Moses “Moe” Asch
December 2, 1905 – October 19, 1986
Moe Asch was a Poland born, New York City raised musicologist who founded the legendary Folkways label in 1948. The label specialized in folk and is considered an invaluable asset to American culture. The label itself, was a major influence on the development of folk musicians for years to come. Folkways released over 2100 recordings during Asch’s time. They included new releases by the likes of Lead Belly, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie was well as previously unreleased discoveries from the ’20s and ’30s. Moe Asch died of natural causes at the age of 81. Following his death, the Smithsonian Institution acquired the Folkways catalog.
Janis Joplin was a pioneering female rock ‘n roll star in an era that saw very few of them. Born and raised in east Texas, Joplin had a rebellious streak from an early age. As the rock ‘n roll stereotype goes, she was an outcast who found solace in music of her idols, in this case, Lead Belly, Bessie Smith and Big Mama Thornton. Joplin left Texas for San Francisco in 1963. Building a name for herself throughout the scene due to her passionate bluesy singing style, Joplin was hired by local psychedelic rock favorites, Big Brother and the Holding Company to be their lead singer. Signed to Columbia Records, the group soon became a breakout act of the San Francisco scene. Thanks to a few key festival performances, television appearances and such dynamic records as “Ball and Chain” and “Piece of my Heart,” Joplin was universally being touted as one of rock’s greatest voices. Sadly though, she was waging a battle against hard drugs and alcohol, and to some, each performance seemed like it might be her last. The band broke up in December of 1970, with Joplin embarking on a solo career. All the while battling her demons, Joplin recorded what would be her swansong album, Pearl. The album contained the two rock classics, “Me and Bobby McGhee,” and “Mercedes Benz,” but would not come out until after her death. On October 4, 1970, when she failed to arrive at the recording studio to work on some finishing touches for Pearl, her band’s road manager drove over to her hotel and found lifeless body. Janis Joplin was dead of a heroin overdose at the age of 27.
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