Why Janis Joplin Didn’t Like Her European Audiences

Why Janis Joplin Didn’t Like Her European Audiences | I Love Classic Rock Videos

Janis Joplin performs Maybe live - edgardo rios / Youtube

Janis Joplin was an integral part of counterculture music, shocking the world with her vocal abilities as well as captivating audiences. Her career may be brief, establishing herself as a part of Big Brother and The Holding Company and later on with her band, the Kozmic Blues, but she remained equally important in today’s music, influencing hundreds of artists with her style.

Given that she is an icon of music, there’s something about her that makes people adore her, even if she is out there sharpening her tongue on interviews. As someone who can freely express her mind without the fear of offending somebody, her interviews are proof that there’s no need for her to take the high road when she could go down explaining what’s best for her wit.

It happened by chance that in her visit to The Dick Cavett Show in 1969, she would encounter a question that would leave her to become guileless with her words. After a phenomenal performance of her well-beloved version of “To Love Somebody,” the singer plopped down on the seat and chat with Dick Cavett. Joplin, who recently finished a European tour for about a month, told the host that she might’ve scared the audience there “to death.”

Cavett then began to ask if she had fun, to which she replied, “No, I had a terrible time. Nobody really gets loose, and nobody rocks over there. They’re all so cerebral, they’re really cerebral, do you know what I mean?” To everyone’s surprise and entertainment, Cavett joined her by saying, “Yes, I know what you mean,” saying that Europeans tend to examine your work instead of just plainly appreciating it.

While both have been brought to showbiz with different interests, it’s amazing how these two legends talked about a common thing that they’ve both agreed on: how tough the European audience is like.

You can watch the interview below.