Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Bye Bye Baby - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
2. Easy Rider - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
3. Intruder - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
4. Light Is Faster Than Sound - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
5. Call on Me - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
6. Women Is Losers - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
7. Blindman - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
8. Down on Me - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
9. Caterpillar - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
10. All Is Loneliness - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
11. Coo Coo [*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
12. Last Time [*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
13. Call on Me [Alternate Take][#][*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
14. Bye Bye Baby [Alternate Take][#][*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin

Disc 2:

1. Combination of the Two - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
2. I Need a Man to Love - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
3. Summertime - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
4. Piece of My Heart - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
5. Turtle Blues - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
6. Oh, Sweet Mary - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
7. Ball and Chain - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
8. Road Block [#][*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
9. Flower in the Sun [#][*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
10. Catch Me Daddy [Live][#][*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
11. Magic of Love [Live][#][*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin

Disc 3:

1. Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
2. Maybe - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
3. One Good Man - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
4. As Good as You've Been to This World - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
5. To Love Somebody - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
6. Kozmic Blues - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
7. Little Girl Blue - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
8. Work Me, Lord - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
9. Dear Landlord [*] - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
10. Summertime [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
11. Piece of My Heart [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band, Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band

Disc 4:

1. Move Over - Janis Joplin & Her Kozmic Blues Band
2. Cry Baby - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
3. Woman Left Lonely - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
4. Half Moon - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
5. Buried Alive in the Blues - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
6. My Baby - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
7. Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin, Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
8. Mercedes Benz - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
9. Trust Me - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
10. Get It While You Can - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
11. Tell Mama [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
12. Little Girl Blue [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
13. Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
14. Cry Baby [Live][#][*] - Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band

Disc 5:

1. It's a Deal [Studio Outtake][#][*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
2. Easy Once You Know How [Studio Outtake][#][*] - Big Brother & the Holding Company, Janis Joplin
3. Maybe [Live][#][*] - Sunny Murray Duo, Sunny Murray Duo
4. Raise Your Hand [Live][#][*] - Sunny Murray Duo, Sunny Murray Duo
5. Bo Diddley [Live][#][*] - Sunny Murray Duo, Sunny Murray Duo

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27716 in Music
• Released on: 2005-08-02
• Number of discs: 5
• Formats: Box set, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
Janis Joplin was one of the most exhilarating performers of an era blessed with riveting stage artists, but all but her most emphatic champions must concede her recorded oeuvre is problematic. With Big Brother & the Holding Company she was surrounded by up-from-the-streets cohorts who were spiritually attuned to Joplin, even if they weren't always musically in tune. After one rushed, premature effort for the Mainstream label, Big Brother hit the top of the charts with one of the touchstones of the San Francisco sound, Cheap Thrills. Barraged by critics who believed Joplin's skills as a blues and soul singer were being squandered in a psychedelic setting, the toast of Haight-Ashbury went solo with the up-and-down I Got Them Ol' Kozmic Blues Again, Mama. Joplin was hitting her stride during the 1970 Pearl sessions when she died of a drug overdose at age 27. The album's posthumous release was a critical and commercial smash. Box of Pearls binds the 1999 remastered and expanded versions of the aforementioned albums and tosses in a five-track rarities EP entitled, appropriately enough, Rare Pearls. Much of Box of Pearls is brilliant while portions are badly dated, but it's all Joplin. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Get it while you can
Here she is in all her glory. Four of Janis's original recordings, remastered, including many bonus tracks for added interest. The bonus CD "Rare Pearls" offers five cuts otherwise unavailable even to the most serious bootlegger. This box set is a must have for Janis fans. If you are torn between getting the 3CD box set and this one, start with this one first. Then get Winterland '68, Farewell Song, and the 3CD box set. Between all these CDs, you can create your own ultimate collection of top favorite Janis tracks, whether live, original release, or alternate take. It's up to Janis's fans to sort through the best of the best, and this box set is the best place to begin.

(Plus you gotta love the artwork replicating Janis's psychedelic Porsche. Only complaint: I would have liked to have seen a booklet of photos and text included, but the liner notes written by John Cooke and others for the respective CDs give an excellent overview for each recording, none the less.)

The Way to Go
I rate this Box Set 4 stars and a half.
This Box Set contains 5 CDs with 55 re-mastered tracks feautirung all four Janis Joplin studio albums plus an exclusive bons EP of unreleased tracks.
The first two albums are the ones Joplin recorded with Big Brother and The Holding Company: Big Brother and the Holding Company and Cheap Thrills.
The other two are her solo albums I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, and her largely acclaimed Pearl.
The last CD is the EP Rare Pearls with 5 tracks that can only be found here. Be aware that this box does not include every single track Joplin recorded. For example, the tracks Misery'n, Farewell Song, and Raise Your Hand can be found in her last Essential compilation, but they are not included here. I would not bother about that, though. If you like Janis Joplin, I would recommend you to get this Box Set. You won't need anything else. It also contains a 36 page booklet with interesting pictures, credits, and liner notes to the five albums included here.

Better than the 3 CD box set!
I think that BOX OF PEARLS is exceptional, even better than the other box set of Janis'. It includes some of her songs from Calgary, Canada on 7/4/70, including a very interesting version of "Little Girl Blue" in that it has neither strings (as it is on the album I GOT DEM OL' KOZMIC BLUES AGAIN MAMA!) or horns (as I've heard is the case on the TV show THIS IS TOM JONES) in the background. And also, the remastered "Summertime" and "Piece Of My Heart" from Woodstock are no comparison to the gritty mono version which is a European import. "Magic Of Love" is a good tune to include as an extra track on CHEAP THRILLS. And lastly, the 5th CD, entitled RARE PEARLS has 2 outtakes from CHEAP THRILLS also, "Maybe", live in Amsterdam, Holland on 4/11/69 which also exists as a bootleg, and 2 songs, "Raise Your Hand" and "Bo Diddley" from a concert at the Fillmore East or the Winterland ballroom (there are conflicting reports) on 10/4/69. Anyway, this is a great and quite complete collection of music from a legendary blues/rock/folk singer.