It was her first and only take of the song. Last time I saw her, she was a junkie and couldn’t focus on her art and was abusive to people around her”īut according to Cooke, “She was a changed woman … She had a band that worshipped her, she had been straight for a few months and she was feeling in charge of herself.” Eventually, Rothchild was won over.ĭuring what would be her final recording session at Sunset Sound Records on October 1, 1970, Joplin recorded the social commentary “Mercedes Benz”. When asked to come on board by road manager John Cooke, he responded, “Oh, John, I don’t know. Rothchild, who was known for his work with The Doors, had initially turned down the project. They recorded many of the tracks on stage, two months before they began recording in studio with Paul Rothchild. Joplin and her new band, The Full Tilt Boogie Band, began recording Pearl on July 27. Her management had already held interventions with her about her heroin use, while friends and family begged her to stop.
By the time she died in 1970, Janis Joplin had recorded three albums and was partway through recording Pearl, her second solo album.
