18 Essential Songs

18 Essential Songs
Compilation album by Janis Joplin
Released	January 24, 1995
Recorded	Various Recording Dates
Genre	Rock, blues
Length	69:39
Label	Columbia
Producer	Jorma Kaukonen, Bob Shad, John Phillip, Lou Adler, Elliot Mazur, Gabriel Mekler, Paul A. Rothchild
Janis Joplin chronology
This is Janis Joplin (1995) 18 Essential Songs (1995) Live at Winterland '68 (1998)

18 Essential Songs is a collection of songs recorded throughout Janis Joplin's career (in both career and with Big Brother & The Holding Company), released in 1995 on Columbia. It reached gold RIAA certification on April 12, 1999.

Reception

The Allmusic review by William Ruhlmann awarded the album 4.5 stars stating "18 Essential Songs is a one-disc distillation of the triple-disc Janis box set. Running 70 minutes, it is a more extensive best-of than the ten-track 1973 Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits album. But it is denied "first pick" status because, unlike that album, it does not contain the hit version of Joplin's only number one single, "Me and Bobby McGee." (It does, however, contain an alternate demo version of that song.)".^[1]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Track listing

1. Trouble In Mind (Richard M. Jones) – 2:54
2. Down On Me (trad., arr. Joplin) – 2:05 (from "Big Brother and the Holding Company")
3. Bye Bye Baby (Powell Saint John) – 2:38 (from "Big Brother & The Holding Company")
4. Ball And Chain (Big Mama Thornton) – 8:13 (recorded live 6/17/67 at Monterey Pop Festival)
5. Piece Of My Heart (Bert Berns, Jerry Ragovoy, Bert Russell) – 4:26
6. I Need A Man To Love (Joplin, Sam Andrew) – 4:51 (from Cheap Thrills)
7. Summertime (George & Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 4:06 (from "Cheap Thrills")
8. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) (Ragovoy, Chip Taylor) – 3:56 (from I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!)
9. One Good Man (Joplin) – 4:09 (from "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!")
10. Kozmic Blues (Joplin, Gabriel Mekler) – 4:22 (from "I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!")
11. Raise Your Hand (Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd, Alvertis Isbell) – 2:18
12. Tell Mama (Clarence Carter, Marcus Daniel, Wilbur Terrell) – 5:47
13. Move Over (Joplin) – 3:40 (from Pearl)
14. Mercedes Benz (Joplin, Mike McClure, Bob Neuwirth) – 1:46
15. Get It While You Can (Ragovoy, Mort Shuman) – 3:23
16. Half Moon (Johanna Hall, John Hall) – 3:52 (from "Pearl")
17. Trust Me (Bobby Womack) – 3:15 (from "Pearl")
18. Me And Bobby McGee-alternate demo; recorded in mono (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster) – 3:58 (from "Pearl")

Personnel

• Janis Joplin – lead vocal
• James Gurley, John Till, Jorma Kaukonen, Michael Bloomfield – guitars
• Sam Andrew – guitars, backing vocals
• Gabriel Mekler, Richard Kermode – keyboards
• Ken Pearson – organ
• Richard Bell – piano
• Cornelius "Snooky" Flowers – baritone sax
• Terry Clements – tenor sax
• Luis Gasca – trumpet
• Brad Campbell, Peter Albin – bass
• Clark Pierson, Dave Getz, Lonnie Castille, Maury Baker, Roy Markowitz – drums, percussion
• Produced By Jorma Kaukonen, Bob Shad, John Phillip, Lou Adler, Elliot Mazur, Gabriel Mekler, Paul A. Rothchild
• "Tell Mama" remixed by Elliott Mazur

References

External links

• "18 Essential Songs" at discogs
• allmusic review Retrieved September 21, 2010
• Searchable Database at RIAA

Sales certifications

Janis Joplin
Studio albums	Big Brother & the Holding Company (1967) Cheap Thrills (1968) I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (1969) Pearl (1971)
Live albums	In Concert (1972) Live at Winterland '68 (1998) The Woodstock Experience (2009) Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 (2012)
Compilations	Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits (1973) Janis (1975) Wicked Woman (1976) Farewell Song (1982) Janis (1993) This Is Janis Joplin (1995) 18 Essential Songs (1995) Love, Janis (2001) The Lost Tapes (2008) Move Over! (2011) Blow All My Blues Away (2012)
Songs	"Ball 'n' Chain" "Careless Love" "Cry Baby" "Down on Me" "Flower in the Sun" "Hesitation Blues" "Kozmic Blues" "Mary Jane" "Me and Bobby McGee" "Mercedes Benz" "Move Over" "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" "Piece of My Heart" "See See Rider" "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" "Summertime" "Tell Mama" "To Love Somebody" "Trouble in Mind" "What Good Can Drinkin' Do" "Work Me, Lord"
Related	Big Brother and the Holding Company Full Tilt Boogie Band Janis (1974 documentary) Love, Janis (2001 musical) Nine Hundred Nights (2001 documentary) Festival Express (2003 documentary) Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015 documentary) Sam Andrew Jorma Kaukonen Gabriel Mekler Michael Monarch Monterey Pop Festival Woodstock Festival Port Arthur, Texas
Book:Janis Joplin

1. ↑ "American album certifications – Janis Joplin – 18 Essential Songs". Recording Industry Association of America.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH