however. She was a trailblazer for women in music and a feminist icon who challenged the gender norms of her time. She was unapologetically herself, and her authenticity and honesty continue to inspire people to this day.