![]() The last song Joplin recorded, “Mercedes Benz” saw her accompanied only by a click track. Taj Mahal – Mercedes Benz (Janis Joplin cover) By the end, he’s worked up a thirst, but he never broke a sweat. Barreling over and through the song, the Killer crams his name into the lyrics as much as he can, his hands working the keyboard like it was a weaving loom. But nobody could have made it their own the way Jerry Lee Lewis did. Big names had recorded the Kris Kristofferson song both before Joplin (Gordon Lightfoot, Kenny Rogers) and after her (Olivia Newton-John, the Grateful Dead). We were spoilt for choices on “Me and Bobby McGee,” as you can imagine. Jerry Lee Lewis – Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson / Janis Joplin cover) One example was “My Baby.” They recorded this a couple years before Joplin did theirs was one of a very few Garnet Mimms covers that could betray no Janis influence. The Yardbirds were winding down in 1968, with guitarist Jimmy Page setting his Zeppelin table, but they still had viable music in them. The Yardbirds – My Baby (Garnet Mimms / Janis Joplin cover) But the song does have lyrics, and it has been covered with them one of the better covers came via Paul Butterfield’s Better Days, with Geoff Muldaur picking up what Janis never got the chance to put down. The song’s author, Nick Gravenites, was asked to deliver a vocal as a tribute, but he said no, so the backing track was left as is. Pearl‘s lone instrumental wasn’t supposed to be so Janis was scheduled to sing “Buried Alive in the Blues” the day after she was found dead. Paul Butterfield’s Better Days – Buried Alive in the Blues (Nick Gravenites cover) ![]() Their work on “Half Moon” shows them traveling the length of the song like they were painted to it, taking curves and hills with no loss of speed and double the thrill that comes from hearing a band at the top of its game. Rufusized, the second album Rufus & Chaka Khan released in 1974, saw the Chicago funk band kicking ass and taking names if not prisoners. Rufus & Chaka Khan – Half Moon (Janis Joplin cover) It works, too, as Bell lifts her heart and soul heavenward rather than squeezing it tight. Instead, she goes prettier, if still powerful. Interestingly, her cover of “A Woman Left Lonely” doesn’t see her trying to match or top Joplin’s Pearl take. There are those who saw Maggie Bell as the Scottish Janis Joplin. Maggie Bell – A Woman Left Lonely (Janis Joplin cover) She blasted out her own take of “Cry Baby” to an adoring crowd, and in doing so left no doubt as to whom the stage and the song belonged on that night. 1978’s Natalie… Live! saw Natalie Cole further proving there was more to her than being the near-namesake of her father. “Cry Baby” is the first of two Garnet Mimms covers on Pearl Mimms, still alive as of this writing, was no doubt grateful for Joplin’s willingness to tear up her larynx on this one. Natalie Cole – Cry Baby (Garnet Mimms / Janis Joplin cover) Here’s the BBC take, loud and clear and making you want to move. They did a cover of Pearl‘s opening track “Move Over” for the BBC it got such a good reaction that they recorded another version for their Slayed? album. ![]() This may come as a surprise in America, where Slade never quite snagged that brass ring, but their big hooks and good-hearted sleaze won and kept them fans in the rest of the world. Who was the most successful British group in the ’70s? Based on sales of singles, it’s Slade. Here’s some of the gold they came up with. As you’ll soon see, they found what they were looking for. Pearl has been mined for covers, not just by artists looking to salute Joplin, but by artists looking for good songs. More than just a final statement, it sealed Joplin’s place as the best female singer of blues and rock ‘n’ roll of her era, and in “Me and Bobby McGee” it contained her signature song, one that still feels good to hear on the radio. A few months later, Pearl was released, and while her death couldn’t help but overshadow it, over the years that shadow has receded. They came to the most abrupt end possible, however, on October 4th, 1970, when Joplin died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27. She may not have known she was making a masterpiece, but there was no disguising how well the sessions were going. The album Pearl saw Janis Joplin working with a strong set of songs, a tight band in Full Tilt Boogie, and a simpatico producer in Paul Rothchild.
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