Janis Joplin Moans, Growls

In performance, Janis Joplin is above all a fretful person. The bouncy, vibrant rock and blues singer was as concerned at Saturday night's concert in the University Events Building about her appearance last night on the Ed Sullivan televisión show as she was about anything. As the last strains of music to a bailad she just had sung tapered off through the 10,000 and more packed into the place, she faced the audience and stared with a baffled expression for a moment. "I'm going to teil you a strange thing that's going to happen," she announced, her voice gliding jfrom deep raucous to trilly soprano. "I'm going to be on the Ed Sullivan Show tomorrow night . . . if I can wake him up. God (in a sincerely a wed tone) ... I can't wait. I think he'll I cali me Judy." Then she said Isomething to the effect that he, fmight acll her "Grace," but she Iwas speaking in such low tones Iby that time. and it got so badly garbled in the amplifier, it was difficult to decipher the rest. I The incident o n 1 y is worth imentioning as it gives an indiIbation of the nature of Janis JopIlin who at 26 has climbed to sudcien fame and acclaim, although the "sudden" was a long time in coming. She eannot hide fróm herself, and she eannot hide her real self from her audience, as most performers in the $50,000 a week and up category can. In black bell bottoms and matching shirtwaist, she bounded onto the stage, and she clambered awkwardly over amplifiers left by the James Cotton Blues Band, which accompanied her, giving the appearance she jwould look more at home at a Texas rodeo or in the barn doing the morning müking. The only indication this was the Janis Joplin of success in the hard, brittle and overpowering world of show business was the gold heelless shoes. However, this is not in any manner meant to put Miss Joplin down, for after hearing her ipour out high powered soul and I blues and rock, one could not. Ishe has it, whatever the indeIfinable ''it" is. Furthermore, Ishe probably can sing, given the Ichance, but since the moanings, fcrowlings, shrieks, long notes, ■ow notes and slow notes seem to be what turn on audiences, there does not seem to be much justification for her trying. Her rendition of "Summertime" with the band giving the music a baroque quality was something out of this world, and the rapture on the young faces in the audience was fully justified. She was doing more than just trying to help out an old friend now down and out after being unplugged from The Electric Flag, when she sang "Work Me, Lord!" As she gasped and railed, "Please don',t forget mej down here, Lord;" you wantedj to jump on the stage and clenchj your fist and stamp your feetl right along with her. As others stepped forward for] solo honors, Janis melted intol the background, somewhere in the vicinity of the electric organ. For a moment her face, which gets flushed when she is singing, was passive, expressionless. Not for long, though. She ran up to the lead guitar and shouted in his ear, waved herí arm, direting the orchestrae hortcd the brass section to put I more soul into it. Waving silver I maracas to a Latin tempo, she I was all over the stage. ' When it was over, they jumped I to their feet yelling "We love I you" and pressed in steamy II crush against the stage. With I the audience shouting for her lo I sing "Ball and Chain," she I turned and obliged with o.ie I core, then the faithful !iad to I depart, having to be satisfied I that for an hour they had come I as close to the Janis Joplin thing as they are likely to get. lMM MUI IIIIIM