Interestingly, the first letter read begins, “Dear family, I managed to pass my
twenty-seventh birthday without really feeling it.” It’s interesting,
because as we all know, Janis wouldn’t see her twenty-eighth. In that letter
she talks about talent and ambition. The letters, by the way, are read by Chan
Marshall. After that first letter, the film goes back to her youth, and
essentially from there goes in chronological order. A lot of information is
supplied by her younger sister, Laura, in an interview. Also interviewed are
her younger brother Michael and several childhood friends, one of whom mentions
being stunned the first time he heard Janis sing an Odetta song. Another friend
recounts the time that Janis was voted “ugliest man” by fraternities. “And it crushed her,” he says. It was
soon after that that she moved to San Francisco. There is also footage from several
interviews with Janis, including one where she says, “I couldn’t stand Texas anymore and I went to California, ‘cause it’s a
lot freer.”
Of course the documentary provides plenty of live concert
footage of Janis Joplin with Big Brother And The Holding Company, including
them performing “Down On Me.” The film includes interviews with Big Brother members
Dave Getz (who says early on she was afraid of drugs), Sam Andrew and Peter
Albin. And Bob Weir provides some funny anecdotes. Janis was romantically
linked to the Grateful Dead’s Ron “Pigpen” McKernan for a time, and in a letter
home she writes, “Isn’t Pigpen cute?”
She had included a photo of herself and other members of Big Brother on the
steps of the Grateful Dead’s house on Ashbury, and the documentary includes
that photo as well.
There is also some interesting stuff about the Monterey
Pop Festival, and how the San Francisco bands didn’t sign the movie releases,
which led to director DA Pennebaker (who is interviewed in the film) and others
convincing Big Brother to do another set so that they could film it. In a
letter home afterward, Janis talks about things going well for her, about moving
into a house and about her new boyfriend, Country Joe McDonald. McDonald is
interviewed, and he says: “We were never
in love with each other. There was no sizzle going on.” The footage of the
band in the recording studio is great, especially as the band discusses the
song “Summertime.” The film does a good job of stressing the sense of community
among the musicians of San Francisco, and how when Janis left Big Brother it
was like she also left that feeling of community.
This documentary does a great job of showing the
connection between her life and her music, like in that awesome version of “Cry
Baby.” And because most of the letters included in the film are letters to her
family, the ties to her childhood dreams and fears are maintained, and the
connection between her music and her personal life is thus strongly illustrated.
Through the letters and interviews, the film gives us a sense of being really
close to her, and because of that, at times, this film is heartbreaking.
Special Features
The DVD includes a few extra scenes, including one about
San Francisco venues the Avalon and the Fillmore. In this scene, Bob Weir talks
about the venues being dance halls, and Dave Getz and Peter Albin talk about the
differences between the venues. Another scene shows members of Big Brother
doing a little impromptu acapella jam. The third scene is about Janis Joplin’s
influence on music and singers, and includes interviews with Chan Marshall and
Melissa Etheridge. The last scene is footage of the ceremony on the Hollywood
Walk Of Fame, when Janis Joplin’s star was presented.
Janis: Little Girl
Blue was directed by Amy J. Berg, and was released on DVD on May 6, 2016
through MVD Visual.
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