From the late 1940's thru the 1960's my Mom and Janis's Mom were very good friends. I was a few years younger than Janis, but my Mom reminded me that we played together when they visited each other. When Janis became "famous", her Mom asked about the image she was showing. She told her Mom it was just part of what was necessary to suceed in the music business of the day. When she returned for her first high school reunion, I remember how the people of Port Arthur scorned her for calling Port Arthur "a dirty little oil town in Texas" My, my, how some folks memories have changed. lol Still love ya, Pearl!
I did not know Janis but my older brother went to school with her older brother. Also me and a friend went inside Janis's house in Port Arthur before the city tore it down. The roof was caving in and had gaping wholes in the floor. We did go inside one bedroom and saw the rose wall paper. My firend cut one rose out and had it laminated.
I met Janis during the summer of 1968 in San Francisco. I was staying with friends in a house owned by Sergeant Sunshine. Sergeant Sunshine was a police office who smoked dope on the court house steps in San Francisco. Janis was a frequent visitor during that summer. I wish my memories of her were as pleasant as those currently recorded. I think the press said (according to Sam Monroe) her bizarre behavior, feathers and other eccentricities were just part of her stage persona. I'm not sure I agree with that statement. Based on the other memories recorded, I do not doubt there was a sweet shy side of her personality. However, just as there are two sides to every story, there was another side to Janis Joplin. She could be both cold and cruel. Perhaps a more accurate summation would be that her bizarre behavior, feathers and other eccentricities were part of the person she became under the influence of drugs. It was a hard life. Unfortunately, many, like Janis, did not survive.
I am John Gideon Graham, nick-name Gid. I was a pre-med student fall of 1960, but my real interest was music, and I played in the band. I occasionally saw Janis on campus and she was so full of life and fun. Three semesters later we both left Lamar. She went on to be famous, I went on to the military. Too bad we had so little knowledge then about the dangers and effects of drugs and alcohol, and that cost her her life. I am retired but active as a country musician in Germany. Another twist of fate is that my good friend and the far better musician I sat next to in the band is now president of Lamar - Jimmy Simmons. East Texas is a real home for great musicians and best wishes to them all.
I was just a junior at South Park HS during 1970 and looking for a 'scoop' to impress my journalism class. So, I went down to Pt. Arthur to try and get an interview with Janis. I even called her home and talked with her mother. But.......nobody could get close to Janis that weekend......much less a high school kid looking for a chat with a famous personality. But, I was able to work out a deal with a friend (Belinda S.) who was Port Arthur News reporter at the time. She took my personal tape recorder and passed it on to another PAN reporter following Janis' reunion activities. He got in to the Goodhue Hotel where a reunion gathering was being held and managed to get close enough to Janis that he attracted her attention. He must have looked very young because as the tape was recording the event, Janis asked if he was from South Park High School. When he said he wasn't from South Park the rest of the reporters asked if Janis held some sort of grudge towards South Park or something. She said "No. They called my house and my mom said 'Be here at six'".....for the reunion. Well, after the reporter got the interview and gave the recording to Belinda for her to write her story she returned the recorder and the tape to me. Two weeks later when Janis was found dead of an overdose the cassette recording was made all that more valuable. I still have that tape. Maybe I should dig it out of hiding and see if it plays. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
i did not know her nor did i go to school with her,but i remeber listening to her music and gettig really stoned.for some reason i cant remember any of her music now.i think she was from portawful and everybody loved her in highschool.
