Did you know “Piece of my Heart” was originally recorded by Aretha Franklin’s older sister Erma?  I didn’t even know Erma existed and had a music career.  Thanks Wikipedia.  Well, we all know Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company’s classic version.  The video I have below is the most hard rocking and punkiest take I’ve ever seen.  Janis and the boys deliver this one with some extra kick and funk, blasting it out for hard core blues addicts.  The tempo is super-charged, and the atmosphere is damned manic, I’ve never seen a Janis performance like this.  The next bonus song, “To Love Somebody,” is taken from the Dick Cavett Show in 1969.  This one is just a pure showcases for Janis’s unbelievable talent and energy.  It reminds you that Janis was, and remains, the greatest female rock vocalist, and in the overall top 5 of greatest rock vocalists ever.  I have her as #5.  I came out about this number extremely scientifically, having gone through the long process of spontaneously coming up with the concept as I’m writing this sentence.  This is bound to be fun, so stay tuned tomorrow and watch me pull #4 out of my ass.

Part 92 of my youtube countdown tears you into another dimension with the Doors, “Break On Through (To the Other Side).”  This is one of the greatest psychedelic pop singles you’ll ever hear.  It’s got an iconic pulsing keyboard bass intro played by the genius Ray Manzarek, propulsive drumming by John Densmore, stunning pickless riffs by Robby Krieger, and perfect dark lyrics and singing by the immortal Jim Morrison.  This version is actually a special remix featuring the original, “She Gets (high)” lyric that was censored for over 30 years until the 1990s.  The Doors are one of the coolest bands that ever existed for a bunch of reasons.  #1.  The name- In 2011, all amazing rock band names have been taken, and the Doors grabbed that special piece of real-estate all the way back in 1965, bastards.  #2., #3, #4, Manzarek, Densmore, and Krieger-  These 3 were all geniuses of rock and roll.  Manzarek is the greatest psychedelic keyboard player of all time.  Krieger could hold his own with anybody on guitar in the 60s, which says a lot.  Oh, he also wrote “Light My Fire.”  Densmore was a fantastic and exciting drummer who contributed a lot to the bands overall sound.  #5. Jim Morrison-  One of the greatest lead singers of all time.  To me, he is better than all the 70s hard rock bands he inspired, and that includes Led Zepplin’s Robert Plant.  He was an outrageous real rocker with no inhibitions who blazed a comet of artistic unstopability!  One last rock and roll fun fact before I go.  My dad was at the infamous Miami concert when Jim Morrison supposedly pulled his cock out and got himself arrested for indecent exposure.  Well according to my then 19 year old father, Morrison NEVER did it.  He said the cops were on the stage, and he threatened them that he would pull dick out, but he didn’t.  He said the cops just jumped him and dragged him off stage!  Of course we all know what happened next.  Morrison escaped to France to avoid prosecution, and soon died of a heroin overdose in his bathtub at age 27…Seems unfair in light of what really happened, no?  Luckily we have “Break On Through” so Jim can live on.  Enjoy.