Music Review:
Big Brother & The Holding Company - Big Brother And The Holding Company
http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-big-brother-the-holding/
David Bowling
Jun 05, 2010
Big Brother & The Holding Company are still on the road, but no
matter what they may do or where they go or what they play or create,
they will always be remembered as the launching pad for Janis Joplin.
She almost did not join the group as she had considered becoming a
part of the 13th Floor Elevators in her native Texas. The thought of
her and Roky Erickson even in the same vicinity boggles the mind.
Their debut album, Big Brother And The Holding Company, released
during September of 1967, was recorded December 14-16 of 1966. During
that recording process Joplin was just a member of the band. It was
their incendiary performance at the Monterey Pop Festival during the
summer of 1967 that pushed her to the forefront of the group and
introduced her to the music buying public. Her popularity would
continue to build until it reached mythic proportions after her death.
Their debut album was a more subdued affair than the one which would
follow a year later, yet it remained grounded in the San Francisco
sound of the day. It was raw and driven by the intensity of the
music. Guitarists James Gurley and Sam Andrew, drummer David Getz,
and bassist Peter Albin were all important cogs in the Big Brother
music machine. It is an album of short psychedelic rock/folk sound
bytes as the longest of the twelve tracks clocks in at just over two
and a half minutes.
Four decades after its initial release, it is the Joplin dominated
tracks which shine. Her arrangement and vocals on the traditional
"Down On Me" has become one of the staples in her catalogue. Her
vocals are double-tracked on the first song, "Bye, Bye Baby," which
gives them a unique effect. She wrote three of the songs and
"Intruder," "The Last Time," and "Women Is Losers," clearly show she
was an adept composer even this early in her career.
Joplin's voice is clearer on many of these performances as it had not
been worn down by hard singing and a lot of hard living. Also of note
is the guitar playing of James Gurley, who is one of the underrated
and many times forgotten musicians of the psychedelic era.
Big Brother And The Holding Company was a unique stop for the group
and for Janis Joplin, but it set a firm foundation for her future.
The album not only has held up well but remains historically
important as the studio training ground for one of rock's legendary singers.
.
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