I had recently bought my first 35mm camera in 1968 and was shooting shots of Janis Joplin at a love-in concert at Barnes Park in Monterey Park, California. I was up close to the stage when Big Brother’s roadies were setting up their gear when I spotted a guy who I knew from some college classes I had taken the previous year. When I called out his name he recognized me and came over to catch-up. When I asked him what he had been doing he told me he had dropped out of college to go on tour with Big Brother as their road photographer. Then he asked me if I wanted to meet Janis…well it didn’t take more than a nanosecond to say yes. We walked up on the stage just as the roadies had finished setting up the equipment and Janis was sitting at the drums playing around. My friend introduces me and Janis couldn’t have been anymore cordial…after a few minutes she drifted back into messing around with the drums again. She did however let me take a couple of photos which I have included. I love the innocence of her smile. Who would have known that Janis would be dead within a few years from a drug overdose at the age of 27.
