Janis

olhippie54 · Aug 19, 2009

Your Dad!!! said:

Janis started by singing gospel, where the emotions come to the fore. Not the crap on televangelism, with the hairdos and the polished voices, but raw emotional stuff.

She transcended the "hippie" phenomenon, because the term "hippie" was really a term ascribed to a gradual breaking away of a large number of people from what was previously considered the "norm", or "the establishment", in clothing styles, prohibition on such recreational drug usage as pot and psychedelics, things that other cultures considered as part of their tradition, or even part of their religious practices.

This break-away group began to be termed "hippies" by those looking in from the outside. Eventually, the label stuck, if only as a convenience, but still, to this day, defies a clear definition, as it encompasses altogether too many variations of life styles and practices.

Personally, I believe "hippies" to be undefinable, in the strictest sense.

So what was it that Janis exemplified? She was willing to go another way, to let her insides out, to hold her heart in her hands and offer it onstage to the audience. She was also an adventuresse. She didn't care what the tradition was. She just invoked a kind of fervent passion, in addressing subjects like heartbreak, sorrow, and pain, while simultaneously celebrating the human condition with a joy that seemed to be derived from those seeming negatives.

She sang the blues, and she sang it well.

But she also, to her early demise, lived it, embracing the life of drugs and hard liquor.

Personally, I remember how the hippie phenomenon grew. It didn't simply start one day, but grew out of counterculture elements that came before, questionings of things we weren't supposed to question. Basic distrust of governments and institutions, and a desire to regain control over our lives. The clothes we wore began, gradually, more and more, to be our own invention, as did the policies toward things like war, and greed, and human suffering throughout the world. We lost the desire to join the ranks of successful businessmen, and instead began to enjoy the nomadic life of love and music and the commonalities of man.

We simply grew, and in our growth, began to look and think and act differently than those entrenched elements of society that had previously been considered the norm, and in authority. The very idea of authority began to take on an evil connotation, as people learned to live together without the need of a hierarchical structure, where indeed the maxims of Lenin began to take hold, "To each, according to one's need; from each, according to one's ability".

Perhaps the dream lives on in some, though not all. Powers that be, and human nature will always dictate that some become ambitious to rule over others, and others will also become ambitious to take advantage of and make a profit from what others have done or are doing in a merely altruistic sense. Life goes on, and the big machine keeps on pumping out the attempts to substitute recreatable plastic gimmicks in the place of what once was genuine creative passion.

Janis lives, somewhere, in someone. Long live Janis.
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The beatniks of the 50's were known as hipsters. The press dubbed them hippies as sort of the next wave for the reasons you gave.

Your Dad!!! · Aug 19, 2009

olhippie54 said:

The beatniks of the 50's were known as hipsters. The press dubbed them hippies as sort of the next wave for the reasons you gave.
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Remember this quote?

“We wanna be free. We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man!”

GLENGLEN · Aug 19, 2009

KozmicBlue said:

I adore her music!! I still get goosebumps sometimes when I listen to her, her voice is just incredible.. reaches more than just your ears!
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Pressed_Rat said:

I think she transcended all that hippy crap. Yeah, a lot of cliche hippies worship her still today, but to me it has no bearing whatsoever on her music, and especially her voice, which is timeless.
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olhippie54 said:

We have been agreeing more lately. This scares me a little.
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And This Thread Scares Me ..

Loved Her Haunting Voice From The First Track..

Loved Her Cause She Just Looked So Crazy..

Loved Her Because She Behaved So Crazy..

Loved Her Cause She Just Loved Life..

Still Have Some "8- Track Cartridge's Of Hers Stached Away.

Yes You Heard Right.......8 Track Cartridge's....

Cheers Glen.

olhippie54 · Aug 19, 2009

Your Dad!!! said:

Remember this quote?

“We wanna be free. We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by The Man!”
Click to expand...

Peter Fonda.

scratcho · Aug 19, 2009

I saw her many times in SF and SanJose when I lived in Santa Cruz--suckin' on that bottle of Southern Comfort and singing her heart out.Her unique voice had two tones at once at certain times during her songs that gave me upright neck hair!Do any of the old ones remember the time the Hells Angels rented that downtown SF hall and she played with the Young Rascals?Cops in full regalia=face shields and big-ass clubs were standing in front of dozens of motorcycles across the street from the venue.I literally bumped into Janis as she was coming in and we exchanged "hellos".Yay,I'm famous.

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Janis

olhippie54 Touch Of Grey Lifetime Supporter

Your Dad!!! Member

GLENGLEN Banned

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Janis

olhippie54 Touch Of Grey Lifetime Supporter

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