ALS signed “XXXXX, Love, J,” six pages, 5.75 x 8, September 8 [1965]. Joplin writes to her then-fiancé Peter DeBlanc, menioning her small-scale performances, her love for Peter, and her rather humdrum life in Texas. Joplin expresses excitement over her $125 per-week gigs, making clear that at this stage in her life, she had no notion of where her musical career would eventually take her. In part: “Had a pretty busy day…. A guitar player that I met in Beaumont came by w/ a friend of his & we sang a little. He wants me to go up to Houston w/ him to a folk music club & sing. He thinks I’m good & says he can get me $125 a week. But I told him I was going to school & really wasn’t that interested in working—maybe a weekend. But we’ll see. I haven’t even been up there yet. (Oh, did I tell you that an old friend of mine [8 yrs] who lives in Austin called me last week? He works on the newspaper up there & has just been given a column to do—an entertainment column…. He is an excellent jazz musician himself & knows lots of people who play. So he called me wanting to form a group w/ me singing, to work around Austin on the weekends. But I felt it was really too much of a hassle to go back & forth to Austin. It’s an 8 hr. drive, so I told him that I couldn’t. (Wasn’t feasible). But if the Houston thing pans out, I might do that for a weekend ($20 a night) if you think it’s okay. Do you? You needn’t worry about my falling for any dapper young folk singers. I’ve been that route & I know where they are at & I don’t want in! Also, a girlfriend of mine from Beaumont called this evening. She is connected w/ that coffee-house in Beaumont that I sang at once. They’ve found an old spade blues piano player & asked me to come up this evening to see if we could work anything out. So, I’m going up there to sing tonight. It might evolve into a weekend gig too. But, it’s funny, I’m not all that ambitious anymore. But I’d still like to do it. So, we’ll see. Wow, from this letter, it really sounds like I’ve been working out. The mad, capricious Belle of Port Arthur! Hardly…. Strange, it’s such a quiet, peaceful existence & I’m enjoying it so thoroughly. But, of course, you understand that I wouldn’t without you. You’re very important to me. Vital, if you must. I love you so you made my life whole.” Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, addressed in Joplin’s hand to DeBlanc and signed on the reverse with her return address, “Miss Janis Lyn Joplin, 3130 Lombardy, Port Arthur, TX.” Jolpin had moved to California in 1963 an eventually got caught up in the drug culture. Her first outing to the west coast did not go well, Joplin herself admitting in a later interview, “Things got all messed up out there.” In April 1965, Janis returned to her parents’ home in Port Arthur to dry out and get her life back on track, even enrolling at Lamar University. The letter originally came from a larger collection of correspondence from Mary Sullivan, the ex-wife of DeBlanc. In very fine condition, as fresh as the day it was mailed, with envelope showing typical postal wear, lightly affecting signature. Not only virtually unimprovable in terms of condition, legibility, and content, but also a fascinating window into Jolpin’s spunk and wistfulness that made her a beloved icon of the 1960s. COA Roger Epperson/REAL and R&R COA.
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