Big Brother & the Holding Company
| Janis Joplin
Big Brother & the Holding Company
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.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
December 3, 2018. Big Brother and the Holding Co.’s ‘Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills’ offers a vibrant image of Janis Joplin in her prime.
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American Songwriter
November 26, 2018. This is likely the last word on Joplin’s short (1966-’68) but key association with Big Brother & the Holding Company. She had already moved on in her career even as this album was still on the charts.
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Pop Matters
January 8, 2019. The album was a runaway success and made Joplin a star because of her earthshaking renditions of such songs as George and Ira Gershwin's "Summertime", Big Mama Thornton's "Ball and Chain", and Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns' "Piece of My Heart".
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AllMusic
Unfortunately for Janis Joplin and Big Brother & the Holding Company, the respectable performances and all of the material on this disc are undercut by a weak production that sounds rushed.
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Wilson & Alroy's Record Reviews
West Coast pseudo-folkie proto-psychedelia . . . ; although Janis is less prominent here than on any of her other records, it has its moments, particularly the traditional "Down On Me" and "All Is Loneliness." (DBW) Frequently embarassing - especially when Joplin gives the lead vocals away to the other band members . . . . (JA)
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Robert Christgau
Janis Joplin's first band is still dissed for its crude musicianship, and its pre-Columbia album is still patronized for failing to showcase Joplin the blues singer. Only she wasn't a blues singer, she was a rock singer . . . .
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George Starostin's Reviews
A promising start - but there's a bit too much generic San Francisco about this record. Where's da Jenis, I wonder?
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