Janis Joplin and Kris Kristofferson were close friends at one point. She recorded his song and it became a posthumous hit for her. Kristofferson didn't even know she had recorded it until a friend played the record for him after she died.
When Clive Davis saw Joplin performing at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 he was so impressed that he offered to sign her to his label. She was the first artist he ever signed {followed by Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Patti Smith, Kenny G and Sarah McLachlan).
I was present at Janis Joplin's last "live" performance (Aug 12, 1970), which was a "Summertime" concert at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, MA. She died two months later from a heroin overdose at 27.
