Scars Of Sweet Paradise: The Life and Times of Janis Joplin - Softcover

Alice Echols

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1860497292 ISBN 13: 9781860497292

Publisher: Virago, 2001

Synopsis

The undisputed queen of sex, drugs and rock n' roll was also the voice of a generation who, when she overdosed on heroin at the age of twenty-seven in October 1970; became the posthumous icon of bad girl femininity for millions around the world.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews Echols renders Joplin in all her complexity, revealing how this sweet-voiced girl from Texas recreated herself, first as a gravely-voiced bluesy folksinger, and then as rock n' roll's first female superstar. Echols examines the roots of her musicianship and her efforts to probe the outer limits of life; declaring herself the first white-black person and pursuing sex with men and women alike.
Moving from the electric ballrooms of San Francisco to the mud-soaked fields of Woodstock, Joplin's story is also a chronicle of the revolutions of the sixties - a generation's experiment with high-risk living and the exacting price they ultimately paid for this. Written in a captivating novel-like style this is a deeply affecting biography of one of America's most talented, tormented and enduring stars.

About this title

Review:

To call Janis Joplin the Judy Garland of the Woodstock set is in some sense a fair characterisation. The brassy, carnal, extravagant and ultimately pitiable queen of psychedelic rock is indeed a cultural icon. And while Joplin revelled in her own ballsy, boozy legend, its needy, inebriated, real-life equivalent was a shadow that darkened her short life and, in the decades since her 1970 drug-induced death, has come to eclipse the party-girl persona.

To her great credit, author Alice Echols reconciles the two faces of Joplin in this ambitious, thoroughly readable biography. She does so by tracing Joplin from her youth as a natural-born libertine in dreary Port Arthur, Texas, to her emergence as the sole female rock superstar of her era--a period when beneath-the-surface sexism hampered Joplin's progress even while women's liberation was being widely touted. The author does not shy away from sordid sex-and-drugs episodes and there's plenty of raw material---the singer was promiscuous, bisexual and, at various times, an alcoholic, a speed freak and a junkie. Echols, however, elevates this biography above run-of-the-mill rock profiles by painting her subject against an elaborate and ever-changing cultural backdrop. Here is Joplin the aspiring folk-singer, the white-picket-fence wannabe, the wayward daughter, the hit-and-miss recording artist and, finally, the ill-starred spirit with nothing left to lose. --Steven Stolder

Review:

Finally a biography that doesn't downplay Janis's intelligence and deep knowledge of traditional American music ... how refreshing (Joan Osborne)

Fascinating and insightful ... Alice Echols analyzes Joplin's place in the sixties with skill and brings her rebellion and pain vividly to life (JON WIENER, author of COME TOGETHER: JOHN LENNON AND HIS TIME)

Forget everything you've ever read, heard or seen about Janis Joplin- Alice Echold has wirtten the definitve account of rock's first female superstar... enjoy it. (IRISH TIMES)

After reading this, the next time you hear the raw, emotional pain in Janis Joplin's voice, you will understand where it all comes from. (THE TIMES)

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1860497292
• ISBN 13: 9781860497292
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 432