Janis Joplin: Take Another Little Piece of Her Heart in Captivating Documentary

Mind Your Body with Stephanie Stephens features celebrities and high achievers age 45+ who share their latest projects, healthy living secrets and more.

Janis Joplin. When you hear those two words, certain others immediately come to mind:

Rock n’ roll. Legend. Icon. Emotional. Complex. Uninhibited. Addiction. The ’60s. Cultural revolution. Gone too soon…

Whether you remember Janis or you got to know her and her music after her death at age 27, you’ll be riveted by American Masters—Janis: Little Girl Blue when it premieres Tuesday, May 3 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS. It is about Janis, by Janis. How, you ask?

“Exploring her childhood, struggles with addiction, active role in the musical and cultural revolution of the 1960s, surprising rise to stardom and untimely demise, Joplin’s own words tell much of her story through a series of letters she wrote to her parents—many of them made public for the first time—and read by [Chan] Marshall,” the network explains.

Chan is also the indie rocker, Cat Power.

The Human Need

One of Janis’s letters reads: Dear Family: I managed to pass my 27^th birthday without really feeling it…After you reach a certain level of talent—quite a few have that talent—the deciding factor is ambition, or as I see it, how much you really need, need to be loved, and need to be proud of yourself.

The film is the work of Oscar-nominated director Amy Berg. It brings the singer back to life with archival footage and photos, plus those poignant letters that reveal the “real” Janis Joplin. It took seven years to complete.

The dichotomy between what Janis presented on stage, and what she wrote when baring her soul, makes for a presentation that engages and enthralls from the get-go. Enjoy surprising interviews with her family, her former bandmates from Big Brother and the Holding Company, Dick Cavett, Clive Davis and more.

Thanks to PBS for connecting me with Janis’s sister, Laura Joplin, who tells us things about Janis that we surely didn’t know until now. Laura earned a master’s degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in education, and was formerly an education consultant. She shares accurate and touching memories.

What do you think of this tribute to your sister?

I love it. The first time I saw it I was ecstatic. I feel it really brought Janis back in a way that was very genuine. I could not be happier.

What’s the one thing we may not know about Janis that you want us to know?

She had a very tender, gentle side that’s a contrast to Janis on stage. She was well read, considerate of people around her, and fascinating to talk to. We were a reading family from our earliest days. Our father took us to the library once a week and everybody read everything. I remember Janis being fascinated by painters. At the library, Janis would be in the adult section, with two-inch-thick books, reading about Rembrandt.

What is one thing Janis said to you that you’ll never forget?

I do get a picture that doesn’t necessarily come with words. It was the morning after her 10-year high-school reunion. She was in the kitchen making Eggs Benedict for everyone—we’d never had it before. It was the style of her chatty, jaunty, festive attitude and her familiarity with the kitchen that I remember most.

What would she say to you now if she was standing there with you?

She left everything that she needed to say in her legacy. She left us her personal letters, a great treasure trove of how she felt going through the process of life. She said to “be true to yourself, and if you let yourself go, you can be more than you ever thought.” Those philosophical things are evident in her quotes. A lot of the woman I knew is still there in them.

When we think of Janis, we do think of sadness. She is missed.

She had challenges with some people but she was very loved at home and enjoyed the family a lot. It was clear she had a thrill when she was on stage—especially when you see those photos of her smiling at the audience. Those thoughts are keepers to freeze in the mind and hold on to. There is sadness in the fact that she died so young.

Yours was a creative family, wasn’t it?

Yes, our father put up playground equipment that he had designed and built himself. Mother made most of our clothes, and she was a needlepoint artist. My brother, Michael, is a glassblower.

Creativity and thinking were encouraged. Our parents talked to us as equals at the dinner table. We commented on current events and what we were reading.

Mother didn’t give us board games with rules. She gave us blank paper and crayons, and pieces of wood to use as blocks. We were taught to be deliberate and use our minds to make decisions.

Let’s talk about health. What role did being healthy play in your childhood experiences?

Food was a focal point, with three square meals a day. Our parents had grown up on a farm, and were in love with the convenience of “modern life” then. The best thing: Pepperidge Farm frozen bread! Mom did make meals from scratch, and dad was a great cook too. Mom even made our lunch meat from leftovers, and put it into a meat grinder. Our parents were definitely into what they thought was healthy.

And we have a clip. Here’s an exclusive interview with Big Brother and the Holding Company drummer Dave Getz, Laura Joplin and filmmaker Amy Berg.