Janis Joplin's Ball & Chain Performance is Iconic for a reason (Reaction!)

[@elizabethfranco1284]

The lady in the audience was Mama Cass Elliot from The Mamas and the Papas. Members John and then wife Michelle organized this concert The Monterey Pop Music Festival 1967

[@eliasmontanez]

Yep, mesmerized by Joplin’s performance

[@t.j.payeur5331]

Thanks, Elizabeth, you saved me a lot of typing...

[@jypziiatthecrossroads9047]

Mama Cass put Nash together Crosby and Stills, if she had lived she would have been one of the greatest producers of the 20th century.

[@elizabethfranco1284]

@@jypziiatthecrossroads9047 I remember reading that in a book about them.

[@Freedom_Half_Off]

You filled in the blanks for them ...

[@WitchelliB]

Did you see Mama Cass’ face watching her?!?! Another iconic voice and you didn’t even know who she was. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[@GinMae]

Right???!!!

[@Paul-ju5px]

I get it, but we can't know who all great artists are.This is from Monterey Pop Festival.

[@WitchelliB]

@@Paul-ju5px I know. I was there.

[@reality1958]

People come from different musical backgrounds

[@georgemcnair3647]

another voice that was silenced too soon. RIP Janis and Cass Elliott

[@caronspeas2888]

This was Janis Joplin ‘s debut - she was signed to a label contract after this performance. The woman with her mouth open and jaw dropped was Mama Cass, an already popular singer with the Mamas and the Papas. Mama Cass had an incredibly beautiful voice - and here she is marveling about the soon to be famous Janis Joplin. What a classic video.

[@SusanGibson-d2s]

At eighty one miss all this stuff. Music today is a overworked. Mama Cass coaked "spelling" to death.

[@WitchelliB]

Janis was an actual blues singer. A soulful sad human being. I was lucky enough to grow up with her music.

[@WitchelliB]

Do Me and Bobby Magee.

[@darrylarmstrong3341]

Presumptuous of you to say you can tell she was high. At this moment of her life she was a scorned lady by people who ridiculed her looks and demeanor and was an unknown commodity in the music world. John Phillips from The Mamas and The Papas put together the first outdoor concert of its kind in Monterey and invited Big Brother And The Holding Company to participate not knowing truly anything about the group except recommended by a promoter. They played Friday and much to the surprise this little lady blew the doors off of the place. They had no film footage of the performance so they asked them to play Saturday so they could film them. Mama Cass went to sit in the audience just to hear and feel what all was going on with Big Brother and Janis. Her response with open mouth awe started the incredible persona of Janis Joplin on her way to stardom, as was witnessed by all that saw her in 1967 at Monterey Pop. The shy berated little girl shot instantly to Jupiter and back. The tragedy, that we who were a part of that scene, and which effected the rock and roll domain to its roots and the worldwide phenom who was Janis. Not a heroin user until the burden of all that was expected of her was to much to handle, for she never relieved herself of the shy inferiority complex she carried until her death. A very complex woman in a very complex time for music and the world. Still one of the greatest to share her talents with a world who did not understand her.

[@CuzKatieSaysSo]

Very beautifully said.

[@HotPeridot2]

They were all high at that performance.

[@LunaCorbden]

Thanks for that backstory. Incredible.

[@deborahstrickland9845]

Yeah, I'm not convinced she was high at this concert. Maybe in her latter concerts, but not this one.

[@E-d1d3]

It was a cheap, low effort, ignorant comment coming from a falsely morally superior perch.

[@kathrynnisse5105]

Janis sounds like Janis. Once you hear her, there's no mistaking her voice as soon as she hits the first note of a song. Yes, I'm a child of the 60's🥰

[@karinwolf3645]

Yes!! 😁😁🎶🎸🎵💋💋

[@pegoneal797]

There never has been and never will be another Janis Joplin. She was the human embodiment of blues/pain/passion/reality!

[@janmoline]

Exactly, answer to the question, "What does Janis Joplin sound like?" Like NO ONE else!! She was so all in.

[@Joe-tg5kf]

Dude use dumb

[@Joe-tg5kf]

Retired

[@Aurora-cv5to]

It's not about the drugs. The drive and emotion that creates the performance is the same drive and energy that turns to drugs for relief, to numb it down and make it bearable. Remember the era. Kids were graduating from high school and being sent to war, coming home in a box. The peace movement was ramping up and the universe seemed deeply, deeply flawed and unfair. Dissonance with the post-WW2 ideal we were taught, that prosperity was here and life was good. I was in high school in '67. My sister was just 4 yrs older, but the break between eras was complete. Watching Janis is like watching a controlled explosion. You're never sure that the energy isn't going to break through and demolish the universe. It shows in her feet and legs - it's like the restraint is breaking and the explosion is leaking through. Men tore up the stage and trashed their guitars. Janis just wailed. She didn't behave like a good girl. She broke rules. I loved her, like everyone else I knew.

[@Orroz44]

Lovely and accurate description. She channeled something very unique.

[@Jude_196]

OMG - such a GREAT DESCRIPTION of the TIMES!! Thanks, Aurora!!

[@TheDivayenta]

Brilliant! I hope he reads your comment.

[@philrufkahr1515]

While all of that may be true, the bass player, Pete Albin, had to have been stoned out of his mind. This is not a criticism, just an objective fact. Perhaps it is a testament to his talent that he could be that altered and still play. Incongruously, just because you're on a stage, performing for a large crowd and "showing off", doesn't mean you are an extrovert, but for an introvert to do it, I think they feel they have to be altered, to be somebody else. It's how they get their Bruce Banner to become The Hulk. Their Secret Identity is not a mild-mannered Clark Kent, but rather, Superman. Consider this: Janis and the boys get the gig at Monterey. Janis feels to achieve the courage to get through it, she has to be altered. Then, based on that performance, they get a record contract. She sees a cause/effect relationship and decides more would be better. Janis OD's at an early age. Or maybe it was just the 60's.

[@janmoline]

So true!!

[@donnahall9388]

You definitely need to check out Mama Cass! Another iconic performer!

[@douglassnyder214]

The Monterey Pop Festival was when Janis was discovered. This was also the Festival when Jimi Hendrix was discovered. Jimi & Janis died 3 months apart, so it was like there was a world before Jimi & Janis, a world with Jimi & Janis, and a world after.

[@nyrockchicxx]

They died 3 WEEKS apart, not 3 months.

[@Trucker231610]

I hate when people automatically assume a great performance is due to the influence of drugs. Why can't it be she was just passionate and loved what she was doing .

[@scotttrainer9704]

It's more of a talent to perform at this level while under the influence of drugs.

[@karinwolf3645]

But, she was. 😱😆😻💋🍹👵🐺🌵

[@Trucker231610]

@@karinwolf3645 And you know this how? I think people today make that assumption and think that is the only way someone could perform like that. Janis drank lots of Jack Daniels to numb her pain. She sang to release her emotions. I just think it's unfair to assume she's high.. That that out of the equation. People say Beth Harts performance of Am I the one live from Paradiso was under the influence. And it's a fact she was sober. This was her first show after Rehab.

[@kevinmcconnell3641]

Yea no, she was stoned!!

[@jenfries6417]

It annoys me, too. No matter what her sobriety level was or wasn't, drugs didn't give her that voice or that passion. People who think no sober person would ever sing like that should probably listen to more blues.

[@tomhiggins875]

The beauty of an old school live performance like this is that it's so authentic. You couldn't do this performance with lip syncing or a click track.

[@tjrivers]

Janis had a jaw-dropping voice, never anything else like it! We knew she was special, the minute she began to sing. Parents hated it!

[@allenwayne2033]

Ha! Yep, mine did!

[@bradgrady1752]

I'm 71 and STILL Can't get enough of our blues, rock queen JANIS!!!❤

[@bobbiebastin5423]

Love seeing Mama Cass!!!! Sing on forever Janis, you caught my heart that one day in 68❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@thomasjurgensen2086]

This is the performance that brought her to the spot light watch the film about the Monterey Pop Festival

[@cherrypickerguitars]

She brought an intensity to the stage that no female performer before had ever brought! She was a “generation defining” artist! My buddy, Canadian John Till was her guitarist in The Full Tilt Boogie Band! Peace

[@paulamelnyk986]

Saw her live about 3 .months before her death. You felt the loneliness and pain in every note she sang. Waited more once she finished. So many more songs we wanted to hear. It was an incredible unforgettable performance

[@taragreenetarotastro]

Saw Janis at the Canadian Rock and Roll Festival in Toronto right up against the stage. She was amazing. Unforgettable.

[@harrietmiller3982]

This was the first Monterey PopFestival organized by Mama Cass and her group. I grew up in this area and went to this concert two years after graduating high school. This was the weekend many unknowns broke through to national attention such as Jimi Hendricks (he set his guitar on fire! I didn't like that but it got attention) and many others. Janice was a force of nature as you can see/hear for yourself. I saw her 2 years later at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco and she simply blew the doors off like the walls couldn't hold her in! To say she left you forever changed is an understatement. Thanks for bringing this today. Brings back such great memories from my hometown seeing this arena cuz it was the Horse Show arena at the Monterey County Fairgrounds and I always watched those every year.

[@elizabethfranco1284]

She is considered the first female superstar of rock.

[@KennyRansom-l5k]

The Look on the face of "Mama" Cass Elliot sums up this performance perfectly . At the time of Monterey Pop in '67 , The Mama's & the Papa's were at the height of their fame and were a big influence on the festival . Cass was also considered to be the "Grand Dame" of the scene in L.A.'s Laurel Canyon back in the late 60's .

[@ladylisaromance8129]

Janis died before I was born, but has been my all-time favorite female vocalist since I was about 15. There's not a voice like hers. Her passion is unmatched. ❤

[@Jude_196]

AMEN!!! Those of us who WERE born before she passed feel VERY MUCH THE SAME! :) SO, SO GOOD!!!

[@AtmosphericSoundArt]

Cass Elliot from The Mamas & the Papas sat in the audience and was amazed. You can see it well in the video. I think Jimi Hendrix was sitting there too, somewhere, but I'm not sure.

[@johnlatiolais6080]

Janis and I went to high school together in Port Arthur, Tx. She passed WAY too soon. Her vocal style still blows me away!

[@richardhoward6564]

Me too. Go Yellow Jackets

[@Asti.sayAhstee]

I hope y’all treated her better than many of her classmates did.

[@nyrockchicxx]

@@Asti.sayAhstee Well people arent going to admit to that bad stuff online.

[@BillieJohns-g5j]

Seeing Janis in person was extraordinary. It was like an out of body experience, you lost sense of time and place. You left knowing that what you just saw, you may not see again. Of course could have had something to do with the air we were breathing. Check out the song Oh, Lord, won't you buy me for another side of her.

[@joonzville]

The name of that song is Mercedes Benz. Just an fyi. 😉

[@kathrynpupos9103]

Janice is like the ocean. One time, it's relatively calm and soothing. The next it's waves crashing against a rocky shore.

[@callasladivina]

I will never be able to comprehend the fact that her entire legacy and footprint in the world's music anthology happened over the course of four/five years. Just incredible! Thank you for your reaction! Can't wait to see your reaction to her live performance in Stockholm of Cry Baby. And after that it's time for Janis and "Maybe" ❤

[@deniseg812]

Cry Baby, my favorite.

[@dianer.9203]

Cry Baby ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@eliasmontanez]

Raw emotion, goosebumps everytime…

[@rhondapease8516]

It was the summer of 1968 that I first heard Janis's song, Piece of My Heart. I was hooked immediately and could not get enough of her voice. I bought all of her albums. I never get tired of listening to her sing!❤

[@ptournas]

She's got two great ranges. Her vocal range (highest to lowest notes), and her dynamic range (loudest to softest), and she knew how to use them. Not that I think she thought that out. I think they came naturally and instinctively with the emotions she sang her songs with.

[@allenwayne2033]

Yep, I agree! It all just came naturally to her. She didn't learn it, she felt it, which was what made her GREAT!

[@Elgor-ks9cf]

Was fortunate enough to have seen her twice. At the Fillmore East, and Madison Square Garden. On my way out, carefully took a poster off the wall. Had it framed. Still on my walls to this day. She was a volcano on stage. Thanks

[@aaradia]

When the Iconic and amazing Mama Cass is astonished by another voice, you KNOW that voice is amazing! I recommend her duet with Tom Jones on his TV show as one of your next Janis reactions. I love it because it shows an upbeat joyful side of her. And the interaction between her and Jones is really fun. I am not even a fan of him, but he was as close to keeping up to her as anyone could be. Also, if you haven't reacted to the Mamas and the Papas (Mama Cass Elliot's band) you should put that on your list.

[@tomsa123456]

That Duet with Tom Jones is "Raise Your Hand"

[@aaradia]

@@tomsa123456 haha...thanks. I thought I had typed it in there. But I typed that before my coffee kicked in.

[@tomsa123456]

@@aaradia I recommended "Raise Your Hand" to Seb on his recent reaction to Tom Jones and Mark Knopfler. It's a great duet!

[@janetphillips2152]

My cousin came in from California to Arkansas in 1969. He brought with him Cheap Trills. I listened to Piece of My Heart and it was love at the first note. It is still love!

[@Dynodon]

Check out Courtney hadwin she's an English singer nursery song piece of My heart are the Clive Davis galia in Carnegie Hall last May Clyde pacifically asked for her is on Courtney's KZbin station you'll feel reincarnated she's amazing Young singer very few people can sing like Janice Courtney can and does guarantee you won't be disappointed

[@humpy936]

Oh what a great album that was, “big brother and the holding company”. I need to get that album, I used to have it but lost it somewhere along 50 years.😊

[@starfireapache]

Janice lived 2 towns down from me in the Golden Triangle and I did not know until many years later! I and many other young people had so much trauma in our lives and no way to express it! Janice's voice was like a raw wound exposing all the horrors of Vietnam and the growing pains of transitioning from straight-laced society to our fight forfreedom especially in the deep South! Janice was our voice--she had the guts to say what we couldn't and raise us up to keep striving for better! She eveloped you in the passion of her songs and gave us wings--and still does! Watch the movie "The Rose"==it is deeply personal and tears me apart to see a shooting star blaze and burn out before her time! Musice such as this is what saved me! I am 76 and still standing thanks to artists like her!

[@jetterdgard5125]

its a generation of folks who wanted more than their parents got. It was new that women could sing something that was not beutyfull and womanly and cosy, but had guts and feelings that was not earlier accepted. greetings from Denmark

[@Sonny_Eclipse]

This was the second performance at the Monterey Pop Festival because the band did not allow the first one to be filmed, but after much begging, they performed it again to be filmed

[@TheDivayenta]

I was at the first one!

[@Sonny_Eclipse]

I’m envious

[@adobedon4305]

Sebs, you probably know by now that the face you are admiring is none other than Mama Cass Elliot! The amazing singer from the Mamas and the Papas group. It's obvious that even a singer of her stature is flabbergasted by Janis. Janis' 😅power is showing in Cass's face. It's an outstanding video.

[@deborahromero2593]

TYSM for this Janice Joplin MV, bringing back my teen years, she was the most iconic artist of that era, with Jimmy Hendrix ❤❤

[@chickadee677]

Janis was able to let her human heart and soul free during a time that being real wasn't auto tuned out of existence.

[@MariJeanMelissa]

My high school hero and a 27. I felt so lost when I heard she was gone. She just lived so much in a short time. The story of this concert goes that she played earlier but not on film and Mama Cass wanted others to hear her so asked her to perform later in the day. That may be Jimi Hendrix sitting next to Mama Cass. Apparently, Clive Davis was with them, hearing her for the first time, signed her and she went on with her blaze across the sky. My favorite song is Another Piece of My Heart.

[@Jude_196]

SHE GAVE HER ALL on stage. This one of my FAVORITE PERFORMANCES: EVER!!! This performance "put them on the map"!!! SO, SO GOOD!!! SHE IS SO MISSED!!! Thanks for MAKING MY FRIDAY!!! HUGS, SEBS!!!

[@phobiaone306]

A couple of my favorites from Janis are "Cry Baby", and "Me and Bobby McGee". YES check out Mama Cass! The Mamas and the Papas were awesome.

[@vfults]

What does Janis Joplin sound like? Angel trumpets and devil trombones! One of the most unique voices ever from a very sad and tortured soul.

[@petermott2411]

Janis's talent, and her success, came from cold ambition. She was a very hard-working, driven musician. This was in spite of her alcoholism and drug addiction. She knew she was an addict, and avoided drugs during her performances. She was not high during this recording. (This is one of the most famous breakout performances ever, in all of music, of any genre.) What the engineers remarked about in her recordings was how studied and reproducible she was: "she sang 19 takes, and every one was identical." Every lick, grunt, little twirl, vocal inflection, affectation, and improvisation was rehearsed and perfected. First and foremost her voice was very sweet, but she alternated that with her whiskey rasp, combining this with her incredible dynamic range, in her expression. She turns it all on or off, at will, densely stuffing it, in every song she sang. Her rock-chick persona (which she named "Pearl") was only a small part of who she was. Her publicist and band mates remarked that, behind it all, she was quite cerebral and cunning about what she did for a living. Oh, and they also noted that she was extremely intelligent and very well-read. What you hear, of course, is her astounding talent. It is great fun to see a person's first reaction -- the face screws up, and then tilt their head and sit up straight, because they are just stunned at how good she was. Then after a moment they say, "Whoa, I was not expecting that voice!" She touches something deep inside you, very primal. Also, she was a very intense, scary singer, and you think she is about to explode or something. Thing is, I have heard this song thousands of times, and it still stuns me.

[@armadillotoe]

This was her first big gig. Nobody expected this performance. Many people didn't think her band was on her level. I won't say this was pitch-perfect, but the emotional intensity was next level. Mama Cass? California Dreaming" with the Mamas and the Papas. "Dream a Little Dream" Mama Cass

[@mattshaw6180]

A live performance you need to treat yourself to is Janis, on the 'This Is Tom Jones' tv show in 1969, singing "Little Girl Blue." It will break your heart into little pieces. So much restraint and pain in 3 minutes.

[@glennburch1081]

I love the ICONS who express the most emotion in thier faces and body language. Janis Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughan are mesmerizing with thier expressions. Thank God for video!

[@helenwilliams7065]

She sang from the depths of her tortured soul and for a moment, allowed us to feel her pain. You can not imitate pain like that. RIP, beautiful Texas woman.😢❤

[@iraedwin]

I am so glad you appreciate the music I grew up with. Janis was great! Thanks for the nice comments.

[@GinMae]

Thanks, Sebs! - Astonishing... as noted below, Cass Elliott sitting in the audience being blown away by Janis! lol

[@davidd3948]

You paused perfectly on Mama Cass' face from the Mama's and the Papa's. Epic.

[@DenPrice-qw5gx]

She was a passionate person and she released that passion through her singing. I was singing along with her albums when i was 7 years old. I'm 62 now and i still feel her passion, sorrow, pain, loneliness, her need to be loved and needed. Free spirited yet unhappy. I cried when my father said she was dead. 1970, I was 8 years old with a broken 💔 heart. Brutal childhood I had, I felt I like I could relate with her. 😢

[@GotWag]

@6:16 Sebs lands on Mama Cass's face............. another legend gone too soon. I believe Jimmy Hendrix was sitting next to her.

[@jeanpachkowski1833]

My favourite I love love love Janis!!! This was my generation and I still have her vinyl records, told my kids when I go DO NOT get rid of them..... if you plan on that then put them in with me so I can listen to them in paradise!!!!

[@papercup2517]

I was just watching Freddie Mercury at Live Aid (for the umpteenth time) and it occurs to me that he and Janis both had that hyper-intensity you mentioned, that can draw us into their experience, mesmerising us with the emotional energy they summon up from within, and pass on to us. When they're in full flight on stage they're like shamans, all-powerful magi, carrying us between world/ realities; transcending the ordinary, connecting us with something greater than our everyday lives so when we return to them we may be changed and maybe even healed in some way by the experience.

[@chitownlee]

This was Janis's first big exposure to the World at this festival also Jimi's.

[@nunziata315]

I'm really enjoying you channel. I'm 74, and love the music I grew up with. I love watching your responses. You're a pretty sharp guy!!! 😘

[@swamihuman9395]

- WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE: in pitch/volume/expression/emotion - PURE SOUL! :)

[@kathleenbarrett9130]

A classmate of mine in high school did an amazing job covering Janis’s Me and Bobby McGee. I’m 71 and really enjoying you reacting to our music from 60s and 70s. All of this music triggers so MANY memories for me, good and not so good ones. Listening to your reactions makes me appreciate all that music so much more.

[@liatherose6275]

I hope you feel better soon, Brian. Enjoy watching Sebs enjoy Janice.the pain just pours out of her.

[@kathybwell]

Love Janis's happy dance as she skips off the stage! She must have been delighted with her performance.

[@allenwayne2033]

Yep! I'm always bummed when "reactors" don't pick up on that as it expressed as much about Janis as her performance did!

[@christinepacetti7092]

So damn blessed to have seen Janis at Woodstock ❤

[@zoebella314]

Yes!! Mama Cass looking so proud at the end, I woulda passed out. So awesome lol

[@panamatom9804]

It's so nice to see so many who recognized Mama Cass. RIP, my two fav female voices. Now, you know half the reason why.

[@kurthooker4370]

The woman whose reaction you kept stopping on was Mama Cass from the band the Mamas and the Papas. I do think you should check out Cass Elliot. She was an iconic voice from the time. Kurt from Maine

[@pamelabronner9444]

She evokes so much emotion. I’ve had goose bumps since the guitar intro.

[@sciencenerd8428]

I'm 68 and Janice still gives me goosebumps all the way to the bone.

[@stephanietip]

There was a blues singer from back in the day that Janis idolized and tried to emulate named Bessie Smith.Janis found out after Bessie passed,her family never placed a headstone for her.Janis wasn't having none of that and bought Bessie a headstone (33 years after Bessie passed)and had it placed.You should look it up,it's a beautiful tribute to the Blues Singer that made Janis the singer she was.

[@gwenivere73]

This is the first time many people heard Janis and just seeing them discover her vocals is amazing. I first heard her sing Me and Bobby McGee off of her Pearl album when one of my cousins was playing it when I was little. I was one of the die hard head bangers of the late 80's, though weirdly many of us that listened to the harder music also picked up on the classic rock and the music of the 60's. My first concert was in 86, I saw The Monkees with my mom.

[@FleagleSangria]

Janis knew how to work a mic. Notice how she uses it as a tool to facilitate dynamics.

[@tinagarcia3571]

I have everything she ever recorded. I'd say thank you QUEEN. Summer TIME IS MY FAVORITE SONG.

[@johndavids4780]

She sings what you are crying in your mind in situations but can't release. She releases it for you. That is what the blues does. They do it because you can't.

[@tinas7653]

This performance is iconic. It’s amazing. One of a kind. I’m not a Janis Joplin fan but I appreciate her music. Her music is a must listen.

[@knittingyogi4975]

My favorite part of your videos is watching your reactions to the wonderful music and musicians we had the pleasure of growing up with, I graduated in 1978.

[@colleenmonfross4283]

Hey Brian, sending you all the best wishes for wellness and happiness. Thanks for sending the best videos to Sebs to check out, I'm really enjoying his reactions!

[@montanateri6889]

Janis put her heart and soul in each song. The sound, the agony, the raw heartbreak, was poured forth from her and each performance will leave you with those goosebumps. I've listened to this performance at least 60 times now -- I have to turn it on when the stress of life and fear of these dark times I see before us builds up and I have no way to let it out. So I play Janis and her energy, clears mine like a blast of clarity shattering tangles in my mind. Janis is also one of the '27' group -- Stars who died at 27 years old, like some curse was set in motion far in advance. 27 club: Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse. Yes, we're still adding to the 27 club. Its a fallacy that it is a curse or is even worthy of a statistical note, but with so many super meaningful stars in it, we notice it anyway.

[@dougca7086]

Mama Cass one of the best singers of the time you need to react to The Mamas and Papas California Dreamin and Monday Monday unfortunately Cass Elliot had a problem with weight and was up and down so much she died of a heart attack just before performance in England The Mamas & Papas were actually responsible for putting together the Monterey Pop Festival this whole thought Festival had huge Stars Jimi Hendrix The Who in the list goes on and on

[@vilap18]

@@dougca7086 and dream a little dream

[@jerryb1439]

I've watched this performance so many times and it never fails to move me. The word I would use to describe it is "raw." But it is a performance. She is connecting with the music, telling a story and delivering it with her entire being. Other artists are able to do that as well in different ways, but few have the ability to deliver that kind of raw emotion and still keep it under control. As for Cass Elliot, I think that the reason the camera holds on her is that John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas was one of the organizers of the Monterey Pop Festival. She was part of the group and was probably deeply involved in the concert. She had a reputation for connecting people in the music industry. Definitely worth checking out the Mamas and the Papas and Cass's solo music.

[@bonniebadore7442]

God bless you Brian 🙏❤️

[@MikeBurgoon-d5v]

Yes, you might not know much about our 60s and 70s music but, my dear friend, I am very glad that you have found interest in it and just enjoy. Peace brother.

[@peggykunkel9180]

It doesn't matter what time period you are in, there is unique talent that stands out above all others. The time when I was really appreciating music was the late 60's and early 70's. Of course I feel it was the best time in music although everything before and since has great music we need to experience.

[@friscocoonsliscano]

Even Mama Cass was impressed ❤she is a legend too in her own right ✅️ 👏 🎉BRAVO to both

[@ta2gypsy]

Janis had 3 separate back up bands; Big Brother and The Holding Co.,was her first then Kozmic Blues band & Full Tilt Boogie Band was her last band. She had been clean for several weeks when she fell in love and was anxious to hook up but it fell through so she did the next thing alone and she died. Despite popular belief Janis was usually drinking hard liquor on stage not high on smack while performing.The lady with the WOW expression in the audience is Cass Elliot (Mammas & The Pappas) I would say to Janis "I'm at the Hyatt under Morticia/// Janis & Jimi Hendrix spent a lot of time in the "paddock" backstage as it were at Monterey just hangin' out & having a good time.

[@chuckhafemann7094]

Thanks for this reaction. I saw Janis perform this live in 1969 when she was much more well known. Great show, and I enjoy seeing younger people discover her. Janis was sui generis.

[@caroldean2596]

I hear so much church music in all of this. Gospel music drove much of the commercial music and it made it the amazing thing it was in this era.

[@andrewspam]

This was her second performance. The first one they didn’t bother to video because she wasn’t a headliner. That all changed after the first set and she was asked to come back on for video. She blew them all away. Got her first record deal out of this.

[@guichogf5636]

Janis, like Jim Morrison wasn't so much into the drugs. They were heavy drinkers, which makes it even more tragic that they died of drug overdoses. What Janis does better than anyone else is cut open her chest and expose her heart, her emotion, her passion. There will never be another like her. She was so real.

[@1wngsfn]

Sebs, I love your reactions to music. I was in 6th grade when my older cousin played her music for me. I loved it then and I love it now. Such a great loss.

[@vics8873]

Saw Janis and Big Brother...no words...I'm 80 now, still get goosebumps.

[@Songbird-59]

Prayers for you, Brian. I had a friend that partied with Janis Joplin. He said she was pretty incredible. She cannot be matched.

[@lnbarnes917]

You can’t truly describe Janice she had to be expirenced ‼️💜 please check out Mama Cass she was a member of the Mamas and the Papas.

[@kimsnyder8997]

There’s another song of hers that’s absolutely amazing. It’s called piece of my heart. Also, if you haven’t heard Disturbed sing sound of silence you most definitely should. It’s message and his voice are so incredibly powerful.

[@stillracer1]

I'm not a fan of the way they ruined "Sound of Silence".

[@5858leslie]

Little Girl Blue is such a perfect song for Janis to perform because she related to it so much. She was shunned at her high school reunion in Port Arthur, TX. So bad. She regretted going, of course, later on. She's a member of the 27 club, sad to say. Never get tired of listening, and watching her.

[@tjrivers]

Yes to checking out Mama Cass …California Dreaming, Monday, Monday, more…with the Mamas and the Papas. Great reaction!

[@fredeerickbays]

she still after almost 60yr she still gives me chills

[@tomroome4118]

Sebs, man, this was the performance that introduced her to the world.

[@terrybonham8336]

there is a show of hers called "a hot winters night " she pulled her boyfriend at the time onstage and played a couple of songs with her singing the boyfriend was none other than johnny winter great listen

[@sharon525]

Saw her at a concert in beginning at top of a bank parking lot . Like 4 stories. She was unknown.

[@ConnieVenable]

Chaotic and spellbinding. Perfect description of Janis Joplin.

[@brucecronin6396]

First off... Love you and your reactions !! as a side note. Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company (relative "Unknowns" from San Francisco) played the second day (saturday) of Monterey, to rave reviews. For some reason, D.A. Pennebacker, the cinematographer, did not record that performance, so the promoters (this year the promoters were John and Michelle Phillips. "half" of the very popular group, "The Mama's and the Papa's". (That's why "Mama" Cass Elliot was featured, watching Lanis in this recording) invited Janis back on the last day to perform "Ball & Chain" again, to be filmed. Her backing group feared Janis would be signed leaving them to fend for themselves. The promoters also informed a bunch of "record labels", that this sensational women was going to perform again on the last day, so about 8 record companies offered her a contract, and she signed with Clive Davis ( who appears in this video, peering from behind some plants just offstage) from Colombia Records, contingent that her band be signed with her. The rest, as they say... "Is history" !! Saturday- the show line-up, featured many SF groups, Canned Heat, the Byrds, Paul Butterfield, the Electric Flag and more!!!! The first show was Friday evening with the Association.

[@pamelahofman1785]

Re: talent then vs. talent now. I don't believe there's a lack of talent nowadays. It's got to be out there. What there is, is a lack of training and devotion to building the skills necessary to be able to express the innate talent well. Previous generations simply didn't have the overwhelming distractions that exist nowadays. There was minimal TV, radio, playing records, and books for daily consumption. No social media of any kind, no Xbox or video games of any type. Kids started young learning to play instruments and singing and spent time at it. When I was in high school in the 70s, everyone wanted to be in a rock band. Kids would practice hour after hour for years to get good. The same level of devotion simply doesn't exist nowadays, for the most part. Kids want to play games online more than anything else. The training from a young age is much sparser. Real talent is often just not developed and is wasted.

[@davidwalworth9048]

I am 74 and saw her at Woodstock in 69 and she stopped everyone in their tracks. Yes check out the mamas and papas . Amazing talent and stage presence. Made me a better person to watch them in their prime. Thank you