Big Brother & the Holding Company (album)

Big Brother & the Holding Company is the debut album of Big Brother and the Holding Company, with Janis Joplin, their main singer. Recorded during three days in December 1966 for Mainstream Records, it was released in the summer of 1967, shortly after the band's major success at the Monterey Pop Festival. Columbia took over the band's contract and re-released the album, adding two extra tracks, and putting Joplin's name on the cover. Several tracks on the album were released as singles, the most successful being "Down on Me" on its second release, in 1968.[2]

Big Brother & the Holding Company
Studio album by
Big Brother and the Holding Company
ReleasedAugust 23, 1967[1]
RecordedDecember 12–14, 1966, Los Angeles
GenrePsychedelic rock
Length23:51
Label
ProducerBob Shad
Janis Joplin
Big Brother and the Holding Company chronology
Big Brother & the Holding Company
(1967)		 Cheap Thrills
(1968)

Recording

The band signed to Bob Shad's local record label Mainstream Records while stranded in Chicago after a promoter ran out of money when their concerts did not attract the expected attendance.[3][4] Initial recordings took place in Chicago in September 1966, but these were not satisfactory, and the band returned to San Francisco.[5] The band recorded the tracks "Blindman" and "All Is Loneliness" in Los Angeles, and these were released by Mainstream as a single, which did not sell well.[5] After playing at a "happening" at Stanford in early December 1966, the band traveled to Los Angeles to record 10 tracks between 12 and 14 December 1966, produced by Bob Shad.[5]

Release and reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]

The album was released by Mainstream Records in August 1967, shortly after the band's major success at the Monterey Pop Festival. Two tracks, "Coo Coo" and "The Last Time", were released separately as a single, while the tracks from the previous single, "Blindman" and "All Is Loneliness", were added to the remaining eight tracks.[5] When Columbia took over the band's contract and re-released the album, they included "Coo Coo" and "The Last Time", and put "featuring Janis Joplin" on the cover. The album has been reissued in various formats several times since 1967.[7]

The album was a minor success, peaking at number 60 and almost producing a Top 40 hit with the song "Down on Me". In a retrospective review for Allmusic, Joe Viglione feels the production by Bob Shad is weak, though the material and the performances are respectable.[8]

Track listing
1967 Mainstream Records release
Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bye, Bye Baby"Powell St. John2:37
2."Easy Rider"James Gurley2:23
3."Intruder"Janis Joplin2:27
4."Light Is Faster Than Sound"Peter Albin2:30
5."Call on Me"Sam Andrew2:32
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Women Is Losers"Janis Joplin2:03
7."Blindman"Peter Albin, Andrew, David Getz, Gurley, Joplin2:23
8."Down on Me"Traditional; arranged by Janis Joplin2:04
9."Caterpillar"Peter Albin2:18
10."All Is Loneliness"Moondog2:30
1970 Columbia records release
Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bye, Bye Baby"Powell St. John2:37
2."Easy Rider"James Gurley2:23
3."Intruder"Janis Joplin2:27
4."Light Is Faster Than Sound"Peter Albin2:30
5."Call on Me"Sam Andrew2:32
6."Coo Coo" (Single)Albin1:56
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Women Is Losers"Janis Joplin2:03
8."Blindman"Peter Albin, Andrew, David Getz, Gurley, Joplin2:23
9."Down on Me"Traditional; arranged by Janis Joplin2:04
10."Caterpillar"Peter Albin2:18
11."All Is Loneliness"Moondog2:30
12."The Last Time" (Single)Janis Joplin2:15
1999 Columbia, Legacy release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bye, Bye Baby"Powell St. John2:37
2."Easy Rider"James Gurley2:23
3."Intruder"Janis Joplin2:27
4."Light Is Faster Than Sound"Peter Albin2:30
5."Call on Me"Sam Andrew2:32
6."Women Is Losers"Janis Joplin2:03
7."Blindman"Peter Albin, Andrew, David Getz, Gurley, Joplin2:23
8."Down on Me"Traditional; arranged by Janis Joplin2:04
9."Caterpillar"Peter Albin2:18
10."All Is Loneliness"Moondog2:30
11."Coo Coo" (Single - Bonus track)Albin1:56
12."The Last Time" (Single - Bonus track)Janis Joplin2:15
13."Call On Me" (Bonus Track - Alternate Take)Sam Andrew2:41
14."Bye, Bye Baby" (Bonus Track - Alternate Take)Powell St. John12:39

Personnel

Big Brother and the Holding Company

References
  1. "Janis Joplin". RockHall.com. Janis Joplin Highlights. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  2. Ben Graham (26 June 2015). A Gathering of Promises: The Battle for Texas's Psychedelic Music. John Hunt Publishing. p. 107. ISBN 9781782790938.
  3. Friedman, Myra (27 Apr 2011). Buried Alive: The Biography of Janis Joplin. Crown/Archetype. p. 79. ISBN 9780307790521.
  4. Moskowitz, David V. (10 Nov 2015). The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time: A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World. ABC-CLIO. p. 66. ISBN 9781440803406.
  5. Chris Salewicz (28 Mar 2013). 27: Janis Joplin. Hachette UK. p. 17. ISBN 9781780875415.
  6. Viglione, Joe. "Big Brother & the Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin - Big Brother & the Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  7. "Big Brother & The Holding Company – Big Brother & The Holding Company". discogs.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
  8. Joe Viglione. "Big Brother & the Holding Company Featuring Janis Joplin". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-09. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
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