高中時期, 她花更多的時間在閒逛, 友敍暢飲, 未曾畢業已離校, 改而入讀 Lamar State College 商科學院。1960年, 十七歲首次離家, 前赴 San Francisco 三藩市, 但很快便返回家鄉。1962年夏天, Janis 考進 University of Texas 修讀藝術; 仍然以不羈的衣著服飾, 頭髮鬆鬈, 手上不離她的 "Autoharp 豎琴", 赤腳四出, 各處流連, 經常在校園表演民歌, 加入樂隊組合 "Waller Creek Boys Trio" 之後, 課餘在一些酒吧賣唱, 她野性粗獷的唱腔, 非一般白人女歌手所及, 與當年 Joan Baez 或 Judy Collins 的輕柔、清脆的腔調, 實在不能相比。
"What Good Can Drinkin' Do"
1962年十二月, 正開始錄音時, Janis 在不覺意下被收錄了她的喃喃自語:
"Uh, this is a song called 'What Good Can Drinkin' Do',
that I wrote one night after drinkin' myself into a stupor"
至1967年才有正式錄音版本, 這段說話, 仍保留在不同的錄音當中 !
What good can drinkin' do, what good can drinkin' do?
Lord, I drink all night but the next day I still feel blue
There's a glass on the table, they say it's gonna ease all my pain,
And there's a glass on the table, they say it's gonna ease all my pain
But I drink it down, an' the next day I feel the same
Gimme whiskey, gimme bourbon, give me gin
Oh, gimme whiskey, give me bourbon, gimme gin
'Cause it don't matter what I'm drinkin', Lord, as long as it drown this sorrow I'm in.
My man he left me, child, he left me here
Yeah, my good man left me, went away and left me here
Lord, I'm feelin' lowdown, just give me another glass of beer
I start drinking Friday, I start drinking Friday night
Lord, I start drinking Friday, start drinking Friday night
But then I wake up on Sunday, child, there ain't nothin' that's right
What good can drinkin' do, what good can drinkin' do?
Well, I drink all night but the next day I still feel blue!
St. James Infirmary - 1962
I went down to old Joe's bar room, on the corner by the square
Well, the drinks were bein' served as usual, and this motley crowd was there
Well, on my left stood Joe McKennedy, and his eyes were bloodshot red
When he told me that sad story, these were the words he said:
I went down to the St. James infirmary, I saw my baby there
She was stretched out on a long white table, so cold, and fine, and fair
Go ahead!
Let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be
She can search this world over, never find another man like me
Yes, sixteen coal black horses, to pull that rubber tied hack
Well, it's seventeen miles to the graveyard, but my baby's never comin' back
Well, now you've heard my story, well, have another round of booze
And if anyone should ever, ever ask you, I've got the St. James infirmary blues!
1. What Good Can Drinkin' Do
2. See See Rider
3. San Francisco Bay Blues
4. Stealin' Stealin'
5. The Bourgeois Blues