This concert footage of Janis Joplin and The Kozmic Blues Band, her smokin’ hot, soulful as fuck, Stax-influenced backup group, was shot in Frankfurt, Germany on April 12, 1969, capturing the hard-living vocalist at the top of her game as a performer. Despite the fact that the 27-year-old Joplin was said to have been shooting close to $200 worth of heroin into her arm each day—even in 2012 dollars, a $200 a day habit is quite a lot of heroin, I shudder to think what $200 bought back then—she’s going full-tilt Tina Turner in this amazing performance. This European tour was on support of Joplin’s I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! album.
Before it gets to the music, there’s a bit of “looking back” reminiscing from some old German guys you won’t care about and some interview footage that is translated into German, obscuring what she’s saying for the most part (I was amused by the male German voice-over guy like laughing whenever Janis laughed, to indicate wryness).
The concert footage starts at about 22 minutes in and it’s truly dazzling.