JDCMustReadBooks

By John Byrne Cooke

ISBN: 042527411X

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date:  10/28/2014 

Format: Other 

My Rating:  4 Stars 

A special thank you to Penguin First to Read for a complimentary reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

On the Road With Janis Joplin by John Byrne Cook, is a captivating memoir, journey, and an account of the sensational and talented pop musician, with an inside view from manager and companion, sharing his memories of Joplin until her death.

As all of the baby boomers recall the sixties with rock and roll and Woodstock. With legendary musicians such as Hendrix and Joplin, fans did not always know the woman behind the music, as Cooke was a constant presence behind the scenes.

As Cook mentions when he saw these two at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, little did know these legendary musicians would be dead within a few years. Nor did he realize that in just six months, he would become Joplin's road manager and be her near-constant companion, and friend for the rest of her short life. When rock and roll displaced folk music, John was in the right place at the right time.

He was a member of D.A. Pennebaker's film crew at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, where Janis and Jimi Hendrix became overnight sensations. When Albert Grossman signed on a few months later to manage Janis and her band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, he hired John to road manage them. John is the only person who traveled with all three of Janis's bands, from 1967 until her untimely death in 1970.

From the down to earth Texas girl who enjoyed singing the blues, The Big Brother Band and the Holding Company, and sharing the spotlight with many. She was called Pearl by her friends, escaping the small town narrow minded to become a sixties icon and the first female rock star to break in a predominately male business. (fun visiting the high school Texas reunion).

Even though Janis Joplin died at a young age of 27, she played in three different bands and recorded nearly 200 songs, performing from Woodstock to all over the world. From Texas to New York, she rose fast as a young star and lived hard. Cooke delivers an intimate and up-close account of her journey, her strengths, and her passion. Through she had her share of addictions as many celebrities with pressures, and stress, and poor choices, there was much to the woman behind the music.

Only Cook, former manager could deliver such up close and an impressive memoir, writing with passion, sincerity and compassion, from a talented and gifted writer. Janis created a world of possibility for women in music. Rock music fans will enjoy re-living the past and this era, as the legend lives on through the words on each page. Well done!