Janis Lyn Joplin

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one drivin' you through it. Port Arthur, Texas. A house on a street like any other in a town that probably figured it had seen everything worth seeing.

But on January 19, 1943, something arrived that Port Arthur was not entirely prepared for — a girl named Janis Lyn Joplin. She grew up right here, lived in this house with her family, went to Thomas Jefferson High School and graduated in 1960. She attended Port Arthur College and then Lamar State College of Technology over in Beaumont — the school that would later become Lamar University.

On paper, a perfectly ordinary East Texas upbringing. In practice, well. Port Arthur was a conservative town, and Janis Joplin was a liberal and outspoken free spirit who rebelled against just about every expectation that conservatism had for her.

In 1962, she moved to Austin to study art at the University of Texas. And somewhere in that move, the Austin music scene reached out and grabbed her. She started singing in clubs around town.

Most notably at a bar called Threadgill's, operated by a Texas country singer and yodeler by the name of Kenneth Threadgill. That raw and raspy voice of hers carried the blues, jazz, country, cajun, gospel, and soul music influences of East Texas and Louisiana, and people noticed. She became a popular local performer.

But popular local wasn't enough. In 1963, Joplin moved to San Francisco, and quickly became part of the growing folk music and counter-culture movement sweeping through the 1960s. Then came Monterey in 1967 — the International Pop and Jazz Festivals — and suddenly the whole world was paying attention.

Her first album, Cheap Thrills, with the band Big Brother and the Holding Company, was a wild success. Even as her personal life became marred with alcohol and drug abuse. She recorded later with the Kosmic Blues Band and then the Full-Tilt Boogie Band, and by the end of the decade she was an international sensation.

Now here's the part that'll stay with you. In August 1970, at the very height of her fame, Janis Joplin came back to Port Arthur. For her ten-year high school reunion.

The town that had felt too small for her, the conservatism she had rebelled against — she came back to it anyway, for one night, the girl from Thomas Jefferson High. Two months later, on October 4, 1970, she died of an accidental overdose of heroin and alcohol. Her ashes were spread along the coast of northern California.

Her final album, Pearl, was released after her death. It earned a gold record. The marker stands in 2007.

The house still stands. And the voice — that raw, raspy, blues-soaked voice from right here on the Gulf Coast of Texas — that never really stopped.

What the marker says

(January 19, 1943 - October 4, 1970) A native of Port Arthur, famed blues and rock and roll singer Janis Joplin lived here with her family. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1960 and attended Port Arthur College and Lamar State College of Technology (Lamar University) in Beaumont. A liberal and outspoken free spirit, Janis rebelled against the conservatism of her hometown, and in 1962 she moved to Austin to study art at the University of Texas. She connected to the burgeoning Austin music scene and began singing in clubs around town, most notably at Threadgill's, a bar operated by Texas country singer and yodeler Kenneth Threadgill. With her raw and raspy singing style exhibiting the blues, jazz, country, cajun, gospel and soul music influences of east Texas and Louisiana, she was a popular local performer. Searching for wider acceptance, Joplin moved to San Francisco in 1963 and quickly became part of the growing folk music and counter-culture movement of the 1960s. Her performances at the 1967 International Pop and Jazz Festivals in Monterey brought her widespread recognition. Her first album, Cheap Thrills, with the band Big Brother and the Holding Company, was a wild success even as her personal life became marred with alcohol and drug abuse. Later recording with the Kosmic Blues Band and the Full-Tilt Boogie Band, she was an international sensation by the end of the decade. In August 1970, at the height of her fame, Joplin returned to Port Arthur for her ten-year high school reunion. Just two months later, she died of an accidental overdose of heroin and alcohol; her ashes were spread along the coast of northern California. Her final album, Pearl, released after her death, earned a gold record. (2007)