Combination of the Two - Janis Joplin, Andrew, Sam
I Need a Man to Love - Janis Joplin, Andrew, Sam
Summertime - Janis Joplin, Gershwin, George
Piece of My Heart - Janis Joplin, Berns, Bert
Turtle Blues - Janis Joplin, Joplin, Janis
Oh, Sweet Mary - Janis Joplin, Albin, Peter
Ball and Chain - Janis Joplin, Thornton, Big Mama
Road Block [session outtake][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Albin, Peter
Flower in the Sun [session outtake][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Andrew, Sam
Catch Me Daddy [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Albin, Peter
Magic of Love [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Spoelstra, Mark
Track Listings (11) - Disc #3
Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) - Janis Joplin, Ragovoy, Jerry
Maybe - Janis Joplin, Barrett, Richard [1
One Good Man - Janis Joplin, Joplin, Janis
As Good as You've Been to This World - Janis Joplin, Gravenites, Nick
To Love Somebody - Janis Joplin, Gibb, Barry
Kozmic Blues - Janis Joplin, Joplin, Janis
Little Girl Blue - Janis Joplin, Hart, Lorenz
Work Me, Lord - Janis Joplin, Gravenites, Nick
Dear Landlord [session outtake][*] - Janis Joplin, Dylan, Bob
Summertime [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Gershwin, George
Piece of My Heart [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Berns, Bert
Track Listings (14) - Disc #4
Move Over - Janis Joplin, Joplin, Janis
Cry Baby - Janis Joplin, Berns, Bert
A Woman Left Lonely - Janis Joplin, Oldham, Spooner
Half Moon - Janis Joplin, Hall, Johanna
Buried Alive in the Blues - Janis Joplin, Gravenites, Nick
My Baby - Janis Joplin, Ragavoy, J.
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin, Foster, Fred
Mercedes Benz - Janis Joplin, Joplin, Janis
Trust Me - Janis Joplin, Womack, Bobby [1]
Get It While You Can - Janis Joplin, Ragavoy, J.
Tell Mama [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Carter, Clarence [1
Little Girl Blue [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Hart, Lorenz
Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Ragovoy, Jerry
Cry Baby [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Berns, Bert
Track Listings (5) - Disc #5
It's a Deal [outtake][#][*][Outtake] - Janis Joplin, Albin, Peter
Easy Once You Know How [outtake][#][*][Outtake] - Janis Joplin, Albin, Peter
Maybe [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Barrett, Richard [1
Raise Your Hand [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, Cropper, Steve
Bo Diddley [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin, McDaniel, Elias
Janis Joplin was one of the most exhilarating performers of an era blessed with riveting stage artists, but all but her most emphatic champions must concede her recorded oeuvre is problematic. With Big Brother & the Ho... more »lding Company she was surrounded by up-from-the-streets cohorts who were spiritually attuned to Joplin, even if they weren't always musically in tune. After one rushed, premature effort for the Mainstream label, Big Brother hit the top of the charts with one of the touchstones of the San Francisco sound, Cheap Thrills. Barraged by critics who believed Joplin's skills as a blues and soul singer were being squandered in a psychedelic setting, the toast of Haight-Ashbury went solo with the up-and-down I Got Them Ol' Kozmic Blues Again, Mama. Joplin was hitting her stride during the 1970 Pearl sessions when she died of a drug overdose at age 27. The album's posthumous release was a critical and commercial smash. Box of Pearls binds the 1999 remastered and expanded versions of the aforementioned albums and tosses in a five-track rarities EP entitled, appropriately enough, Rare Pearls. Much of Box of Pearls is brilliant while portions are badly dated, but it's all Joplin. --Steven Stolder« less
Janis Joplin was one of the most exhilarating performers of an era blessed with riveting stage artists, but all but her most emphatic champions must concede her recorded oeuvre is problematic. With Big Brother & the Holding Company she was surrounded by up-from-the-streets cohorts who were spiritually attuned to Joplin, even if they weren't always musically in tune. After one rushed, premature effort for the Mainstream label, Big Brother hit the top of the charts with one of the touchstones of the San Francisco sound, Cheap Thrills. Barraged by critics who believed Joplin's skills as a blues and soul singer were being squandered in a psychedelic setting, the toast of Haight-Ashbury went solo with the up-and-down I Got Them Ol' Kozmic Blues Again, Mama. Joplin was hitting her stride during the 1970 Pearl sessions when she died of a drug overdose at age 27. The album's posthumous release was a critical and commercial smash. Box of Pearls binds the 1999 remastered and expanded versions of the aforementioned albums and tosses in a five-track rarities EP entitled, appropriately enough, Rare Pearls. Much of Box of Pearls is brilliant while portions are badly dated, but it's all Joplin. --Steven Stolder
"This is the best Joplin compilation out there. Love each record and the bonus EP. Janis will forever be the queen of rock and roll and every music collection needs this set."
Blown away again
Amanda Joan Frey | Brooklyn, NY USA | 04/21/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Wow. What can I say? This is a great box set. It covers all of Janis's career from Big Brother to The Kozmic Blues Band to The full tilt boogie band. Plus all of the extra songs are amazing on here as well. The booklet is informative for people just getting into Janis, but redundant for the rest of us. I would recommend this to anyone who either loves Janis, or just wants to get a full perspective of her."
A must have for Janis fans!
Anne Rakowiecki | Chicago | 06/05/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This wonderful, five-disc set includes all the Janis basics; her two albums with Big Brother & the Holding Co (Self-titled and Cheap Thrills), her first solo album with the Kozmic Blues Band (I Got Dem Old Kozmic Blues Again, Mama!), her final studio album with her Full Tilt Boogie Band (Pearl), and a disc of rare, never-before-released tracks (Rare Pearls). All of it is amazing material, in my opinion, from the tamer earlier Big Brother tracks, to the screeching guitars and screaming vocals found on Cheap Thrills, to the soulful blues of Janis's first solo album, to the vocal masterpieces that make up Janis's last album.
I would recommend this set to...well, anyone...but I would most recommend it to just-starting-out Janis fans; this set has, like I said, all the basics, then, if you're just dying to get ahold of every single track she ever recorded (like I am!), there are a lot - A LOT - of Janis "Best of" compilations that each have different live versions of songs, so you can hunt through those and buy single mp3s on itunes or Amazon, then there's Live at Winterland with Big Brother, and finally Farewell Song is a great Janis compilation that's sort of a ragtag collection of rare songs/versions of songs. Also, the three-disc set called "Janis" has a lot of great earlier material as well as her birthday message for John Lennon. And lastly, I would highly recommend going to YouTube and looking up "young Janis Joplin," because there are a bunch of incredible recordings of Janis singing real gritty bluegrass, folk, and blues. ("No Reason for Livin'" is my favorite -- look it up!)
At the end of "Bo Diddley" on Rare Pearls, keep listening on because there's a snippet of Janis talking about a particularly good London concert. And we get to hear her laugh! Isn't that the icing on the cake or what. Buy this collection, end of story."