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Pearl: The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin
She came out of the swamps of the Texas-Louisiana border, wailing the blues as no one, black or white, before or after, has ever dared. She was the first rock star of the 1960s counterculture. She was a major fashion trendsetter in the back-to-the-roots movement that began in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco and overtook the world. At the same time, she was locked in a doomed search for an increasingly elusive happiness in drugs and fame, sex and money, a compulsion of truly epic proportions that ultimately destroyed her. To those who knew and loved her intimately, she was Pearl. To an enthralled public, she was Janis Joplin, the greatest female singer in the history of rock and roll. Now, in PEARL, the most definitive biography of rock legend Janis Joplin ever published, bestselling author Ellis Amburn interviews scores of personalities both famous and unknown, travels to the places where Janis was born, lived, and died, and reveals facts about Janis' life and death that have remained in shadow, until now. Here is the real Janis Joplin - both the magic as well as the tragic - as she's never been seen or understood before. Leaving her past as the shy wallflower of Port Arthur, Texas, behind her, Janis followed the lure to San Francisco in 1966. Rocketing to prominence as the electrifying lead vocalist for Big Brother and the Holding Company, she invented her own brand of rock blues at the Fillmore and Avalon Ballroom, later taking her musical gifts higher and wider to a nationwide audience eager to experience Janis as a powerful artist in her own right. Both her music and her life embodied the headlong, revolutionary spirit of the decade. Here is Janis Joplin in all her fascinating complexity, the performer and seeker, addict and alcoholic, at once timid and brash, cowering in inferiority one minute and abandoned to grandiose gestures the next. Though she could never sustain a love affair, she hurled herself from one relationship to another, from ea
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First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 16, 2009
Oh, Janis Joplin, I wish I knew how to quit you. Your voice was amazing, but my god. The sex. The drugs. The ego. You're absolutely no good for me, and reading about your lesbian conquests, your insatiable drug lust, and how you squandered your voice with second-rate musicians and on hackneyed song arrangements is really depressing... but thoroughly engrossing!
July 30, 2013
I was surprised to realize I'd never read this, or any other, biography of Joplin. I went through all the seediest rock'n'roll biographies in my teens and somehow skipped Janis. Shame on me. As far as biographies go, this one is pretty superficial and doesn't provide much insight into her person. It's a fun read though, considering that Joplin was crazy talented and knew how to party. She hung out with all the coolest cats and bedded the hottest dudes and dames while maintaining a heroin-fueled lifestyle and making kick-ass records. There are plenty of entertaining stories about other notable stars of the time. Considering the nature of Joplin's relationship with them, they concern mostly their lovemaking skills (Kristofferson was, as I've long suspected, divine both in and out of bed, Morrison was a bit of a douche, and Hendrix was just average). It's of course also a terribly sad story with a tragic ending, and certainly one worth reading. Will go listen to Summertime now and Google naughty Kristofferson pics.
March 8, 2019
"'Premier white blues singer of the '60s,' Rolling Stone
'One of the brightest stars rock has ever produced,' The Who's Who in Rock
'Janis Joplin expressed one side of 1968 fairly well: ecstatic and self-destructive simultaneously, wailing to the edges of the universe.' Time"
Ellis Amburn's Pearl. The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin (1993) has been an exasperating read for me. What begins as a captivating biography of a great artist eventually morphs into a litany of lurid, tabloid-worthy descriptions of excesses in sex and drug use. I will whine about that some more later; let's begin with the good stuff.
The author sets up Janis Joplin's story in an interesting way: it begins with the singer's "crushing disappointment" when she attends the 10th reunion of her high school class of 1960. In 1970 Janis Joplin is at the peak of world fame but the people of Port Arthur, TX, the town where she was born, still do not accept her. The Texas Bible Belt town has never forgiven Janis for her lifestyle, the author is saying. The entire biography seems to be based upon the theme of a "star in quest of the self-esteem denied her in adolescence", which eventually proves "unrecoverable." Mr. Amburn sees the clear path from the Port Arthur rejection of the star to her death in a Hollywood motel of a drug overdose just seven weeks later. The motif of the reunion provides a narrative clasp that ties the story together.
The early portion of the biography follows the singer's childhood and youth, and her increasingly rebellious behavior. She searches for her idols, the beatniks, in Venice, California, in 1961, but comes back home disappointed. She performs one song at a club in Beaumont, TX, but only manages to scare the audience with her intensity. Her first real public performance comes in 1963 in a club in San Francisco. Then she hits "a spectacular bottom":
The passages about the epochal years 1966 - 1968 in San Francisco, the Haight-Ashbury times of "the massive counterculture convocations" such as the Human Be-In read great. Alas, soon the gossip begins dominating the biography and the reader is treated to mentions of Janis Joplin's orgasms or Jimi Hendrix' penis size. The singer falls deeper and deeper into drugs: extremely heavy heroin and alcohol use - to the extent that she sometimes performs on complete alcoholic blackouts.
It is clear that Janis Joplin's life trajectory arced from seeking recognition to seeking instant gratification at every moment of her life when she became a world famous singer, but I dispute the author's need of repetitiously providing salacious and grim details of Joplin's drug-fueled escapades. One cannot escape the suspicion that the author's goal is to titillate the reader with the gossip-level trivia.
While explicit sex scenes and references work well in great literature, let's just mention the unforgettable The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B , peddling information about who ejaculated into whom and how many times an orgasm has been achieved does not really belong in a biography of an artist, even if it is a rock artist. Artists have a right to privacy, like all of us (maybe except politicians). Also, in my view, the connection between the artist's behavior and the greatness of her art is tenuous at best, although many people would probably disagree.
The author ends the biography with a wonderful sentence:
Two and a half stars.
'One of the brightest stars rock has ever produced,' The Who's Who in Rock
'Janis Joplin expressed one side of 1968 fairly well: ecstatic and self-destructive simultaneously, wailing to the edges of the universe.' Time"
Ellis Amburn's Pearl. The Obsessions and Passions of Janis Joplin (1993) has been an exasperating read for me. What begins as a captivating biography of a great artist eventually morphs into a litany of lurid, tabloid-worthy descriptions of excesses in sex and drug use. I will whine about that some more later; let's begin with the good stuff.
The author sets up Janis Joplin's story in an interesting way: it begins with the singer's "crushing disappointment" when she attends the 10th reunion of her high school class of 1960. In 1970 Janis Joplin is at the peak of world fame but the people of Port Arthur, TX, the town where she was born, still do not accept her. The Texas Bible Belt town has never forgiven Janis for her lifestyle, the author is saying. The entire biography seems to be based upon the theme of a "star in quest of the self-esteem denied her in adolescence", which eventually proves "unrecoverable." Mr. Amburn sees the clear path from the Port Arthur rejection of the star to her death in a Hollywood motel of a drug overdose just seven weeks later. The motif of the reunion provides a narrative clasp that ties the story together.
The early portion of the biography follows the singer's childhood and youth, and her increasingly rebellious behavior. She searches for her idols, the beatniks, in Venice, California, in 1961, but comes back home disappointed. She performs one song at a club in Beaumont, TX, but only manages to scare the audience with her intensity. Her first real public performance comes in 1963 in a club in San Francisco. Then she hits "a spectacular bottom":
"All she wanted to do was to wallow in dope - any kind she could get - 'smoke dope, take dope, lick dope, suck dope, fuck dope.'"Again she goes back home to Texas where she spends about a year. And it is only in 1966 when she gets her big break: an audition for the band Big Brother and the Holding Company, which set her on the road to stardom.
The passages about the epochal years 1966 - 1968 in San Francisco, the Haight-Ashbury times of "the massive counterculture convocations" such as the Human Be-In read great. Alas, soon the gossip begins dominating the biography and the reader is treated to mentions of Janis Joplin's orgasms or Jimi Hendrix' penis size. The singer falls deeper and deeper into drugs: extremely heavy heroin and alcohol use - to the extent that she sometimes performs on complete alcoholic blackouts.
It is clear that Janis Joplin's life trajectory arced from seeking recognition to seeking instant gratification at every moment of her life when she became a world famous singer, but I dispute the author's need of repetitiously providing salacious and grim details of Joplin's drug-fueled escapades. One cannot escape the suspicion that the author's goal is to titillate the reader with the gossip-level trivia.
While explicit sex scenes and references work well in great literature, let's just mention the unforgettable The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B , peddling information about who ejaculated into whom and how many times an orgasm has been achieved does not really belong in a biography of an artist, even if it is a rock artist. Artists have a right to privacy, like all of us (maybe except politicians). Also, in my view, the connection between the artist's behavior and the greatness of her art is tenuous at best, although many people would probably disagree.
The author ends the biography with a wonderful sentence:
"That she achieved as much as she did, considering the burden of suffering she carried, makes her a shining example of the human spirit."I agree, but the sensationalist biography in no way supports that statement and is, in a way, offensive to the great artist.
Two and a half stars.
May 2, 2021
Very simplistic writing style. I felt like I was reading a high school term paper (and one which wouldn't rate above a "C" grade). "Joe Schmoe said this, Joe Blow said that, then Jane Doe said that". Ugh.
I also don't know how much in this biography I can trust when Amburn can't get simple and easily checked facts correct. Peter Albin was the bass player in Big Brother and the Holding Company, not Sam Andrew. Andrew played guitar. The sole purpose of "Pearl" seemed meant to titillate. Do yourself a favor and don't bother with this book. Though "Buried Alive" by Myra Friedman has it's own problems, it's definitely better than "Pearl".
Why is it one of the most iconic singers of our generation can't get a decent biography written about her?
I also don't know how much in this biography I can trust when Amburn can't get simple and easily checked facts correct. Peter Albin was the bass player in Big Brother and the Holding Company, not Sam Andrew. Andrew played guitar. The sole purpose of "Pearl" seemed meant to titillate. Do yourself a favor and don't bother with this book. Though "Buried Alive" by Myra Friedman has it's own problems, it's definitely better than "Pearl".
Why is it one of the most iconic singers of our generation can't get a decent biography written about her?
October 5, 2009
What I learned from this book was that Joplin was as disgusting as I thought she was. The author was not objective, he adored her. I thought perhaps if I understood her better I'd...well, I guess that I'd understand her better but Amburn really shed no light on why she did what she did. Ultimately, it bored me.
February 25, 2023
This book was written by a man in 1993. If I didn’t need this information for my thesis I would have thrown it away on page 5, when the author referred to 16-year-old girls as ‘beautiful little Lolitas.’
September 11, 2013
I like to read junkie stories. They help me stay thankful to be clean and sober. Addiction is fucking deadly.
November 25, 2023
pisze opinie poki goraca, pozniej ocenie jak juz przejde calosc:
wprawdzie jestem dopiero po 1 rozdziale, ale juz mi tu cos mocno przeszkadza. wiekszosc opinii o tej ksiazce dzieli sie na "taka wlasnie byla, bez idealizowania, swietnie przedstawione" i "ale chłam, to wyglada jakby poza spaniem i ruchaniem nie miala zycia". jakby co, wypowiem sie teraz z perspektywy nie-fana tj. janis joplin jest mi calkowicie neutralna xD ale generalnie jestem gdzies posrodku, bo coz, zyla jak zyla, niezbyt trzezwo i "moralnie", nie ma sensu temu zaprzeczac. tylko czemu to jest przedstawione tak plytko? rozmowy autora z ludzmi wygladaja mniej wiecej tak:
- no to jaka ona byla? jak to sie wszystko zaczelo?
- ano zainspirowala sie taka jedna bluesowa artystka...
- dobra dobra, ale ruchaliscie ja w waszej paczce?
- a zeby to raz hehe
- byla lesba?
- no tarzala sie po podlodze z kolezanka lesbijka
ogolnie troche mnie te tresci bulwersuja, bo ci ludzie wypowiadaja sie o niej, jakby nie mieli do niej tak naprawde szacunku xD
mozna to opisac tak:
"byla gruba, brzydka i nikt jej nie chciał. była zmysłowa i ruchaliśmy ją wszyscy. była niezbyt interesująca. miała interesujące cechy charakteru i przez to wydawała się interesująca." no to moze sie zdecydujcie?? nie ma zbytnio mozliwosci dowiedziec sie calej prawdy, ale ksiazka ktora miala odkryc jakas glebie zycia janis joplin w sumie robi to w tak nieudolny sposob, ze z jednej strony pokazane sa zachowania skrajnie patologiczne, pewnie wynikajace z jakichs traum, a z drugiej sa tak plytko potraktowane, ze czlowiek mysli sobie: "no no, mała patuska, trochę żałosna w sumie". z jednej strony janis "nalezala do paczki" i miala lepsza "pozycje" w niej niz pozostale dziewczyny, a z drugiej strony, za jaka cene? to byla osoba, z ktora mozna bylo poodpierdalac i ulzyc sobie seksualnie, za to nie trzeba bylo jej jakos szczegolnie szanowac. mam wrazenie, ze otaczali ja naprawde okropni ludzie, poza paroma wyjatkami
wprawdzie jestem dopiero po 1 rozdziale, ale juz mi tu cos mocno przeszkadza. wiekszosc opinii o tej ksiazce dzieli sie na "taka wlasnie byla, bez idealizowania, swietnie przedstawione" i "ale chłam, to wyglada jakby poza spaniem i ruchaniem nie miala zycia". jakby co, wypowiem sie teraz z perspektywy nie-fana tj. janis joplin jest mi calkowicie neutralna xD ale generalnie jestem gdzies posrodku, bo coz, zyla jak zyla, niezbyt trzezwo i "moralnie", nie ma sensu temu zaprzeczac. tylko czemu to jest przedstawione tak plytko? rozmowy autora z ludzmi wygladaja mniej wiecej tak:
- no to jaka ona byla? jak to sie wszystko zaczelo?
- ano zainspirowala sie taka jedna bluesowa artystka...
- dobra dobra, ale ruchaliscie ja w waszej paczce?
- a zeby to raz hehe
- byla lesba?
- no tarzala sie po podlodze z kolezanka lesbijka
ogolnie troche mnie te tresci bulwersuja, bo ci ludzie wypowiadaja sie o niej, jakby nie mieli do niej tak naprawde szacunku xD
mozna to opisac tak:
"byla gruba, brzydka i nikt jej nie chciał. była zmysłowa i ruchaliśmy ją wszyscy. była niezbyt interesująca. miała interesujące cechy charakteru i przez to wydawała się interesująca." no to moze sie zdecydujcie?? nie ma zbytnio mozliwosci dowiedziec sie calej prawdy, ale ksiazka ktora miala odkryc jakas glebie zycia janis joplin w sumie robi to w tak nieudolny sposob, ze z jednej strony pokazane sa zachowania skrajnie patologiczne, pewnie wynikajace z jakichs traum, a z drugiej sa tak plytko potraktowane, ze czlowiek mysli sobie: "no no, mała patuska, trochę żałosna w sumie". z jednej strony janis "nalezala do paczki" i miala lepsza "pozycje" w niej niz pozostale dziewczyny, a z drugiej strony, za jaka cene? to byla osoba, z ktora mozna bylo poodpierdalac i ulzyc sobie seksualnie, za to nie trzeba bylo jej jakos szczegolnie szanowac. mam wrazenie, ze otaczali ja naprawde okropni ludzie, poza paroma wyjatkami
October 5, 2020
My thoughts on reading all this book.. Too many people named in this book..he said.. she said... Interview everyone in her life kind of read... I'd forget who is who ... especially after a few days later continuing to read on. Didn't realize how bad she was involved in doing heroin and having sex with everyone she met... Male or female. She seemed very insecure from the start. Binge drinking and drugs before she even got famous. Got worse, when she could afford alot of it. She loved getting alot of attention. She would of been a millionaire on her last LP if only she could of controlled that heroin habit she couldn't stop..
April 14, 2021
As others have noted, this isn't an exceptionally written biography - the style is fairly simple and journalistic. I think the real value in this book is as a time-piece/document of an era of American life. The interviews from friends and acquaintances were less than 20 years removed from the events - relatively fresh if you compare today recalling the life and times of the early 2000s. For that main reason, I think this particular Janis Joplin biography has staying-power and remains a worthwhile read for those interested in her life and/or music counterculture of the 1960s.
October 10, 2018
It was a while ago I read this but it gave me a lot of insight into who Janis really was. A tragic story of a diva who lost her voice, eventually leading to her death.
There were a lot of graphic depictions of her "Love In" lifestyle. It made me go straight to Grace Slick's book.
There were a lot of graphic depictions of her "Love In" lifestyle. It made me go straight to Grace Slick's book.
December 7, 2024
Amburn does a really great job of telling the story of Janis. Some biographies I've read don't really touch on the harder parts of her life or read more like a gossip rag. This one was well done and respectful.
June 11, 2018
I love janis joplin so i love the book.
The book have a grear plot and have a grat ending.
The book have a grear plot and have a grat ending.
August 17, 2018
I just didn't like this book.
July 29, 2021
Not the best book I've read about Janis. It's missing too much of her music bio, There are better books than this, but it is worth the read.
January 1, 2023
I loved it and Janis. Gone but never forgotten.
February 9, 2024
This was the least impressive of the three books I've read about Janis Joplin. I felt much of the story was hearsay and rumour with not a lot of affection for Janis as a person.
April 29, 2025
Great read! I highly recommend this book.
March 22, 2017
I love Janis Joplin. Her rough, bohemian voice fills up my heart and this wonderful look into herself and her life is fantastic. I only wish she had been taken from us so that I could read this story in her own words. Rest in peace, flower child.
December 9, 2019
I read this book in relatively short order...not because it was that well written.......but it was written well enough given the subject matter. Janis Joplin lived a high-charged life of drugs/alcohol, sex (with just about anybody, anytime), loneliness/depression and music. I'm not sure which of those items listed were her priorities.....I kept turning the pages mostly in disbelief that anyone could live this kind of life. Obviously, it didn't last long.....but the music was classic and she definitely made a huge mark on the world. She was raw and unrefined....and unapologetic...and the girl could sing. This book was released in 1992.....and if you're looking for a quick bio of Janis....buy this used and enjoy. Ellis Amburn comes across as neither a sycophant nor a harsh critic....the book is balanced and doesn't try to force an impression on the reader....worth a the short time it took to read.
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October 17, 2023I picked this book up in a little free library in Port Austin, Mi. I have to say, it was a completely blind read. My husband is the one terribly into music and I find that my love for reading sometimes catches me up on knowledge that he would know. I was on the first chapter when he messaged me "Big Brother and the Holding Company. And true story, I had to google it. (I wasn't to that chapter yet). But slowly I gained more knowledge of Janis Joplin and her life. I really like how the chapters were laid out by people she knew. People she was around daily. It made the information feel more real I guess. Like you could be part of the scene and Janis was just a real person like the rest of us. Would definitely recommend.
April 3, 2015
This has long been a much-loved book of mine, ever since I stole it from the library as a teenager.
The author obviously loves Janis, so sometimes this book can be a little one sided.
But, even so, I always get a kick out of reading it.
I have read many Janis biographies, but this one has always been my favorite.
I think a lot of that has to do with the way it kind of sugarcoats the hippie lifestyle, which for many, held some pretty dark undercurrents.
But there are plenty of Janis books that focus on this, and for me, Ellis's book is a nice escape into the hippie dream that I have long held close to my heart.
The author obviously loves Janis, so sometimes this book can be a little one sided.
But, even so, I always get a kick out of reading it.
I have read many Janis biographies, but this one has always been my favorite.
I think a lot of that has to do with the way it kind of sugarcoats the hippie lifestyle, which for many, held some pretty dark undercurrents.
But there are plenty of Janis books that focus on this, and for me, Ellis's book is a nice escape into the hippie dream that I have long held close to my heart.
June 11, 2008
Obviously, it helps to like Janis Joplin to appreciate this book. I have always liked her music and her *#@! you attitude...not to mention her incredible style! It's no secret- considering the way Janis died- that she wasn't an entirely happy person and this book explores a childhood that contributed to that along with failed relationships and some really bad choices. It spans from grade school to her time with Big Brother and the Holding Company to her sad and untimely death. It's an unauthorized biography that gives you a really artful picture of the misunderstood, lonely girl she was.
June 16, 2008
Speaking of beach reads (last review), this is a book I devoured on the beach.
I used to be absolutely nuts over Janis Joplin and this is a great, in-depth biography. It's colorful, as any Joplin bio would have to be, and the author's descriptions made me feel like I was right there watching everything unfold.
Me gusta!
I used to be absolutely nuts over Janis Joplin and this is a great, in-depth biography. It's colorful, as any Joplin bio would have to be, and the author's descriptions made me feel like I was right there watching everything unfold.
Me gusta!
February 25, 2019
Basic Plot: The life of pop/rock star Janis Joplin.
Friends bought this book for me back in high school, when I was going through a serious Joplin obsession. It was a really good breakdown of her tragic life and the things that happened to her. There were good pictures, good stories, and detailed information, but it was a bit journalistically cold in tone.
Friends bought this book for me back in high school, when I was going through a serious Joplin obsession. It was a really good breakdown of her tragic life and the things that happened to her. There were good pictures, good stories, and detailed information, but it was a bit journalistically cold in tone.
September 20, 2008
I love Janis and it is hard to read about how depressed she was throughout her life. The highlight of the book is the football picture of my high school history teacher, who also happened to be one of Janis' high school buddies, Grant Lyons! This book also gave me the strong impression that Kris Kristofferson is a jerk, but I don't remember the specifics.
August 30, 2007
I was obsessed with Janis in college, I think more at first to shock my excessively straightlaced boyfriend and mother, and then I read this book and just felt so sorry for this misunderstood, lost woman.
November 12, 2014
This could've been a lot better if the author hadn't spent so much detail on individual evenings or concerts - especially since many of them were the same. Heroin, sex, arguing, repeat. But I think he does a great job getting into why she relied so heavily on drugs and died so young.
February 15, 2015
An quick read for a biography. Janis Joplin was a product of the 1960's from her rise to stardom to her untimely death. This book gives you all the scandal, flavor and sadness of her life. Janis was a vibrant and powerful singer whose legend lives on.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews