Janis Joplin’s major label debut is an acid soaked polaroid of the psychedelic hedonism of San Fransisco in 1968. The band is smoking hot – intertwining, fuzzed out guitars and swaggering blues jams aplenty – but it is Joplin’s performance that truly sets this record apart from the myriad of psychedelic blues bands that followed in the wake of Jimi Hendrix’s arrival. Highlights include the barnstorming “Piece of My Heart” and a jaw-dropping rendition of George Gershwin’s “Summertime”. Also worthy of note is cartoonist Robert Crumb’s characteristically kooky cover art. Turn on, tune in, drop out, let your freak flag fly, don’t take the brown acid and dig it!
Pete Whelan 