Janis: Little Girl Blue Page #4

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integrate into the band

and be part of it.

The big turning point

was Monterey Pop.

A very good friend of mine

said, you've got to come

to the Monterey Pop Festival.

There's never been

a Pop Festival.

You know, you're going

to have a great time.

It's a weekend.

It's in Monterey, California.

Simon and Garfunkel were

going to perform there.

That's all I knew about.

So I came here with my khaki

pants and a tennis sweater,

and I was astonished by

everything that I saw.

I got a call from

Lou Adler, who was

the producer of Monterey Pop.

He was also the manager of

the Mamas and the Papas.

He told me there's

in the Monterey Pop Festival.

Well, Big Brother, come.

I saw the future.

He offered me a number,

and I went for it.

I didn't give a damn

about the money.

I knew that this was

going to be a monster.

So I vividly remember

sitting in the grounds

there, being surrounded

by this unusual crowd,

and then they

announced the group.

Three or four years ago,

I ran into a chick in Texas

by the name of Janis Joplin,

and I heard her sing.

And Janis and I hitchhiked

to the West Coast.

A lot of things have gone

down since that time,

but it gives me a

great deal of pride

to present today

the finished product

of three or four years

of work, Big Brother

and the Holding Company.

We had been told

about Monterey Pop

that it was going

to be a big party,

and everybody's

playing for free.

And no one's going

to make any money.

And then all of a sudden

there's a movie being made

by DA Pennebaker,

and they're asking

everybody to sign a release

just before you get on stage.

I thought everybody

in this country

is dying to get

out to California

to see what's going on.

And so, without even

thinking, I said, sure.

Lou Adler wanted me to sign,

as he had everybody sign,

the contract for the movie.

And I said, no.

And he kept on it,

and I kept saying, no.

There was a whole sort of San

Francisco kind of contingent

that was of the

sort of philosophy

that these LA guys

are not going to make

a movie out of out stuff.

We're not going to

be in your movie.

We just came for the party.

There were nine big machine-gun

cameras around the arena.

All nine cameras were

pointed down to the ground.

Now, they're starting

to come off stage.

People are starting

to tell them.

This wasn't filmed.

This wasn't filmed.

This wasn't filmed.

But Janis is really pissed off.

They got to Janis, John Phillips

and Lou Adler and these

people, and they said, look.

We'll put you on again.

We'll give you a second show

if you'll be in the movie.

And to make a long story short,

there was a lot of infighting

amongst the band

and our manager.

Grossman was involved, too.

And Albert Grossman

got involved.

I went to Albert,

and I said, Albert,

I know what you have to do.

But you better find

a way to get her

so that we can film her because

she's really critical to this.

This group we'd

like to bring on now

because of the great acceptance

they had on Saturday afternoon.

From San Francisco,

on Mainstream Records,

let's hear it for Big Brother

and the Holding Company.

Cass was sitting there

in one of the rows,

and I kind of had an

eye on her during Janis

because they had been a

little critical because they

were Los Angelenos.

And the Los Angelenos

were somewhat

critical of the San Franciscans

in terms of the bands.

And so I kind of wanted to

watch her when Janis sang.

Sitting down by my window,

just looking out at the rain.

Something came along,

honey, grabbed a hold of me,

and it felt like

a ball and chain.

Well, yeah.

And I said, oh, oh, oh,

well, honey, this can't be.

This can't be in vain.

Na, na, na, na,

na, na, na, and I

said, oh, oh, oh, well,

honey, oh, this can't be

b... b... b... baby, not in vain.

I said, no, no,

no, no, yeah, whoa,

and I want somebody

to tell me, come on.

And tell me why, why, 0h,

people tell me why love,

honey, why love is like, well,

it's like a ball and a chain.

Once she caught real

recognition at the Monterey Pop

Festival, I think

she began to see

what the possibilities were.

And the possibilities were

somewhat over the top.

Dear Mother, at

last, a tranquil day and time

to write all the good news.

I'm now safely moved into my

new room in our beautiful house

in the country.

Gosh, I can't seem to find

anything else to talk about.

This band is my whole life now.

I really am totally

committed, and I dig it.

I wanted to send

you these clippings.

Since Monterey, all

this has come about.

Did "Port Arthur News"

have anything on these?

If so, please send.

I just may be a star someday.

You know, it's funny.

As it gets closer and more

probable, being a star

is really losing its meaning.

But whatever it

means, I'm ready.

Things are going so

well for me personally.

I have a boyfriend.

He's head of Country Joe and

the Fish, a band from Berkeley.

He' a Capricorn

like me and is 25,

and so far we're

getting along fine.

Everyone in the rock

scene just thinks

it's the cutest thing

they've ever seen,

and it is rather cute actually.

Oh, we were never in

love with each other.

No, no, there was

no sizzle going on.

We were good friends.

We were both control

freaks, both lead singers.

There was a maternal

feminine side of her

that never was allowed to grow.

She was really trying

hard, you know,

and her mother was

coming to town.

She wanted to cook chow

mein for her mother.

She was so worried

that her mother

would like her apartment.

And had just

made that poster of her naked

with the necklaces.

We put them all up on the wall.

We went out to visit her the

Summer of Love as a family.

My brother and I were the

only teenagers who probably

went outwith their parents.

You know, we go to see Janis.

And we're walking

down the streets.

She's showing us around,

and I was so excited.

Then We went to the

Avalon Ballroom,

and Big Brother was not

on the bill that night.

But they went on and

did three or four songs.

Moby Grape let them have

a set because Janis's

parents were there.

When we were getting

ready to leave,

I remember overhearing one of

my parents tell the other one,

you know, dear, I

don't think we're going

to have much influence anymore.

I think that her own

telling of her story

was about the ability to make

your life fit your values,

and she found that

opportunity in the music

world of the 1960s.

The social acceptance that

she'd always wanted was there,

and it just propelled

her forward.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Didn't I make you feel

like you were the only man?

It felt so fresh

and so different

for someone who'd

been an outcast.

Each time I tell myself that I,

well, I think I've had enough.

But I'm gonna show you, baby,

that a woman can be tough.

I want you to come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Take it.

Take another little piece

of my heart now, baby.

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