Released in January 1971, three months after her October 1970 death, Pearl quickly became Janis Joplin’s definitive studio album, rising to #1 on the Billboard charts and staying there for nine weeks. Joplin ditched the horn section that somewhat muddied her Kozmic Blues project and, along with her new Full Tilt Boogie Band, cranked out a batch of bluesy rock nuggets that would ultimately define her distinctive vocal talents as more substantial and dynamic than just the caricature of a hard charging, heavy drinking, blues belting mama she had become. It has rightly assumed iconic status in her slim catalog of studio recordings.
Review by American songwriter
When Pearl was first remastered on compact disc in 1991, the package included four live recordings from her last tour in 1970 as bonus tracks. In 2005, a two-disc edition was released that included additional live tracks and a happy birthday to John Lennon tribute recording of “Happy Trails” that she taped in the studio with the band during the Pearl sessions. Now Sony Legacy is reissuing the album for the third time as The Pearl Sessions with more bonus tracks and alternate takes as well as studio conversations between Joplin, the band, and her producer during the recording sessions.
Review by popMATTERS
By Steve Horowitz
But the treasures come on the second disc which includes fly on the wall studio chatter and rawer takes of “Move Over,” “Get it While You Can,” “My Baby” and “Cry Baby.” A demo and alternate version of “Me and Bobby McGee” aren’t radically altered from what ended up as the final hit. Two live songs and the “Pearl” instrumental—previously released– fill out the rest of the disc’s 75 minutes. It’s all interesting, even fascinating to hear…once. But Janis Joplin was not the Beatles, Dylan or the Stones, artists whose creative process and outtakes would be of immense historical value. While Pearl is a terrific album and the height of Joplin’s studio career, it is not in a league with some of rock’s most genre defining work. How often anyone but the hardest core fanatic will return to this vault clearing ephemera is debatable.
Review by American songwriter
Suffice it to say that unless you simply need to own everything Janis touched, this package is of negligible value. Newcomers will be better served by the 2005 edition with its powerful concert material showing how Joplin and the scrappy Full Tilt reinterpreted her earlier work. It’s a far more essential, educational and enjoyable listening experience.
Review by American songwriter
By Hal Horowitz
CD1
01 - Move Over
02 - Cry Baby
03 - A Woman Left Lonely
04 - Half Moon
05 - Buried Alive In The Blues
06 - My Baby
07 - Me And Bobby McGee
08 - Mercedes Benz
09 - Trust Me
10 - Get It While You Can
11 - Me And Bobby McGee (Mono Single)
12 - Half Moon (Mono Single)
13 - Cry Baby (Mono Single)
14 - Get It While You Can (Mono Single)
15 - Move Over (Single Version)
16 - A Woman Left Lonely (Mono Single)
CD2
01 - Overheard In The Studio...
02 - Get It While You Can (Take 3)
03 - Overheard In The Studio...
04 - Get It While You Can (Take 5)
05 - Overheard In The Studio...
06 - Move Over (Take 6)
07 - Move Over (Take 13)
08 - Move Over (Take 17)
09 - Me And Bobby McGee (Demo Version)
10 - Me And Bobby McGee (Take 5 - Alternate)
11 - Cry Baby (Alternate Version)
12 - A Woman Left Lonely (Alternate Vocal)
13 - Overheard In The Studio...
14 - My Baby (Alternate Take)
15 - Overheard In The Studio...
16 - Get It While You Can (Take 3)
17 - My Baby (Alternate Version)
18 - Pearl (Instrumental)
19 - Tell Mama (Live 7-28-70)
20 - Half Moon (Live - 8-3-70)
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