Janis is a compilation album by Janis Joplin, released in 1993. The album features a broad overview of her career from her first recording in December 1962, to the last songs she recorded during the sessions for Pearl just a few days before her death in October 1970.

Janis
Compilation album by
ReleasedNovember 23, 1993
RecordedDecember 1962 – September 26, 1970
GenreBlues rock, psychedelic rock, soul, blues
Length195:50
LabelColumbia Legacy
Janis Joplin chronology
Farewell Song
(1982)
Janis
(1993)
This Is Janis Joplin
(1995)

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [1]
Entertainment WeeklyA+[2]
Rolling Stone     [3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide     [4]
The Village VoiceA[5]

Janis was voted the seventh best reissue of 1993 in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll;[6] Robert Christgau—the poll's supervisor—called it "a smart, audiowise set that not only gets Joplin's achievement right but helps us understand it".[7]

Track listing

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Disc one

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  1. "What Good Can Drinkin' Do" – 2:45 (recorded in 1962, previously unreleased; a different version was released on Janis [1975 album])
  2. "Trouble in Mind" – 3:03 (recorded in 1965, previously unreleased; a different version was released on Janis [1975 album])
  3. "Hesitation Blues" – 4:05 (recorded in 1965, previously unreleased)
  4. "Easy Rider" – 2:24 (Big Brother & the Holding Company, 1967)
  5. "Coo Coo" – 2:05 (Big Brother & the Holding Company, 1967)
  6. "Down on Me" – 2:06 (Big Brother & the Holding Company, 1967)
  7. "The Last Time" – 2:17 (Big Brother & the Holding Company, 1967)
  8. "All Is Loneliness" – 2:19 (Big Brother & the Holding Company, 1967)
  9. "Call on Me" – 3:37 (live, recorded in 1967, previously unreleased, original version released on Big Brother & the Holding Company)
  10. "Women Is Losers" – 5:08 (live, recorded in 1967, previously unreleased, original version released on Big Brother & the Holding Company)
  11. "Intruder" – 2:32 (Big Brother & the Holding Company, 1967)
  12. "Light Is Faster than Sound" – 2:32 (Big Brother & the Holding Company, 1967)
  13. "Bye, Bye Baby" – 2:39 (Big Brother & the Holding Company, 1967)
  14. "Farewell Song" – 4:24 (previously unreleased, from the Cheap Thrills sessions)
  15. "Flower in the Sun" – 3:13 (In Concert, 1972)
  16. "Misery'n" – 4:09 (previously unissued alternate take, from the Cheap Thrills sessions)
  17. "Road Block" – 6:12 (live, previously unreleased, from the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967)
  18. "Ball and Chain" – 8:07 (live, previously unreleased, from the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967)

Disc two

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  1. "Combination of the Two" – 5:52 (Cheap Thrills, 1968)
  2. "I Need a Man to Love" – 4:53 (Cheap Thrills, 1968)
  3. "Piece of My Heart" – 4:28 (Cheap Thrills, 1968)
  4. "Turtle Blues" – 4:30 (Cheap Thrills, 1968)
  5. "Oh, Sweet Mary" – 4:16 (Cheap Thrills, 1968)
  6. "Catch Me Daddy" – 4:56 (previously unreleased, from the Cheap Thrills sessions)
  7. "Summertime" – 4:07 (previously unreleased alternate take, from the Cheap Thrills sessions)
  8. "Kozmic Blues" – 4:24 (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, 1969)
  9. "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" – 3:58 (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, 1969)
  10. "One Good Man" – 4:11 (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, 1969)
  11. "Dear Landlord" – 2:33 (previously unreleased, from the I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! sessions)
  12. "To Love Somebody" – 5:19 (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, 1969)
  13. "As Good as You've Been to This World" – 5:27 (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, 1969)
  14. "Little Girl Blue" – 3:51 (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, 1969)
  15. "Work Me, Lord" – 6:38 (I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, 1969)
  16. "Raise Your Hand" – 2:17 (live, from The Ed Sullivan Show, 1969)
  17. "Maybe" – 4:07 (live, from The Ed Sullivan Show, 1969)

Disc three

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  1. "Me and Bobby McGee" – 4:49 (alternate version)
  2. "One Night Stand" – 3:10 (alternate take)
  3. "Tell Mama" – 5:48 (live, from Farewell Song, 1982)
  4. "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" – 8:16 (live, from In Concert, 1972)
  5. "Cry Baby" – 4:59 (previously unreleased, from the Pearl sessions)
  6. "Move Over" – 3:42 (Pearl, 1970)
  7. "A Woman Left Lonely" – 3:29 (Pearl, 1970)
  8. "Half Moon" – 3:53 (Pearl, 1970)
  9. "Happy Birthday, John (Happy Trails)" – 1:10 (previously unreleased, recorded for John Lennon)
  10. "My Baby" – 3:45 (Pearl, 1970)
  11. "Mercedes Benz" – 2:14 (Pearl, 1970, includes a previously-unissued longer spoken intro)
  12. "Trust Me" – 3:17 (Pearl, 1970)
  13. "Get It While You Can" – 3:25 (Pearl, 1970)
  14. "Me and Bobby McGee" – 4:29 (Pearl, 1970)

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[8] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Janis Joplin: Janis > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
  2. ^ Anon. (December 24, 1993). "Review". Entertainment Weekly. p. 60.
  3. ^ Anon. (December 23, 1993). "Review". Rolling Stone. p. 148.
  4. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). "Janis Joplin". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 440. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert (December 21, 1993). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  6. ^ Anon. (March 1, 1994). "The 1993 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (December 1993). "Joan Jett, Bratmobile, Bikini Kill, Janis Joplin, Sue Foley". Playboy. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  8. ^ "American album certifications – Janis Joplin – Janis". Recording Industry Association of America.