Customer Reviews

Big Brother & The Holding Company

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...because she makes this album worthwhile..as expected. While it is interesting to hear the early little folky sounds of BBHC it is even more interesting to hear Janis Joplin in her early BBHC days.
This album was the first release for Big Brother from a failing record company called Mainstream. The album's producer Bob Shad was a 'scout' of sorts at concerts and shows in San Fransisco or anywhere he thought he might find the almighty dollar. Well we can sit and listen and be thankful for Mr. Shad's capitalism. This is an awesome little buncha tunes.
This album was produced and recorded in a studio with people who were reportedly not used to hearing the loud freak-out sounds of BBHC so this is not as big sounding as Cheap Thrills. It IS however a great trip back in time and it sounds more like Janis does folk rock rather than the usual trip-out and boogie kind of stuff. ALL the songs are great but its Janis that makes them great. Her own songwriting comes to life here and even though the band werent allowed to record at volume levels that suited them- this is NO cheap bargain bin disc. (by the way an original vinyl copy of this album is worth a pretty penny and is a GEM for collectors and fans alike)

Its a young vibrant Janis doing great tunes with an underground feel. I bought this a long time ago and I have enjoyed it more than I can say here. Its a glimpse into a youthful, innocence that a lot of people dont see or hear very often with typical Janis stuff.

STANDOUT TRACKS (in my opinion) ARE:

*Easy Rider
*Call On Me
*Intruder (great lyrics by Janis herself here)

Extra tracks were added to this later and those CDs are still very available.
This version of Bye Bye Baby is heard on Janis' Greatest Hits album/CD. Some of these songs on this album have double tracked vocals and it makes Janis' voice stand out and brighten the songs.

Even tho' BBHC were NOT the best band in the world- this album/CD makes you love Janis even more. Its Janis in her youth- and as I said before- its the sound of innocence and playfulness that makes this so special.

"Big Brother & the Holding Company," is an early recording by Big Brother and the Holding Company, a psychedelic blues rock San Francisco-based band during the late 1960's. The record survives largely because of their great, great chick singer, Janis Joplin, of course, who joined them on a Chicago gig. Although Joplin fans will know that she did not, unfortunately, survive the 1970's, as she passed on October 4, 1970 (aged 27), in Los Angeles, California. But in her brief career, despite her troubled life, she left behind a stunning, gutsy repertory of work that has long since floated free of, and outlived, Big Brother. This record, however, was laid down about six months before she (and they) achieved lasting blazing stardom at the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival.

This record, although made rather early in her all-too short career, functions almost as a best-of: it's got a number of her hits on it, including "Bye Bye Baby," "Easy Rider,""Call on Me,"and a very bluesy "Down on Me,"all delivered thrillingly, and in her trademark growling/shouting style that owed a lot to the women blues shouters before her. Weren't very many female blues shouters in Janis's day, although, actually, one of the best of them was the Chicago-based Koko Taylor (What It Takes: The Chess Years (Expanded Edition)). (Somehow or another, I have to tell you, I saw Taylor perform twice, each time seemingly wearing a house dress and $10 wig, but she tore the roof off the venue, even Brooklyn's Prospect Park -- without a roof!)

I also actually somehow managed to see Janis live, with "Big Brother," performing this repertory, at a famous venue of the time, Bill Graham's Fillmore East, on New York's Lower East Side, when it really was pretty scrappy. All these years later, I still remember the expectant hush when the house lights went down, the sweet aroma of various illegal substances, and Joplin's electrifying performance. It was quite a night, I can tell you. But don't wish you could have been there yourself that would make you as old as me....

Not as good as "Cheap Thrills" but still a very good example of early San Francisco blues/rock fusion and a sign of good things to come!