Try to imagine Mick Jagger long before he was famous. Or Dolly Parton. Maybe Elton John? It's hard, isn't it? We are so accustomed to their superstar status that picturing them as anonymous novices is almost impossible. But there was indeed a time when these celebrity singers and scores of others like them were struggling unknowns. They did gigs at intimate, out-of-the way venues and anyplace else where they could perform and establish a foothold with the public. That is true of two women who later lit up the musical firmament with their talent - Linda Ronstadt and Janis Joplin.
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Jim Kweskin recalls both of them when they were beginning their ascent to fame in the 1960s. He is a folk music giant with decades of performing and recording credits. In fact, Kweskin has yet another album coming out on April 25 with the Berlin Hall Saturday Night Revue, Doing Things Right (Jalopy Records), He spoke to Wide Open Country recently about his still-vivid memories of Joplin and Ronstadt, two dynamos who rocked the music world.
Jim Kweskin Remembers Linda Ronstadt And Janis Joplin From Back In The Swinging 1960s
Way back when, no one knew that vocalists Janis Joplin (1943-1970) and Linda Ronstadt were destined for greatness. Jim Kweskin reminisced about them to WOC.
"The Jug Band [that Kweskin sang with] was very popular in '66, '67. They [Joplin and Ronstadt] were just getting started. They were unknown. We had been around since '63. We played the Avalon Ballroom [in San Francisco] and another big ballroom at the time. We'd share the bill with those artists. Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company opened for us. When we played in Huntington Beach, Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys opened for us."
Ronstadt And Joplin Went On To Achieve Great Things
Kweskin's Jug Band was already well-situated in the music world. As he said, the band was around long before Ronstadt and Joplin. No one guessed that they would each have illustrious careers. Per her web site, over the past four decades-plus, Ronstadt earned entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, received the National Medal of Arts, ad got a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, the Kennedy Center Honors, and a Legend Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation. Not to mention a staggering 11 Grammys and 27 nominations.
The Texas-born Joplin accomplished a lot in her short life. She died tragically at age 27 due to an apparent heroin overdose. Britannica.com called her "the premier white female blues vocalist of the 1960s." With her no-holds-barred stage presence and deep, gravelly voice, Joplin transfixed audiences. She performed with singular abandon, flinging everything she had into each song.
Joplin appeared at The Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 per her web site. It was the springboard for her astonishing career. Two years later, she was at Woodstock. There would be no looking back. Janis Joplin became a star to be reckoned with. There is still no one quite like her.
