If you're going to show someone you're tough, you have to sing that way. The energy in Janis' version is what makes it. I think we can't help but believe her.
The words and the energy don't match in Dusty's version, so the words fall flat. It's like she didn't believe it herself, or her heart wasn't in the song. At least that's what I'm hearing.
Thanks for sharing that version. I think Erma Franklin also gives it the oomph it needs, and she predated Janis about a year, did it under Bert Berns' label, as David pointed out in the first comment -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QAxIKf8G4
Fun story: I met a woman in NOLA whose locker was next to Janis’ in high school. She said Janis was quiet and nice, but never fit in. That sounded like an understatement.
That's interesting! I guess some of us need to leave home before we can blossom or let loose. (I know I did.) But I imagine the drugs and heroin especially made a difference.
Yes, I left home as well. From stories told, she was severely bullied in high school and even in SF she felt lonely. The drugs/alcohol seemed to be her social crutch that turned into her tragic downfall. I’m hoping that today’s tech makes it easier to find like-minded people so we can avoid that trap.
I've read that she got a bad batch of heroin and she wasn't the only one who died that night. Watching Festival Express I just got a very different sense of her, but the music industry was tough, especially for a woman, and the counterculture movement had taken a dark turn, no longer a summer of love. So as you say she could have been lonely and also struggling with her success.
That said, a lot of overdoses back then happened because drugs were black market and wildly varying in strength and purity. I tend to think most of those who overdosed did not intend to do so (Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin, Cass Elliott). At least I'd like to believe so!
100 percent. I think it was David Cosby (an Olympic drug addict) who said the drug culture was a great experiment that failed terribly. They were just wrong in the end. And yet, here we are in a nation with astronomical death rates due to drugs and alcohol. How do we right the ship? 🤷🏻♀️
Well said and critical question. It's an issue that keeps popping up in this industry and the US culture at large over and over again in different ways. (I remember the explosion in cocaine use in the 80s - every decade seems to bring a new drug addiction.) For me it begs the question of whether other countries have the same problem, and if not, why not. I understand Portugal has developed an effective approach to drugs based on empathy rather than judgement, but I can't remember where I read that or what the details are.
The song was originally recorded and released by Erma Franklin (sister of Aretha) on co-writer Bert Berns' Shout label.
I noticed that when I was researching but didn't have time to check it out. Just did so now after reading your comment and wow!
Here's Erma singing it live in 1992 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QAxIKf8G4
Thanks for pointing to another incredible rendition.
I’m so stoked!! Thank
You for this
De nada, Beth.
Dusty does a pretty creditable version - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp2ryrkqDww
But once Janis did it, it was DONE.
Written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, big behind-the-scenes guys in the late '60s.
If you're going to show someone you're tough, you have to sing that way. The energy in Janis' version is what makes it. I think we can't help but believe her.
The words and the energy don't match in Dusty's version, so the words fall flat. It's like she didn't believe it herself, or her heart wasn't in the song. At least that's what I'm hearing.
Thanks for sharing that version. I think Erma Franklin also gives it the oomph it needs, and she predated Janis about a year, did it under Bert Berns' label, as David pointed out in the first comment -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0QAxIKf8G4
Fun story: I met a woman in NOLA whose locker was next to Janis’ in high school. She said Janis was quiet and nice, but never fit in. That sounded like an understatement.
That's interesting! I guess some of us need to leave home before we can blossom or let loose. (I know I did.) But I imagine the drugs and heroin especially made a difference.
Yes, I left home as well. From stories told, she was severely bullied in high school and even in SF she felt lonely. The drugs/alcohol seemed to be her social crutch that turned into her tragic downfall. I’m hoping that today’s tech makes it easier to find like-minded people so we can avoid that trap.
I've read that she got a bad batch of heroin and she wasn't the only one who died that night. Watching Festival Express I just got a very different sense of her, but the music industry was tough, especially for a woman, and the counterculture movement had taken a dark turn, no longer a summer of love. So as you say she could have been lonely and also struggling with her success.
That said, a lot of overdoses back then happened because drugs were black market and wildly varying in strength and purity. I tend to think most of those who overdosed did not intend to do so (Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin, Cass Elliott). At least I'd like to believe so!
100 percent. I think it was David Cosby (an Olympic drug addict) who said the drug culture was a great experiment that failed terribly. They were just wrong in the end. And yet, here we are in a nation with astronomical death rates due to drugs and alcohol. How do we right the ship? 🤷🏻♀️
Well said and critical question. It's an issue that keeps popping up in this industry and the US culture at large over and over again in different ways. (I remember the explosion in cocaine use in the 80s - every decade seems to bring a new drug addiction.) For me it begs the question of whether other countries have the same problem, and if not, why not. I understand Portugal has developed an effective approach to drugs based on empathy rather than judgement, but I can't remember where I read that or what the details are.