4 Strong Revealing Stars
As a child of the times, reading this bio about Janis was amazing.
This was a woman who broke all the rules and left us with the beauty of her music. She was tragic and it started early in her life, feeling alone and never accepted.

She will always be remembered.

I received an eARC from NetGalley and am voluntarily providing a review.

In Janis: Her Life and Music, Holly George-Warren has clearly done immense amounts of research on the iconic singer. In 400 pages, we learn about every aspect of Janis Joplin’s life, from her ancestors, her upbringing, her rise to fame, and her tragic death at 27.

Janis Joplin has remained a powerful and relevant figure in music, even now. She is well known for the persona that she put forth; a brash, wild, fun-loving, heavy drinking queen of rock and roll. This book gives us a peek into the Janis that people didn’t get to see; the intelligent, caring, insecure, scared, lonely woman who was desperate for approval and affection. It showed a woman who was stifled by the conservative values of the time and place where she was raised. Her bisexuality and favorable outlook towards integration weren’t taken well by the people in small-town Texas in the 1950s, but Janis wasn’t the kind of girl who was willing to compromise her beliefs to fit in. This led to ostracism by her peers throughout her youth, and I think it played a big role in her lifelong quest for a sense of acceptance.

The book had a ton of details, and I felt that it was an overwhelming amount. I often got lost in the amount of information, much of which seemed unnecessary and irrelevant to the story. The background was the vast majority of the story, and the pace was extremely slow. I felt as though it took forever to wade through endless chapters of quotes, names, and minutiae. Once Janis started to actually make a name for herself in the music scene, it seemed like the chapters flew by. I struggled to keep up with the rotating cast of characters that made up her bands, lovers, drug dealers, managers, and friends.

While I did appreciate getting to know more about this iconic musician, I felt as though there were too many direct quotes in the text. I realize that this must have been an incredibly labor-intensive task, but I personally would have liked to see the quotes synthesized into a more cohesive experience. Overall, I did get a better perspective on the many sides of Janis Joplin, who was a complicated person, but a brilliant and shining talent that was gone way before her time. I often found myself wondering if her story would have ended differently if one event had worked out differently. While I read, I experienced a strong urge to listen to her music, and did play her songs throughout my reading to get a better connection to what I was reading about. She certainly had a gift and the musical world is better for having experienced her talents, even for a short time.

"Janis - Her Life And Music" Holly George-Warren. She crossed the boundaries of life and music. Growing up in a small very conservative town , Janis Lyn Joplin. , was shy but knew no limits culturally, sexually and musically. This is an intimate look at the times of Elvis, Bill Hayley, Fats Domino, James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause, "Peyton Place......and good old Rock N Roll! And a very I intimate look at Janis and her music! So many details the reader will learn. Dead at age 27 of a heroin overdose, she is alive today in that raspy voice - " Don't compromise yourself; you are all you have got" ~ Janis Joplin.

Wow just wow. This is the complete story of the amazing life of Janis Joplin. It goes back to talk about her great grandparents and how the family ended up in port author. It tells of her difficulty fitting in and her never ending need for approval from her family and from her peers. This is Thoroughly researched. It’s a very detailed account of her life from day 1 tip the day she over dosed. She lives a very full, crazy life even though she only lived til 27. She accomplished a lot but she continued to feel alone. I would recommend this biography to all music lives and biography lives as well.

It is clear that Holly George-Warren spent a great deal of time researching Janis Joplin’s life. However, it is also clear that she used what she found as filler because she put much of it in this biography. For instance, she found that Joplin’s ancestors were early arrivals in the US and that tidbit found its way into the book in a very long and detailed section on Joplin’s ancestors that was inserted for no particular reason and reminds one of the begat section in Genesis. This book is 400 pages long for a singer whose entire career spanned only five years and three albums. Yes, Janis broke through barriers allowing women rockers coming up behind her to thrive. This would have been a much better book had the writer deleted a hundred or more pages of background research.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for an eARC.

I’ve been a fan of Janis for as long as I can remember. That being said, I’ve read numerous biographies about her. I wasn’t expecting to learn anything new, but this book proved me wrong. It’s extremely well written, and researched. I found myself searching online for performances and interviews that were mentioned in the book, some of which I’d never seen. I liked that the book included critics sentiments both good and bad. The only thing that would’ve made the book better would’ve been photos included in the review copy. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced review copy.

I am, admittedly, a very hard sell when it comes to Janis Joplin biographies.  I adore her music and have read multiple biographies about her life, as well as her sister Laura’s intimate, heartbreaking chronicle of Janis’ world and progress from bullied adolescent to worldwide superstar, Love, Janis has been my gold standard for Janis biographies ever since I read it in my twenties. (The musical created from the book is also fabulous).  Holly George-Warren’s Janis: Her Life and Music is the only biography besides Joplin’s sister’s that has risen to my personal high watermark.  It’s definitive, handsome and fascinating.

George-Warren’s research is intense and impeccable.  She digs into Janis’ family tree before taking us into her formative years in Port Arthur Texas, where she yearned to belong and find love and yet desired to smash the norms around her – the staid expectations of southern small-town living.

An intellectual and a daredevil, Janis stormed through life, winning early acclaim for her painting skills but refusing to shed her tomboy rebel ways.  At fourteen she discovered Kerouac and became a member of the beat generation, discovering roadhouse bars filled with jukeboxes playing blues recordings.  By seventeen, rumors had turned her into a That Girl, a woman with a reputation.  Her parents doted on her but could not abide her rule breaking; busy with her siblings, they could only scold Janis and try to make her conform.

At eighteen, she became a songwriter, picking up the guitar and finding her own voice.  By the time she hitchhiked her way across Texas to San Francisco, her destiny seemed to be etched in stone and tears.  Janis and Big Brother and the Holding Co. are where they need to be in the Haight, but destiny is cruel and kind in equal doses.

The rest is, naturally, tragic history.  The drug addiction (amphetamines, heroin, booze) the failed relationships (an engagement to a cheating and already-married con-man that falls apart; multiple same-sex romances), the sterling songs, many written by Joplin, who sometimes comes off as Sylvia Plath-like when vacilitating between girlish gushiness and lacerating yearning.

George-Warren expands the known record with a phalanx of fresh interviews, digging up close high school friends and bullies, old music industry associates (Albert Grossman, BBAHC’s manager and an infamously judgmental perfectionist, comes in for a bashing), lovers, and family members, who all have their say, but the central voice belongs to Janis herself, whose bald-faced neediness, sharp sarcasm, wistful dreams of stardom (Janis got along famously with Jimi Hendrix and Janis Ian, but had a terrible encounter with Jim Morrison) and push for artistic relevance all resonate with the reader.

Ultimately the reader is given the best picture yet of Janis and her world with this biography. Janis: Her Life and Music sings because like Janis herself it never, ever compromises.

Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/Kobo
Visit our Amazon Storefront

Janis: Her Life and Music
by Holly George-Warren
due 10-22-2019
Simon and Schuster
4.0/5.0

#netgalley #Janis

Chronicling Janis Joplin´s extensive music career, and provocative lifestyle, Holly George-Warren´s extensive research and innate ability to connect to the essence of Janis´s iconic personality and flair, has given us a peek into the motivations and the soul of a woman and performer who has meant so much to so many. Janis fascinated me with her vivacious energy and amazing musical voice. Her ability to never give in or give up is a large part of her success.

Unfortunately, the road this curious and rebellious spirit chose to find acceptance, also included alcoholism and a heroin addiction. What gave her energy also stole her soul, and ended her life. Holly George-Warren has done an excellent job of reviving her energy and spirit.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for sending this e-book ARC for review.

This is a very in depth and comprehensive book about Janis Joplin. If you are a fan of Janis Joplin you will highly enjoy this book. The author does a good job of explaining many scenes with great detail that you feel like you are there. I wish the book had picture in it, maybe it will in the print version. If you are not a fan of Janis then this is probably not the book for you. It is very long and tends to drag at times. There is a lot packed in to the book for her dying so young.

This is quite comprehensive and a exciting read about her life from childhood to her sad end. I appreciate the author's attention to the dark issues that led her to a life of drugs and her very sad ending. The details here are remarkably detailed. The author did extensive research. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the ARC. Quite a fascinating read about a troubled sad singer who dreamed of only singing her unique music until life events, depression and nefarious people led her down a dark path. This is quite a poignant look back of the events of the turbulent sixties that framed her life and the struggles she faced as a outspoken independent artist of her time.

It’s hard not to be somber throughout the reading of this book and while writing this review because we all know how the biography is going to end. But the humanity, love, and understanding Holly George-Warren uses to unfold Janis’s many layers of talent and emotion make it a book well worth reading.
I became an avid Janis fan when I was a young girl. She could belt out her emotions, sing in a range of variations like no other, and my most favorite part, she was finally a girl like me doing what I loved and respected. I liked the other bands out there, but Janis was one of the very few female voices of that era and the only one of her time who could bring tears to your eyes. My heart broke when we lost her.
I had learned snippets and bits about Janis over the years since her accidental death (I honestly can’t say she wanted out, she simply wanted to not feel for a minute), but this detailed book dwells on what’s important: Janis, her feelings, her thoughts, her letters home, and the overwhelming talent that she couldn’t grasp and rein in.
What a beautiful portrayal of this young lady, her loving family, her good and bad friends. She was light-years ahead of her time. Holly, I thank you for showing respect to Janis and her memory.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks so much to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for making it available.)

4 out of 5

**OMG! I cannot believe that these reviews haven't been done! I am so sorry they are so late!!!**

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC. I loved Janis growing up and always kept up with her songs. A life too short, too uncontrolled and just thrown away.

I thought this was a great book on Janis Joplin. It explains her childhood and relationship with her parents and siblings. Also her relationship with band mates and the Hells Angels. Also her loneliness at times and drugs to tolerate those times. All in all I thought the author done a great job of bringing Janis back to life for the short time it took to read this wonderful biography.

Great look at Janis. She is my favorite singer and jumped on the book as soon as I saw it. Janis was an amazing musician who had a rough life. Definitely a good read.

Dull, dull. So disappointed. This was a blow-by-blow chronological biography. So there was a lot of unnecessary minutiae that really took away from the excitement of JANIS JOPLIN. Like, hello? She's one of the coolest female rockers EVER and this book hardly portrayed that. You have to slog through at least half the book of her parents' childhoods, her childhood, her schooling, finally her musical tastes and influences, and then the good stuff. Meh. I could've done without it.

Before this book the only thing I knew about Janis was the song Piece of my Heart. I had no idea she was such a huge star. This book was great! The author really captured Janis life in a way that showed who she actually was an an artist an a troubled young women. I just wished I had the actual printed book so I could see pictures and put the faces together. I really enjoyed the writing and learning about the culture of 60s.

A well researched, intimate portrait of the great Janis Joplin. Impeccable research augmented by new interviews with friends, family and band members, as well as letters Joplin wrote home during most of her music career, George-Warren creates a clear vision of Janis, her ambition, her fragility, and her music. A must read for music fans and Janis Joplin fans. By far the best Janis Joplin biography. Highly recommended.

Janis: Her Life and Music

She takes my breath away. It is astonishing that she was the same age as my mother, and yet seems closer in age to me. Although I’ve spent many hours with guitars, bandmates and singing on my own, listening to favorite groups and collecting favorites like the rest of the world, my Janis Joplin blindspot has been significant. Prior to reading this book, I knew her name, knew she was loud and a trouble magnet. I always thought she was entrancing in a witchy way, full of power and potential, and defined herself with an undefined style that I would later adopt, as many of us did (her style outlived her by generations!). She had a following that was a little older than me, and my parents FORBID her music from my record collecting and JJ stories from my hero gathering. That should have clued me in, but it didn’t. I was guided to gentler themes and artists who were properly danceable: Carpenters, Ms. King, and Helen Reddy.

Starting with her baby steps in Texas, and covering just about every waking moment to that last terrible, tragic end, this book does a compelling job of setting Janis in the context of her time, personal struggles, and familial relationships. There were clear lines drawn regarding her motivating experiences, creating the engine that would click in later in life when it came to choices made and choices not made. I appreciated the author’s explanations of who was who, and who was who when, since in that milieu there were many who changed roles often and repeatedly. In the paths Janis traveled you could, in real life, see consequences played out to the very end. . . .and my heart ached for her. She wanted, and wanted, and her thirst was never quite quenched. Her life seemed to have fallen straight out of a Greek myth (Sisyphus / Tantalus ?which?) . . .that even if she had lived longer, it wasn’t going to satisfy – no drink of water, no apple from the tree; or was she just going to roll that stone up the hill forever?

I was sad to close the book – and wanted more. That can’t be laid at the author’s feet, though. In the space of starting this read to reaching its end you find yourself actually missing her: that wild, uncontainable woman who was Janis Joplin.

A sincere thanks to Holly George-Warren, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for this ARC to read and review!

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

From the blurb, "This blazingly intimate biography of Janis Joplin establishes the Queen of Rock & Roll as the rule-breaking musical trailblazer and complicated, gender-bending rebel she was."

Although a rather dry read, this is a chronological look at Joplin's childhood and her life as she rose to stardom.

2.75 stars