While I was on the road, I
was still the star-struck kid. Even though we had a hit record and were hearing
ourselves on the radio on a daily basis and signing autographs regularly, I
wasn’t so impressed with myself that I couldn’t get excited with seeing a rock
star in person; especially someone with the renown of Janis Joplin. As an
aside, I should mention that many of my experiences from those days have been
hidden in the recesses of my memory and rarely spoken of, since I always fear
that someone will take me for a pathological liar. But, on to the tale.
At Sicks Stadium, in
Seattle, we were to play a festival that included name acts like Janis, The
Youngbloods, The Allman Brothers and more. I had heard through the grapevine
that Janis was resting in her trailer, which was no surprise since we were all
pretty worn out from the road in those days. After watching one of the
guitarists from the Youngbloods (of the hit song “Get Together”) cut the old
strings off his guitar in a way that made me wince, and start to restring it, I
took a little walk around the park. That was when I saw that flaming star. It
was almost a magical moment for me.
Janis was dressed head to
foot in an expandable knit purple outfit, with matching hat and feather boa;
pretty much just how you’d expect her to look. I was nearly breathless. Trying
to hide my excitement (and act cool, I suppose), I approached her until I got
close enough not to totally invade her space and waited for her to look my way.
She turned, smiling, and I immediately blurted out something like, “Janis, you
don’t know me but I’m Kenny from PG&E and I have been a fan of yours long
before I got on the road with them.”
She was so gracious. She
started chatting with me like an old friend. She asked if I had heard the ‘Full
Tilt Boogie Band’, which had recently replaced Big Brother as her backup band.
I admitted I hadn’t. At that point she began praising them and told me to be
sure to stay and hear them play that evening at the concert.
I noticed that she was very
animated, and not high or drunk as I had expected. She almost sparkled.
Nevertheless, she was periodically swigging off of what appeared to be a pint
bottle of something from a brown paper sack. Trying to keep the conversation
going, I asked her what was in the sack. Without speaking, she handed me the
bag-wrapped bottle and indicated that I should take a taste. In those days, I
never refused anything drinkable or smokeable, so I took a good-sized slug. The
rush I got from the potent liquor reminded me of a cough medicine from my
childhood known as Terpin Hydrate, which had a high alcohol content and a
bizarre form of cherry flavor. When I told her this, she chuckled with the
exact same laugh as the one at the end of her recording of “Mercedes Benz”, and
told me in that raspy Janis voice, “It’s Southern Comfort, baby."
So, on that sunny day in Seattle, Washington, Janice Joplin gave me my first taste of Southern Comfort.
