How Janis Joplin Took Revenge on the Rolling Stones

Grand Funk Railroad co-founder Mark Farner recalled his dislike for the ‘60s British Invasion and said Janis Joplin shared his feelings to the extent that she did something about it.

In a recent interview with Rock History Music, Farner explained that his main issue with the bands that crossed the Atlantic like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones was that they all sang in American English and that his late friend Joplin agreed with him.

“We spoke of this, and she was smearing chocolate all over the seats of a helicopter that the Rolling Stones were going to use next,” he laughed. “We would sit and have this conversation. [She’d say,] ‘British invasion, my ass. Those guys sing in American English because we are the only ones free. Those guys are born subject to the crown; those guys are born assholes!’ And I’m going, ‘Yeah, baby, talk to me!’”

You can watch the interview below

Farner recalled that she smeared “chocolate all over these plush seats on this helicopter that’s been done up like a motorhome inside. And that’s back when Mick [Jagger] wore those white satin pants! And it was Florida – hotter than the sheriff’s pistol … That melted chocolate, there’s no way they could have avoided sitting in it. Unless they put something down and sat on that.”

He argued that the British groups that left him bemused were evidence that “when you imitate someone that is the sincerest form of flattery.” But he argued that flattery could become a form of self-deceit. “Not from the one who’s flattering you – certainly that’s not their intention,” he said. “It’s when you buy it, that’s when it becomes deceitful. … You’re adding … to your own stature. You gotta stay away from that … keep with who you know you are … have the attitude of gratitude.”