#338 - Big Brother & The Holding Company - Cheap Thrills (1968)
MUSIC HISTORY COMPILED BY ADAM BERNARD:
BIG BROTHER & THE HOLDING COMPANY BIO
Big Brother & the Holding Company formed in the summer of 1965 in San Francisco, California. Founded by guitarists Peter Albin and Sam Andrew, the group later grew to include another guitarist, James Gurley, drummer Dave Getz, and their soulful lead singer, Janis Joplin, who had recently moved to the Bay Area from Texas. Albin moved over to bass, and Getz replaced original drummer Chuck Jones. The Avalon Ballroom was an important spot for the San Francisco music scene in those days, and that's where BB & THC cut their teeth, along with The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. The band's first album was made because they needed money - after a residency at a Chicago club, the band discovered they had no money to get home. They quickly signed a deal with a Chicago-based label that focused on their low-key acoustic material rather than their bread and butter. The band later appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and that sparked major attention in the band. They went into the studio in the summer of 1968 to record today's album.
After the immense success of Cheap Thrills, Joplin and Andrew left Big Brother to pursue new projects, while Albin and Getz joined Country Joe and the Fish. James Gurley retreated to the desert. The band momentarily reunited with new members in 1970, and disbanded once again in 1972, only to reunite with its original rhythm section in 1987.
BACKGROUND – CHEAP THRILLS
This is the 2nd studio album by the band, released in August 1968, one year after the release of their self-titled debut album. This was their last album with Joplin as their lead singer before beginning her solo career. Initially, the album was to be called Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills, but the title was not received well by Columbia Records. Album producer John Simon incorporated crowd recordings to give the impression that this was a live album, but the only track actually recorded from a concert was the album closer, Ball and Chain, recorded at the Winterland Ballroom (despite the album saying the live material was recorded at Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium). Initially the band recorded two concerts in Detroit for this album, but Simon and manager Albert Grossman weren't satisfied. The live album idea was scrapped. It was difficult for the band to adapt their raw sound and work habits with the realities of a professional studio, and progress had gotten to the point where the band questioned if they had the right producer because he came from a different musical style, and didn't understand the band's psychedelic, guitar-based sound. Nonetheless, the album was completed, and reached #1 on the charts for 8 non-consecutive weeks in 1968. This went on to be the most successful album of the year and has gone platinum twice in the United States.
Even though the album was released with only seven songs, the other eight songs which were not included were released on subsequent albums.
The album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and thus it was preserved into the National Recording Registry for the 2012 register. The album was named the 163rd best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork. (which probably doesn't sound great, but think of all the bands that were big during that decade and the increased frequency of churning out reassess like they had to in those days compared to later years).
Talking to the Library of Congress, Album producer John Simon said about Janis’s role on this album: “And then there was Janis—the boss. Smart, loud, mercurial, she had the vision. Cheap Thrills is the album it is because of Janis, because of her raw emotion, her energy. She gave it her all. She was a blues shouter. Raw.”