Michael of 2 Blowhards had asked his readers what songs they loved to sing along to, and Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz came to my mind immediately. Well, Michael kindly spent some time digging around You-Tube and found this one among many of the classics requested. Some solid gold stuff here.
I never appreciated Joplin as much then as I do now, but Mercedez Benz brings back memories of a little bar in West Haven where a great group of folk met and sang this one out loud when nobody had a quarter left for the jukebox and we were on our last round of beer. I can still sing the whole song from memory.
Another favorite Joplin tune is Me and Bobby McGee. Though I have it on a Willie wheel, it’s been a long time since I heard it in Janis’ inimitable range of haunting beauty to screaming banshee.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology