Janis Joplin & Jorma Kaukonen: “The Legendary Typewriter Tape: 6/25/64 Jorma’s House” (2022) CD Review

Before Big Brother & The Holding Company, and before Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, Janis Joplin and Jorma Kaukonen played together, performing acoustic blues and folk music in the San Francisco area. This was in that brief time before rock and roll took over the scene. In fact, just a year after the recordings on this CD were made, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Grateful Dead (well, the Warlocks, at first) would all form. But in 1964, acoustic music was what was happening. And one of the rehearsals at Jorma Kaukonen’s home in Santa Clara was recorded. Later, bootleg tapes of the rehearsal began circulating. The bootleg was given the title “The Typewriter Tape” because the sound of Margareta Kaukonen typing a letter can be heard. And now this recording is getting an official release. It is being released on vinyl for Black Friday’s Record Store Day (in a limited edition of only 3,500 copies), and on CD a week later. The tracks were restored and mastered by Michael Graves at Osiris Studio in Los Angeles, and this release includes liner notes written by Jorma Kaukonen.

The disc opens with a bit of banter between Janis Joplin and Jorma Kaukonen, while Jorma tunes his guitar. Janis urges Margareta to type in rhythm. That leads straight into “Trouble In Mind,” and that’s when we really begin hearing the typewriter, which at times does feel like it is being played like a musical instrument, the rhythm working with the song. But the focus of course is on the vocals. Janis is delivering the goods even in this rehearsal setting. What a voice, a voice made for the blues. “I never had so much trouble in my whole life ever before.” There is a bit of banter at the beginning of the next track, as Jorma says, “Give me a moment here,” before they go into “Long Black Train,” another blues gem. “Here comes that long black train/Right by my back door again/That’s the same old train that took my two best friends.” Jorma delivers a good guitar solo in the middle of this track.

There is a false start to “Kansas City Blues,” a song credited to Janis Joplin. This song has also been listed as “Leaving This Morning.” This track is a great deal of fun, Janis clearly having a good time with it. And Jorma’s guitar work has a cheerful sense about it. At the end of the track, Jorma playfully acknowledges the typewriter. “All right, everybody ready on the typewriter?” Things get a bit mellower at the beginning of “Hesitation Blues,” and we can hear Janis comment on the typewriter. Her voice, of course, is not mellow. She has such great power even on the quieter numbers. This track features some excellent work on guitar. The typewriter disappears for a time, but returns before too long (perhaps she was inserting a new sheet of paper?). Anyway, both Janis and Jorma are happy with this one, and just before the end of the track they agree that it sounds good. An understatement, I think you’ll agree.

I love the way they handle the Jimmie Cox number “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out,” a song that Bessie Smith recorded. Bessie Smith had a great influence on Janis Joplin, and you can certainly hear it on this track. There is a delicious freedom to the style. Toward the end of the track, there is a bit of banter, as they discuss the way they want to deliver the song’s conclusion, a cool moment to have captured on tape. That’s followed by a track of banter, beginning with Jorma joking, “And now Miss Janis Joplin.” And Janis adds to the joke, saying “With unknown accompanist.” There is also some tuning. The disc then concludes with a Janis Joplin original, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.” A live recording of her performing this song in Austin was included on the 1975 release Janis. Jorma delivers some really cool work on guitar, and we can hear Janis digging it too. And the typing seems to be finished. It sounds like Janis says, “Yeah, that’s all right,” at the end. But it’s so much better than that. This disc is such a treat.

CD Track List

1. “Are We Taping Now?”
2. Trouble In Mind
3. Long Black Train
4. Kansas City Blues
5. Hesitation Blues
6. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
7. “How ‘Bout This?”
8. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy

The Legendary Typewriter Tape: 6/25/64 Jorma’s House is scheduled to be released on vinyl on November 25, 2022, and on CD on December 2, 2022 through Omnivore Recordings.