JANIS JOPLIN, STRAIGHT THEATER, 1968 - I've always felt that Janis was an artist whose recordings never captured the thing that made her so great as a live performer. Her recordings sound to me, especially the later ones, a little too stylized, a little difficult to listen to. I saw her perform three or four times and she was absolutely electrifying, powerful and vulnerable. As these photos show, her face was very expressive when she sang. These were taken at an old theater on Haight Street called the Straight Theater, where she was performing with Big Brother. The theater was torn down soon after.


The Magic Studio