Big Brother and the Holding Company

Janis Joplin made her debut on this 1968 record by the Bay Area-based acid/blues rock outfit. The album embodies the free-form spirit that marks some of the best (and worst) of '60s rock, but it's Janis that stands out. "Summertime" and "Piece Of My Heart" are overplayed, but her vocals on these songs are raw and stunning.

Well, it's a real disappointment. After all the hoopla of signing with Columbia, using one of
the best producers in the business and the well-spread reviews of dozens of limp-limbed
and sweaty-brow reviewers who have seen Big Brother and Holding Company in
performance, one would expect slightly more than what we have gotten. The title, Cheap
Thrills, (shortened from Dope, Sex and Cheap Thrills) is an appropriate one, for t... More >

Postpunks should forget Janis Joplin and dig this: just because they practiced in their own $300-a-month Marin commune doesn't mean they weren't a garage band. A classic garage band, in fact, and they played out a lot. That's one reason this low-fi one-night-only live-in-1966 tape overcomes the expected flaws to give forth more raunch than most singles catalogues. Janis Joplin is the other. (Grade - B+)