Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #149253 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Amazon.co.uk 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 the Author
Alice Echols is a cultural critic and a historian of the sixties. She has taught at UCLA, USC and Occidental College and has written about rock music for the NATION and L.A. WEEKLY. She lives in Los Angeles.

Customer Reviews

Excellent read!
I would recommend this book not only to Janis Joplin's fans, but also to whoever wishes to know more about the 60's and the counterculture movement based around California and the San Francisco Bay. This is the real strenght of this book - it is yes, about the tragic life of Janis Joplin, but it also gives an essential insight on the social, cultural and political context of that time. If you are after a superficial catalogue of events in the life and experiences of one of the most celebrated women artists of the 60's, or simply a "sex,drugs and rock and roll" chronicle, then this book is not for you. If you want a gripping account of a short and tragic life excellently put into context and written in a sensitive and non - judgemental way, then you 'll love this book. Definitely one of the best biographies I have ever come across.

A tragic life in the fast lane!
Janis Joplin has always intrigued me because of all the references made to her even after her death as a rock and roll icon and because she died in the year I was born -1970.I certainly was not disappointed when I read about her life story in Alice Echols biography,'Scars of Sweet Paradise, The Life and Times of Janis Joplin.'What an excellent book!

The author approaches Joplin's life story with candour and empathy as she charts the life of the girl from Port Arthur,Texas whose feeling of being an outsider in small-town Texas would develop into her uniqueness and fascinating individuality as one of the female musical icons of the sixties.

Alice Echols' biography is well written and also highly informative of the sixties, the sixties counter-culture: hippies, drugs, physchedelics,The West Coast of the US with San Francisco becoming the mecca of the beat -nik culture. She also describes clearly and vividly the emotional turbulence of Joplin's life that would eventually overwhelm her and destroy her life and musical career.

What I found interesting about this book is how Joplin's rise and fall takes place against the background of an America that was rapidly changing, the civil rights movement, the impending war in Vietnam, the women's rights movement all run parallel to her own struggles of being a woman in a male dominated rock and roll world. A wonderful and talented woman, a tortured soul and what a shame that the world lost a legend too soon. I would recommend this book to anyone who was keen on reading a great music biography. Janis rocks!

Brilliant biography and counterculture history
This brilliant book is both a biography of Janis Joplin and a cultural history of the 1960s. Scars Of Sweet Paradise is a very thorough and in-depth look at Joplin's life and times and at the same time an exploration of the quiet suburban life versus the lure of the counterculture. The bohemian underground, unlike some idyllic portrayals of it, had its share of cynicism and destructiveness.

Much of this book deals with this evolving underground as it relates to the music, gender relationships and the merger of art and commerce. It is the story of a generation's restless and reckless life on the edge, from which Janis and many others never returned. The author conducted over 150 interviews and spent 5 years on research to produce this comprehensive work on Joplin and her era.

The Janis that emerges is a complex, multi-faceted personality that inspires admiration and sadness. The story begins in Port Arthur where Joplin's early life is described, including her first exposures to rock and folk music. It follows her to college and her first taste of the bohemian life then on to her first visit to San Francisco and eventual return to Port Arthur.

She went back to SF and her career began to take off. It is fascinating to read about the colourful personalities that she mixed with in San Francisco: the friends, the lovers and the musicians. Echols is a skilful narrator, seamlessly blending Joplin's moves and her relationships with the rise of her career. There are plenty of quotes from contemporary musicians that really illuminate this mythologized period in history.

My only minor complaint is that the author does not seem to share in the excitement as Joplin finally makes it big with Big Brother an the Cheap Thrills album - this story is just given clinically as part of the larger narrative. The various bands, Big Brother, Kozmic Blues and Full Tilt Boogie, are discussed in detail, as well as the recording process of each of the major albums: Cheap Thrills, I Got Dem Old Kozmic Blues and Pearl. The personalities behind her success, like Abert Grossman and Linda Gravenites, are sympathetically portrayed.

Echols explores Joplin's influence on various performers and notes that the heavy metal crowd picked up on her style but that she didn't directly inspire any clones. Ultimately, Janis appears as a brave, wild and very vulnerable human being who was quite likable, if somewhat volatile. There are 35 black and white photographs and the book concludes with a discography, copious notes and an index. Almost scholarly in its depth, Scars Of Sweet Paradise is yet a gripping read that will please her fans and all who are interested in the 1960s counterculture and the evolution of rock music.