Janis Joplin

<p>“Get It While You Can,” the closing track on <em>Pearl</em>, proved strangely prophetic. Janis Joplin would die shortly after completing the 1970 session, cutting short her rapid development as an artist. <em>Pearl</em> was her greatest achievement, and the second disc of outtakes on <em>The Pearl Sessions</em> gives a good idea of how the performances developed in the studio, albeit many of these songs had already been road-tested by the Full Tilt Boogie Band, a crack outfit capable of moving between the melodious end of psychedelic rock (“Move Over”) and the churchy echo inside of '60s soul (“Cry Baby”). As for Joplin, her blues and whiskey-drenched fervor can stand hair on end 42 years later.</p>