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The album has a more polished feel than the albums she recorded with Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Kozmic Blues Band due to the expertise of producer Paul A. Rothchild and her new backing musicians. Rothchild was best known as the producer of The Doors, and worked well with Joplin, calling her a producer's dream. Together they were able to craft an album that showcased her extraordinary vocal talents.
The Full Tilt Boogie Band were the musicians who accompanied her on the famous train tour of Canada, Festival Express, in the summer of 1970, and many of the songs on this album were introduced on the concert stage in Canada. They also appeared twice on The Dick Cavett Show.
All nine tracks that she sings on were personally approved and arranged by Joplin. Pearl features the number one hit "Me and Bobby McGee", on which she played acoustic guitar, written by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster; "Trust Me", by Bobby Womack, written for Joplin; Howard Tate's "Get It While You Can", showcasing her vocal range; and the original songs "Move Over" and "Mercedes Benz," the latter cowritten by Joplin. Two other cuts, "My Baby" and "A Woman Left Lonely", are among her best studio performances.
Joplin sings on all tracks except "Buried Alive in the Blues", which remained a Full Tilt Boogie instrumental as she died before adding vocals, but she approved the instrumental track. The recording sessions, starting in early September, ended with Joplin's untimely death on October 4, 1970. Her final recordings were "Mercedes Benz" and a birthday greeting for John Lennon.
The iconic album cover, photographed by Rolling Stone photographer Baron Wolman, shows Joplin reclining on her Victorian Era loveseat with a drink in her hand.
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