Box of Pearls: Janis Joplin Collection
Janis Joplin was one of the most exhilarating performers of an era blessed with riveting stage artists, but all but her most emphatic champions must concede her recorded oeuvre is problematic. WithBig Brother & the Holding Companyshe was surrounded by up-from-the-streets cohorts who were spiritually attuned to Joplin, even if they weren't always musically in tune. After one rushed, prematureeffortfor the Mainstream label, Big Brother hit the top of the charts with one of the touchstones of the San Francisco sound,Cheap Thrills. Barraged by critics who believed Joplin's skills as a blues and soul singer were being squandered in a psychedelic setting, the toast of Haight-Ashbury went solo with the up-and-downI Got Them Ol' Kozmic Blues Again, Mama. Joplin was hitting her stride during the 1970Pearlsessions when she died of a drug overdose at age 27. The album's posthumous release was a critical and commercial smash.Box of Pearlsbinds the 1999 remastered and expanded versions of the aforementioned albums and tosses in a five-track rarities EP entitled, appropriately enough,Rare Pearls. Much ofBox of Pearlsis brilliant while portions are badly dated, but it's all Joplin.--Steven Stolder