Janis Joplin – To Love Somebody

Janis Joplin – To Love Somebody, from THE DICK CAVETT SHOW. July 18, 1969.

“To Love Somebody” – song by Janis Joplin from the first solo studio album and only studio album recorded with the Kozmic Blues Band, I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
It was recorded from June 16th to the 26th, 1969.

The album was released on September 11, 1969, by Columbia Records.

It was first recorded by The Bee Gees and was written by Barry and Robin Gibb.

When Joplin went on The Dick Cavett Show to promote the album, she busted out her version of ‘To Love Somebody’. Taking its cues more from the classic Stax sound of Otis Redding and Booker T. & the MG’s, Joplin’s version of ‘To Love Somebody’ dispenses of the monster hook at the centre of the Bee Gees version for some more elastic vocal work from Joplin. Of course, Joplin puts her signature snarl to good use, and without the proper background knowledge, it would be impossible to envision this version as a Bee Gees song.