It's been said that by the time she was with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis' voice had already passed it's prime. The drinking, drugs, and hard-living took it's toll. I remember hearing, after she died, a few folk songs she recorded in her early career, and the difference was apparent. The roughness in her sound hadn't set-in yet.

I liked her album Pearl best. I have it on vinyl, but the bonus live tracks on one of the CD reissues are very good.