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507

Janis Joplin

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:5,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Janis Joplin

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Auction Date:2013 Feb 21 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS signed “Janis,” nine pages, 5.75 x 8, October 10, [1965]. Joplin writes to her boyfriend, Peter de Blanc. In part: “I’ve been busy. In fact, right now, I’m completely exhausted, really damn tired. I had a bitch of an afternoon. Philip & Diane & I didn’t get up to Beaumont last night to make the tape (I’ll deal with that part of the story later) so I went up this afternoon to do it. I’ve been up there about 9 fucking hours doing the damn thing & we only got 3 songs! And what a drag! Neil didn’t really know how to record on his recorder & it was really a hassle. Singing & singing & being nervous, Jesus Christ. I got all weak & shakey for a while, but we finally stopped to eat. Then I felt better but the tape recorder was broken, so I just quit. Damn. I’m tired! Well anyway, the tape = two blues, ‘Come Back, Baby’ & ‘Once I Lived the Life of a Millionaire’ and one really pretty ballad, ‘Once I Had a Sweetheart.’ I hope it’s alright & I hope I don’t scare people…Now I want to tell you about last night…I picked up Philip & Diane…We wanted to do something because we were all practically punchy from staying at home. So we decided to go to a bar & have a few beers. (I don’t think know whether you’ve ever done that kind of socializing. Sitting in a real bar bar w/ hillbilly or hard rock & roll playing, talking & smoking cigarettes. It’s really kind of nice). So anyway we decided to go to this bar that had a pool table because we all like to play pool. (Does this sound like a sordid story? Well, I hope not). So we went to the Top Hat, sat down, had a round of Lone Star beer & watched the pool table. When it was open, Philip & I got up to play and I won…At one time I used to be awfully good. I was champion of E. 6th St between A & 1st, and that’s pretty good, you know…So what happened?…I beat everybody in the house! Too much! I beat all of the local champions & two dykes. I really couldn’t believe it. I just played great! And people kept buying me beer & I kept drinking it…Wow, now I hope you aren’t mad at me—I didn’t do anything wrong, except get a little smashed and I didn’t stop thinking about you. I guess someone who is engaged doesn’t want to think that his fiancee is going out & playing pool in Texas pubs, so maybe you have a right to get mad, but dig we didn’t really mean to become pool sharks, we were just quietly having a few beers…So, hell, be mad at me—& I apologize, I guess it really wasn’t behavior fitting the demure woman that I am, but hell, I can’t help it if I’m another Willie Mosconi.” In a postscript on reverse of page 8, Janis writes: “In one of your letters, you asked about the flowers. Well, I told you about them in the letter…(Don't you read my damn letters?!). They're purple straw flowers.” Amazingly, the mailing envelope contains the remains and stems of Joplin’s “purple straw flowers.” Accompanied by the original mailing envelope noted above, addressed in Joplin’s hand and postmarked Port Arthur, Texas, October 12, 1965. In fine condition, with some mild staining to portions of first page, and some light toning along the central horizontal folds.

At the time she wrote this letter, Joplin was living at home with her parents and hoping to rebuild her life and recover from her drug abuse of the previous few years. During that time she sang in small venues in New York and San Francisco, where she first met de Blanc. One of the songs mentioned in this letter, ‘Once I Lived the Life of a Millionaire,’ may be the opening line to the blues standard, ‘Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out,’ written in 1923 by Jimmy Cox. Shortly after writing this letter, Joplin moved to Austin and then to San Francisco where she joined Big Brother & the Holding Company. A particularly lengthy letter with some great blues association, a hint of Joplin’s insecurity, and a very uncommon direct reference to her music. These actual tapes have, to the best of our knowledge, never surfaced.
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