From Alice Echols’ Scars Of Sweet Paradise (1999): "Jae Whitaker, her lover from North Beach, yelled at the television when she heard the news (that Janis was dead). ‘You goddamn stupid ***!’ she shouted. ‘I was just so hurt and angry."

Janis died October 4, 1970. Myra Friedman’s Buried Alive was published in 1973. Many of those she interviewed were, like Whitaker, "just so hurt and angry." While their memories were fresh, the views and opinions expressed were often raw and visceral.

Although lacking the shadings of emotion and understanding provided by time, Friedman gave a (mostly accurate) first rendering of Janis Joplin’s life from beginning to end and many aspects of this portrait were copied by each successive biographer.

From Buried Alive: "A lot of people felt she disliked them, like John Clay. I know personally though - he didn’t know it - but she was trying a lot to help him. She had a tape of his stuff and she was playing it around, trying to get people interested."

Offhand remarks from grieving friends and associates, such as that Janis was considered unsupportive of friends, were later expounded upon by other authors. In Alice Echols’ (somewhat derivative) tome, Janis was also ungenerous to fellow artists, and if female and singing in the same style or genre, she was a downright ***.

There’s another side to the story, though. Many instances of Janis’ support and generosity toward other musicians can be found in press interviews or recordings of her concerts...

On friend and fellow bluesman, Nick Gravenites:

Fillmore East (February 1969): "That’s a song by Nick Gravenites who used to be with the Flag and is a fantastic cat singer and songwriter."

"I’ve got a new song I’d like to play if you don’t mind. I think it’s, well, it’s a dynamite tune! It’s another song by Nick. It’s called Work Me Lord.".

Winterland (March 1969): "We’re gonna close with a new tune. We’re gonna do some of the other ones in the next set, you know, but this is a new one that I really like a lot by Nick Gravenites called Work Me Lord."

Albert Hall (April 1969): "I want to do one more tune... No, that’s not it...We’re gonna do a tune written by Nick Gravenites who used to be with the Electric Flag....It’s called Work Me Lord."

Stockholm (April 1969): "We’d like to close with a tune written by Nick Gravenites, who used to be with the Electric Flag. A song called Work me Lord."

Atlanta (July 1969): "I’d like to do a tune by Nick Gravenites, who I wonder if you’re familiar with him and if you’re not, you really ought to try to look around and try and find out what he’s all about because he’s a fantastic and talented cat. He used to be with the Electric Flag, you know, but they got too crazy...and it couldn’t happen anymore...You know what I mean."

Woodstock (August 1969): "I’d like to close with a tune by Nick Gravenites, who I mentioned before because he’s such a fine songwriter. This is a tune of his called Work Me Lord."

Texas Pop Festival August 1969): "Thank you. That was a tune by Nick Gravenites, a very good songwriter, fantastic singer, a song called As Good As You’ve Been To This World."

For more on this fantastic cat singer and songwriter:

Work Me Lord With Nick, Bloomfield, Snooky Flowers: http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/ConcertDetail.aspx?id=687|4661)

(More later: Jimmie Vaughan, Kristofferson, Tina)

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