Greatest Hits

1973

Tracks (10)

01 Piece Of My Heart (Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Berns) info icon
02 Summertime (DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin) info icon
03 Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) (Jerry Ragovoy, Chip Taylor) info icon
04 Cry Baby (Jerry Ragovoy, Sam Bell) info icon
05 Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster) info icon
06 Down On Me (Eddy Head, arr. Janis Joplin) info icon
Live
07 Get It While You Can (Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Schuman) info icon
08 Bye, Bye Baby (R. Powell St. John, Jr.) info icon
09 Move Over (Janis Joplin) info icon
10 Ball and Chain (Willie Mae Thornton) info icon
Live

Notes

Compilation
N. CDs: 1

Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits (41:48)
(r. July 07, 1973)
(c. July 1973 — # 37)
LP: Columbia PC 32168
CD: Columbia CK 32168 (r. July 07, 1987)
CD: Legacy CK 65869 (r. August 31, 1999) remastered extended version
Bonus tracks (remastered extended version):
Maybe (3:39) Kozmic Blues
Mercedes Benz (1:46) Pearl

Releases

  1. 32190
    LP CBS
  2. Janis Joplin disc release: 122491122491
    Columbia 11/1998
  3. Janis Joplin disc release: 6586965869
    CD, Cassette Legacy Records 31/8/1999
    Available on Mini Disc on Columbia (32168). NOTES: GREATEST HITS spans the length of Janis Joplin's recording career, and features songs recorded with each of her three bands--Big Brother & The Holding Co., the Kozmic Blues Band, and the Full Tilt Boogie Band. Producers: Paul Rothchild, Bob Shad, John Simon, Gabriel Mekler. Reissue producer: Bob Irwin. Originally released on Columbia (32168). Includes liner notes by Jaan Uhelszki. Digitally remastered by Vic Anesini at Sony Music Studios, New York, New York. Drawing inspiration from Bessie Smith and Odetta, Joplin developed a brash, uncompromising vocal style quite unlike accustomed folk madonnas. In 1966 Janis was invited to the Bay Area to front Big Brother And The Holding Company. Their CHEAP THRILLS, a joyous celebration of true psychedelic soul, contained two Joplin 'standards', "Piece Of My Heart" and "Ball And Chain", but she left the group in November 1968. Electric Flag members Mike Bloomfield, Harvey Brooks and Nick Gravenites helped assemble a new act, known as the Kozmic Blues Band. I Got Dem Ol' KOZMIC BLUES Again Mama was coolly received, but the set contained several excellent Joplin vocals, notably "Try," "Maybe" and "Little Girl Blue". The singer subsequently dissolved the band and undertook medical advice for drink/drug abuse. A slimmed-down group, the Full Tilt Boogie Band, was unveiled in May 1970 featuring a tighter, more intimate sound. Sessions for a debut album were all but complete when, on 4 October 1970, Joplin died of a heroin overdose at her Hollywood hotel. The posthumous PEARL proved her most consistent work, with "My Baby," "Cry Baby" and the anthemic "Get It While You Can." The highlight was the chart-topping "Me And Bobby McGee", which allowed Joplin to be both vulnerable and assertive. Janis knew few boundaries, artistic or personal, and her sadly brief catalogue is marked by bare-nerved honesty.
  4. Janis Joplin disc release: PC 32168PC 32168
    Columbia 7/1973

Reviews

  1. Q Magazine (1/95, p.273)
    - 3 Stars - Good - "...It's not so much the timbre of her voice that stands out...but the sheer cathartic vitality that emanates from within. It's a soul-deep, blues act that was emphatically matched by her backing bands...
  2. Rolling Stone (8/16/73, p.50)
    ...Janis Joplin's GREATEST HITS is no final testament to an artist, nor is it a document of its period. It is a record for people who can't get her out of their minds, and for whom she has become some sort of ghost, a permanent image of rock's capacity for generating self-destruction....Janis Joplin, Superstar..."