Wendell Phillips
February, 1969
"Ah need ... a man to ... love me," she sings in an anguished whine that turns into an earthy whisper and then roars into a heady blues shout that's all her own. She is Janis Joplin, a wild-haired 25-year-old blend of little girl and truck driver whose number-three rating in our annual Jazz and Pop Poll proves she's the finest and funkiest white singer of rock blues around. For the past two years, she's bettered the fortunes of Big Brother and the Holding Company---a luke-warm San Fran...
