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Remembering Janis

Vernon Gibbs, Columbia Daily Spectator, 6 October 1970

JANIS JOPLIN used to stand on stage at the Fillmore and wring out evil, catastrophic blues numbers, agony-wracked protests cloaked in Southern Comfort elegance. It was impossible not to feel her when the silky traces of her stage pleadings wrapped themselves around you. At times, the brutal screech of her high-octave screams would slit jagged paths through the dark smoke-filled hollow of the Fillmore, almost forcing you to sink back in your seat.

Total word count of piece: 340

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