Airdate: Janis: Little Girl Blue

ABC screens arts doco Janis: Little Girl Blue on Sunday.

This is a 2015 doco directed by Amy J. Berg, which features interviews with Joplin’s family, childhood friends, musical associates and more.

Janis Joplin is one of the most revered and iconic rock and roll singers of all time, a tragic and misunderstood figure who thrilled millions of listeners and blazed new creative trails before her death in 1970 at age 27. Janis: Little Girl Blue examines Joplin’s story in depth presenting an intimate and insightful portrait of a complicated, driven, often beleaguered artist.

With massive hits including “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Piece of My Heart,” and such classic albums as Cheap Thrills and Pearl, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joplin was one of the definitive stars to emerge during the musical and cultural revolution of the 1960s. She delivered a breakout performance at the Monterey Pop Festival, and was one of the memorable acts at Woodstock. Her legacy has only grown since her passing. She ranked high on Rolling Stone’s lists of both the Greatest Singers and Greatest Artists of All Time, and is claimed as an influence by virtually every female rocker who has followed (and many male singers, as well).

Yet, as Janis: Little Girl Blue reveals, Joplin never fully recovered from the persecution she felt as a social outcast during her adolescence in Port Arthur, Texas—for all of her on-stage bravado and her uninhibited, sexualized persona, she was haunted by insecurity and a need for acceptance throughout her life. When she discovered the blues, she found an outlet for her pain and loneliness.

When she made it to San Francisco at the dawning of the hippie era, she fell into a community in which she finally felt she belonged. Ultimately, Janis Joplin is a paradox, a pioneer for a new kind of female performer, one who never stopped seeking love and stability, always on her own terms.

Joplin’s own words tell much of the film’s story through a series of letters she wrote to her parents over the years, many of them made public here for the first time (and read by Southern-born indie rock star/actor Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power). This correspondence is only one element of the stunning, previously unseen material director Amy Berg discovered during the seven years she spent working on this documentary. New audio and video of Joplin in concert and in the studio (some shot by legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker), and even footage from her emotional return to Texas for her tenth high school reunion, add depth and texture to this remarkable story.

Interviews with Joplin’s family, childhood friends, musical associates, TV host Dick Cavett and such noted colleagues as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead give a complete sense of someone who struggled to connect with both individuals and audiences but rejoiced fully when she made those bonds.

Joplin was a powerhouse when she sang, and her recordings have never left the radio or the hearts of rock fans worldwide. Janis: Little Girl Blue offers new understanding of a bright, complex woman whose surprising rise and sudden demise changed music forever.

9:35pm Sunday on ABC.