The Day Janis Joplin Died

In September 1970,Janis Joplin was optimistic about her future. She neared completion of her latest album, Pearl, and was engaged to Seth Morgan, who reportedly lived off a trust fund from his wealthy family. After a vacation with Morgan, Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band would embark on a fall tour. With all this in the works, it was a shock that Joplin, 27, died in the early hours of Oct. 4, 1970, of a heroin overdose.Joplin enjoyed working with the Full Tilt Boogie Band after stints with and the Kozmic Blues Band. Her first effort with producer Paul Rothchild at L.A.'s Sunset Sound yielded memorable tracks like "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Cry Baby.""She told me how much it was blowing her away working with him," Joplin's road manager John Byrne Cooke later told Classic Bands. "Their work together was opening up her understanding of ways to use her voice that were going to stand her in really good stead in the years to come. She was flowering. She expressed to me and to other people...