Today would have been Janis Joplin's 69th Birthday and Legacy Recordings is honoring her with the announcement of The Pearl Sessions, a two-CD set of Joplin's final studio album.
Originally released on January 11, 1971 (three months after her passing on October 4, 1970), Pearl debuted Joplin's final finished studio recordings as well as intimations of what the influential American country-soul-blues-rock singer was capable of delivering.
The only album Joplin ever recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, the touring ensemble that had backed her on the Festival Express (a mythic 1970 concert tour by railroad across Canada with the Grateful Dead, the Band and others), Pearl included canonical studio recordings of songs that had been introduced to audiences on tour.
Peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200, a position it held for nine weeks, Pearl included some of Janis's most familiar and best-loved performances including her cover of Kris Kristofferson's Me and Bobby McGee and her off-the-cuff a cappella Mercedes Benz.
When putting together material for a 40th anniversary edition of Pearl, researchers discovered a treasure-trove of previously uncatalogued audio tapes from the album's sessions, produced by Paul Rothschild. An industry legend, perhaps best-known for producing the first five Doors albums, Rothchild further solidified his position in music history with his work on Pearl.
The Pearl Sessions brings together, for the first time in one package, the original mono versions of the album's 45s alongside the original LP tracks as well as the revelatory newly-discovered alternate versions, outtakes and vocal takes of Pearl's classic tracks.
The Pearl Sessions includes newly discovered recordings of Janis in the studio, joking with producer Paul Rothchild and her Full Tilt Boogie bandmates as they work through what would become an essential part of Janis Joplin's core catalog.
Disc One of The Pearl Sessions includes the original album as well as the original mono singles from the album (Cry Baby, Get It While You Can, Me and Bobby McGee).
Disc Two is a collection of behind-the-scenes recordings illuminating the Pearl sessions with highlights and insights revealed in candid studio dialogue, song demos and alternate takes including nine previously unissued tracks.
The release of The Pearl Sessions marks a renewed focus on Janis Joplin and the continuing influence of her music. Columbia/Legacy Recordings recently announced the release of Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968, a previously unavailable live concert recording of Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, recorded June 23, 1968 by legendary soundman Owsley Stanley, a/k/a "Bear," who supervised the mastering of this release before his fatal car accident on March 12, 2011, in his adopted homeland of Australia. Dedicated to Bear, the album will be released on March 13, 2012, marking the one-year anniversary of his passing.
Track List:
Disc One
The Pearl Album - produced by Paul Rothchild
Move Over
Cry Baby
A Woman Left Lonely
Half Moon
Buried Alive In The Blues
My Baby
Me and Bobby McGee
Mercedes Benz
Trust Me
Get It While You Can
Bonus Tracks - the Mono Single Masters - produced by Paul Rothchild
Me and Bobby McGee
Half Moon
Cry Baby
Get It While You Can
Move Over
A Woman Left Lonely
Disc 2 - The Pearl Sessions & more...
Overheard in the Studio...
Get It While You Can (Take 3) (Previously unissued)
Overheard in the Studio...
Get It While You Can (Take 5) (Previously unissued)
Overheard in the Studio...
Move Over (Take 6) (Previously unissued)
Move Over (Take 13) (Previously unissued)
Move Over (Take 17) (Previously unissued)
Me and Bobby McGee (Demo version)
Me and Bobby McGee (Take 5 - Alternate - Previously unissued)
Cry Baby (Alternate version)
A Woman Left Lonely (Alternate vocal)
Overheard in the Studio...
My Baby (Alternate take) (Previously unissued)
Overheard in the Studio...
Get It While You Can (Take 3) (Previously unissued)
My Baby (Alternate take)
Pearl (Instrumental) - Full Tilt Boogie Band
Tell Mama (Live - June 28, 1970 - Toronto)
