Big Brother and the Holding Company - wikipedia Big Brother and the Holding Company This article is about the music group. For their eponymous debut album, see Big Brother & the Holding Company ( album ). Big Brother and the Holding Company Left to right : Getz, Joplin, Andrew, Gurley, Albin. c. 1967 Background information Origin San Francisco, California Genres Psychedelic rock, acid rock, blues rock Years active 1965 -- 1968, 1969 -- 1972, 1987 -- present Labels Columbia, Mainstream, Warner Associated acts Country Joe and the Fish, Full Tilt Boogie Band, Kozmic Blues Band Website www.bbhc.com Members Peter Albin Dave Getz Tom Finch Darby Gould David Aguilar Past members Sam Andrew James Gurley Chuck Jones Janis Joplin Nick Gravenites Kathi McDonald Dave Schallock Mike Finnigan Ben Nieves Cathy Richardson Tommy Odetto Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their lead singer. Their 1968 album Cheap Thrills is considered one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic sound of San Francisco ; it reached number one on the Billboard charts, and was ranked number 338 in Rolling Stone 's the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Contents 1 Band history 1.1 Roots in San Francisco 1.2 Janis Joplin 1.3 Mainstream Records debut 1.4 Mantra - Rock Dance 1.5 Monterey Pop Festival 1.6 National success 1.7 Cheap Thrills and split with Joplin 1.8 1969 -- 1972 1.9 1987 -- present 2 Controversy 3 Personnel 3.1 Members 3.2 Lineups 3.3 Timeline 4 Discography 4.1 Studio albums 4.2 Live / compilation albums 4.3 Singles 5 Filmography 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Band history Roots in San Francisco Leader Peter Albin, a country - blues guitarist who had played with future Grateful Dead founders Jerry Garcia and Ron McKernan, met Sam Andrew, a professional rock guitarist with a jazz and classical background. After playing together at Albin 's home, Andrew suggested they form a band. The pair approached guitarist James Gurley, the resulting threesome playing open jam sessions hosted by entrepreneur Chet Helms in 1965. Helms found them a drummer, Chuck Jones, and Big Brother and the Holding Company was formed at their first gig, the Trips Festival in January 1966. In the audience was painter and jazz drummer David Getz, who soon displaced Jones. Big Brother went on to become the house band at the Avalon Ballroom, playing a progressive style of instrumental rock. Feeling a need for a strong vocalist, Helms contacted Janis Joplin, who at the time was considering joining up with Roky Erickson of The 13th Floor Elevators. She traveled to San Francisco from Austin, Texas and debuted with Big Brother at the Avalon on June 10, 1966. Janis Joplin Joplin sang for the first time with Big Brother in 1966. Years later, Andrew described the band 's first impressions of her : We were the established rock and roll band. We were heavy. We were like : all right, out of three or four bands in this city, we are one of them. We 're in the newspapers all the time. We 're working out. We are doing this woman a favor to even let her come and sing with us. She came in and she was dressed like a little Texan. She did n't look like a hippie, she looked like my mother, who is also from Texas. She sang real well but it was n't like, `` Oh we 're bowled over. '' It was probably more like, our sound was really loud. It was probably bowling her over. I am sure we did n't turn down enough for her. She wrote letters home about how exotic all of us were. The names of the bands. That kind of thing. In other words, we were n't flattened by her and she was n't flattened by us. It was probably a pretty equal meeting. She was a real intelligent, Janis was, and she always rose to the occasion. She sang the songs. It was n't like this moment of revelation like you would like it to be. Like in a movie or something. It was n't like, `` Oh my God, now we have gone to heaven. We have got Janis Joplin. '' I mean she was good but she had to learn how to do that. It took her about a year to really learn how to sing with an electric band. It took a while for some of the band 's followers to accept the new singer and her current boyfriend, keyboardist Stephen Ryder. Her music was completely different from that which Big Brother was playing at that time. Big Brother had a very experimental and unconventional sound, but with Joplin, they became more disciplined musicians, their songs adopted a more traditional structure, and the band started to increase its popularity in the San Francisco psychedelic scene. Mainstream Records debut In September 1966, the band was stranded in Chicago after finishing a gig there at a venue called Mother Blues located on Wells Street. The venue 's owner paid them for two weeks ' worth of their concerts but could not pay them enough money for them to buy plane tickets to San Francisco. Big Brother signed a contract with Mainstream Records. They recorded four of the songs for the album Big Brother & the Holding Company The remainder of the record was recorded in Los Angeles on December 12 - 14. Mainstream was known for its jazz records, and Big Brother was the first rock band to appear on the label. This may have influenced the final result, since the album sounded very different from what the band expected : acoustic and folk instead of heavy acid rock. The first single released was `` Blind Man '' b / w `` All Is Loneliness, '' both from the album sessions, in July 1967. It was popular in the San Francisco Bay Area, but did not garner much national attention. A second single, `` Down on Me '' b / w `` Call On Me '' was released along with their self - titled debut album in August 1967, following the band 's national success after the Monterey Pop Festival. The album debuted on Billboard charts on September 2, 1967, peaking at No. 60. It stayed on the charts for a total of 30 weeks. The Pop Chronicles criticized the record as difficult to find and `` technically disappointing ''. `` Down On Me '' had a long gestation in the marketplace and finally debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on August 31, 1968, peaking at No. 43. It stayed on the charts for 8 weeks. Other singles from the album were released through the end of 1967 and in 1968. One final Mainstream single, `` Coo Coo '' b / w `` The Last Time, '' was released after the band 's second album was issued by Columbia Records in November, 1968. These last songs were from the original album sessions, but were not included on the LP until Columbia acquired all of the band 's Mainstream recordings and reissued the album in the 1970s. In the fall of 1966, the band members moved to Lagunitas, in Marin County, California, to a communal house. Later in 1967 they put an ad in the San Francisco Oracle with the apparent intention of moving back to the `` City ''. The ad read : `` Big Brother is returning to the city. Need rehearsal hall and a place to live. Write to B.B. & the H.C. at Box 94 Lagunitas. '' Mantra - rock Dance The Mantra - Rock Dance poster featuring Big Brother and the Holding Company. One of the band 's earliest major performances in 1967 was the Mantra - Rock Dance -- a musical event held on January 29, 1967, at the Avalon Ballroom by the San Francisco Hare Krishna temple. Big Brother and Janis Joplin performed there along with Hare Krishna founder Bhaktivedanta Swami, Allen Ginsberg, Moby Grape, and Grateful Dead, donating proceeds to the Krishna temple. Monterey Pop Festival The band 's historic performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 attracted national and international attention. The band was scheduled to play on Saturday afternoon, with a set which included `` Down on Me '', `` Combination of The Two '', `` Harry '', `` Roadblock '' and `` Ball and Chain ''. However, the band 's manager decided not to allow Pennebaker 's film crew to film and record them without paying them, and ordered the crew to turn its cameras off. The festival promoters thought the band performance was great, and asked them to play again the next evening in order to record it on film, but they played only two songs : `` Combination of The Two '' and `` Ball and Chain. '' `` I remember being amazed that this white woman was singing like Bessie Smith, '' said Michelle Phillips once. `` I was astounded ''. They signed a contract with Columbia Records that November, and Albert Grossman became their manager. National success Having received national recognition after the Monterey Pop Festival, Big Brother was booked by Columbia for engagements around the country. A well - known band on the West Coast ( especially in San Francisco ), Big Brother played their first East Coast concert in New York City on February 17, 1968, at the Anderson Theater, 66 Second Avenue. Columbia 's marketing department featured Janis Joplin as the star ; before that time, some of the band 's audience regarded James Gurley as of equal or more importance. In New York the press criticized the band for playing out of tune and for amplifiers set at maximum volume. The Village Voice, while noting that `` ears came out ringing '' after the Saturday night performance, cited Joplin as ranking in sex appeal with Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix, and praised `` her belting, groovy style, '' mixing Bessie Smith, Aretha Franklin and James Brown. `` At times she seemed to be singing harmony with herself. '' Thanks in part to Ryder 's salesmanship and persistence, Big Brother was the first band to play in the legendary Fillmore East, in New York City, on March 8, 1968. Cheap Thrills and split with Joplin The band 's first album for Columbia was due to be recorded during the spring and summer of 1968, and released later that year. It was eagerly anticipated after the first LP had been largely ignored. Initially planned as a live album, the band recorded two concerts at Grande Ballroom in Detroit, but the results did not satisfy the producer John Simon nor the manager Albert Grossman. The live album was scrapped and Columbia decided to re-record most of the songs in the studio ( `` Down on Me '' and `` Piece of My Heart '', taken from the Grande Ballroom concerts, were later released as part of Joplin 's live album In Concert in 1972 ). However, it was difficult adapting their raw sound and unorthodox work habits with the realities of a professional studio. The progress was slow, and the pressure from Grossman, Columbia, and the press increased. A few of the band members believed that John Simon should not be the producer, believing that he came from a different musical style and did not understand the band 's psychedelic, guitar based sound. The album was initially named Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills, but Columbia asked them to shorten it to just Cheap Thrills. The original album cover photo of the band naked in a hotel room bed was also unsatisfactory, so underground comic - book artist R. Crumb was hired to create something. What was originally meant to be the back cover art became the classic cover of the album. For the back cover, Columbia chose a black and white photo of Joplin. `` Ball and Chain '' is the only song on the album recorded entirely live, and even though the cover credits assert that the live material was recorded at Bill Graham 's Fillmore Auditorium, it was actually taken from a concert in Winterland Ballroom in 1968, the same version that appears on the album Live at Winterland ' 68, released in 1998. ( The performance of `` Ball and Chain '' as released on the Winterland album features a different opening guitar solo by Gurley, indicating that he had dubbed a different intro for the Cheap Thrills issue. ) The LP was released in August 1968, one year after their debut album, and reached number one on the Billboard charts in its eighth week in October. It held the number one spot for eight ( nonconsecutive ) weeks, and the single `` Piece of My Heart '' also became a huge hit. By the end of the year it was one of the most successful albums of 1968. It was certified gold by the R.I.A.A. on October 15 that year for $1 million worth of sales, with subsequent sales pushing the total over a million units. Even though the album was released with only seven songs, the other eight songs which were not included were released on subsequent albums. `` Catch Me Daddy '' and `` Farewell Song '' were among their most popular songs. These plus `` Magic of Love, '' a medley of `` Amazing Grace '' and `` Hi - Heel Sneakers, '' and an outtake of `` Harry '' first appeared on Farewell Song, a posthumous Joplin release in 1981 ; they also appeared on the 3 - CD set Janis in 1993. `` It 's a Deal '' and `` Easy Once you Know How '' were released in Box of Pearls in 1999. `` Flower in The Sun '' and `` Roadblock '' were released on the Cheap Thrills reissue CD as bonus tracks. `` Piece of My Heart '' would be reissued on a single in the Columbia Hall of Fame oldies series - backed by the title cut from Joplin 's first solo album, I Got Dem Ol ' Kozmic Blues Again Mama !. At the end of the summer of 1968, just after appearing at the Palace of Fine Arts Festival in San Francisco, Joplin announced that she was leaving Big Brother in the fall of that year. The official reason given was her desire to go solo and form a soul music band. Andrew and Ryder also planned to leave the band to join Joplin in her new project. Joplin played with Big Brother on a nationwide tour throughout October and November 1968. It included an October 20 concert at a roller rink in Alexandria, Virginia. Their final concert was in San Francisco on December 1, 1968. It was a benefit for the hippie commune known as the Family Dog whose members included Chet Helms, the band 's manager from two years earlier. Three weeks after this benefit concert, Joplin and Andrew played in Memphis for the first time with her new band, later called Kozmic Blues Band. 1969 -- 1972 After Joplin and Sam Andrew left Big Brother, Dave Getz and Peter Albin joined Country Joe and the Fish and toured the U.S. and Europe and played on the Country Joe album Here We Go Again ( Vanguard Records 1969 ). Getz and Albin left Country Joe in May 1969 with the intention of re-forming Big Brother with guitarist David Nelson. They auditioned several singers including Eddie Money, Kathi McDonald and John Herald but the band finally came back together in the fall of 1969 with nearly the same line - up ( except Joplin ) : Albin, Andrew, Getz and Gurley were joined by Nick Gravenites ( vocals ), Dave Schallock ( guitar ) and Kathi McDonald ( vocals ). They released Be a Brother in 1970. Gurley moved to bass guitar while Albin played rhythm, Sam Andrew sang more lead vocals with Kathi McDonald, David Schallock on lead guitar, Dave Getz on drums and occasional keyboards. Nick Gravenites would also produce the album, write and sing on a number of the tracks. They released their last studio album, How Hard It Is, in 1971. They retained the same lineup : Kathi and Sam and Nick on vocals joined by organist Mike Finnigan. The band remained with this lineup until 1972, but they gradually fell apart and disbanded amidst drug use, loss of management, lack of gigs and internal squabbles. They re-united once to play `` The Tribal Stomp '' in 1978 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. 1987 -- present `` Legendary Artists : Sounds of San Francisco '' at an Audio Engineering Society convention in 2012. Left to right : Mario Cipollina, Albin, Joel Selvin, Country Joe McDonald The latest incarnation began in 1987, and has been touring part - time ever since with most of its classic lineup ; including Sam Andrew, Peter Albin, Dave Getz, and James Gurley. Gurley left in 1997 because he did not support his colleagues ' idea to hire a female singer to replace Joplin. He was replaced by Tom Finch. Big Brother did not have a fixed lead singer until 2011 ; Michel Bastian, Lisa Battle, Halley DeVestern, Lisa Mills, Jane Kitto ( Aus ), Andra Mitrovich, Kacee Clanton, Sophia Ramos, Mary Bridget Davies, Duffy Bishop, Lana Spence, Chloe Lowery, Jane Myrenget, Lynn Asher, Kate Russo, Darby Gould, Maria Stanford, Jeri Verdi, and Superfly 's Shiho Ochi were among the singers that have played in concerts with them. Cathy Richardson became the band 's official lead singer in 2011, with Ben Nieves having replaced Finch as guitarist in 2008. Other guitarists performed and toured with Big Brother including Chad Quist, Joel Hoekstra, and even Kate Russo on electric violin as 2nd guitarist. In 1999 the band released the album Do What You Love, with Lisa Battle as the lead singer. The album contains some new versions of songs like `` Women is Loser ''. They recorded the live album Hold Me, with Sophia Ramos on lead vocals and Chad Quist on guitar, in Germany in 2005, and released it in 2006. In 2008 they released the two - CD set The Lost Tapes, with songs recorded at concerts between 1966 and 1967 in San Francisco, and featuring Janis Joplin as lead singer. Some songs had already been unofficial releases, but there are 12 never - before - released songs. Former guitarist James Gurley died on December 20, 2009, of a heart attack, just two days before his 70th birthday. Sam Andrew died on February 12, 2015, following complications from open - heart surgery due to a heart attack suffered ten weeks prior. In October 2016, the band went to Europe for a short tour in the Netherlands, with the following line - up : Dave Getz on drums, Peter Albin on bass, Tom Finch on guitar, Kate Russo on electric violin, keyboards and vocals, and Eileen Humphreys on lead vocals. Venues included the North Sea Jazz Club in Amsterdam, De Bosuil in Weert, Het Paard in The Hague and Luxor Live in Arnhem. `` Big Brother And The Holding Co Live In The Lowlands '' was released in 2017 on DVD and CD by Marista Records featuring this lineup in Weert. Controversy In 2007, following the induction of Cheap Thrills to the Grammy Hall of Fame, former guitar player James Gurley described Big Brother as the most maligned band ever, since they never received appreciation for the arrangements they did and all the engineering tricks he came up with. Gurley also believed that Clive Davis told Joplin to leave the band and record her songs with studio musicians, who could play better. In the documentary Nine Hundred Nights, Peter Albin said that the manager Albert Grossman told Joplin to leave Big Brother and form her own band, with studio musicians, in order to spend less money on recording sessions. Sam Andrew said later that Joplin left due to artistic and financial reasons : Joplin usually asked the band to have some keyboard or horns on at least some songs, but they said `` No ! You are going to change the Big Brother sound ! '' The band was also doing the same songs a lot, sometimes three times a day, so she started feeling trapped. The band was splitting the money in five equal ways, while by leaving she could have all the money and just pay some employees and have a new band. In 1982, Columbia released the Janis Joplin album Farewell Song. The release displeased Big Brother 's living members, since their original instruments were all replaced by studio musicians without consulting the band. James Gurley spoke about that in 1987, before the band 's reunion : `` It 's just a total bullshit record... some producer 's dream at CBS. '' Personnel Members Current members Peter Albin -- bass ( 1965 - 1968, 1969 - 1972, 1987 - present ) Dave Getz -- drums, piano ( 1966 - 1968, 1969 - 1972, 1987 - present ) Tom Finch -- guitar ( 1997 - 2008, 2015 -- present ) Darby Gould - lead vocals ( 2015 -- present ) David Aguilar -- guitar ( 2018 -- present ) Former members Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals ( 1965 - 1968, 1969 - 1972, 1987 - 2015 ; died 2015 ) James Gurley -- guitar ( 1965 - 1968, 1969 - 1972, 1987 - 1997 ; died 2009 ) Chuck Jones -- drums ( 1965 - 1966 ) Janis Joplin - lead vocals ( 1966 - 1968 ; died 1970 ) Nick Gravenites - lead vocals ( 1969 - 1972 ) Kathi McDonald - lead vocals ( 1969 - 1972 ; died 2012 ) Dave Schallock - guitar ( 1969 - 1972 ) Mike Finnigan - organ, vocals ( 1971 - 1972 ) Lisa Battle - lead vocals ( 1997 - 2005 ) Sophia Ramos - lead vocals ( 2005 - 2008 ) Ben Nieves -- guitar ( 2008 - 2015 ) Kate Russo - vocals, electric violin and keyboards ( 1998, 2003 - 2008, 2015 - present ) Cathy Richardson - lead vocals ( 2011 - 2015 ) Tommy Odetto -- guitar ( 2015 -- 2018 ) Lineups 1965 - 1966 1966 1966 -- 1968 ( Classic Lineup ) 1968 -- 1969 Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals James Gurley -- guitar Peter Albin -- bass Chuck Jones -- drums Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals James Gurley -- guitar Peter Albin -- bass Dave Getz -- drums, piano Janis Joplin - lead vocals Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals James Gurley -- guitar, bass Peter Albin -- bass, guitar Dave Getz -- drums, piano Disbanded 1969 -- 1971 1971 -- 1972 1972 -- 1987 1987 -- 1997 Nick Gravenites - lead vocals Kathi McDonald - lead vocals Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals James Gurley -- bass, guitar Dave Schallock - guitar Peter Albin -- guitar Dave Getz -- drums, piano Nick Gravenites - lead vocals Kathi McDonald - lead vocals Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals James Gurley -- bass, guitar Dave Schallock - guitar Peter Albin -- guitar Dave Getz -- drums, piano Mike Finnigan - organ, vocals Disbanded Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals James Gurley -- guitar Peter Albin -- bass Dave Getz -- drums, piano with Various guest lead singers 1997 -- 2005 2005 -- 2008 2008 -- 2011 2011 -- 2015 Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals Tom Finch -- guitar Peter Albin -- bass Dave Getz -- drums, piano Lisa Battle - lead vocals Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals Chad Quist -- guitar Peter Albin -- bass Dave Getz -- drums, piano Sophia Ramos - lead vocals Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals Ben Nieves -- guitar Peter Albin -- bass Dave Getz -- drums, piano with Various guest lead singers Cathy Richardson - lead vocals Sam Andrew -- guitar, vocals Ben Nieves -- guitar Peter Albin -- bass Dave Getz -- drums, piano 2015 -- 2018 2018 -- present Darby Gould - lead vocals Tom Finch - guitar, vocals Tommy Odetto - guitar Peter Albin - bass Dave Getz - drums, piano Darby Gould - lead vocals Tom Finch - guitar, vocals David Aguilar - guitar Peter Albin - bass Dave Getz - drums, piano Timeline Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions U.S. 200 U.S. R&B Big Brother & the Holding Company Released : 1967 ( 1967 ) Label : Mainstream 60 28 Cheap Thrills Released : 1968 ( 1968 ) Label : Columbia 7 Be a Brother Released : 1970 ( 1970 ) Label : Columbia 134 -- How Hard It Is Released : 1971 ( 1971 ) Label : Columbia 157 -- Ca n't Go Home Again Released : 1997 ( 1997 ) -- -- Do What You Love Released : 1999 ( 1999 ) -- -- Live / compilation albums Big Brother & the Holding Company : Live in San Francisco 1966 ( 1966 ) In Concert ( Janis Joplin ) ( 1972 ) Cheaper Thrills ( 1984 ) Joseph 's Coat ( 1986 ) Live at Winterland ' 68 ( 1998 ) Hold Me ( 2006 ) The Lost Tapes ( 2008 ) Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 ( 2012 ) Singles Year Song US Hot 100 1967 `` Bye, Bye Baby '' 118 `` Down On Me '' 43 `` Blindman '' 110 1968 `` Coo Coo '' 84 `` Piece of My Heart '' 12 `` Women Is Losers '' -- `` Combination of the Two '' -- Filmography Monterey Pop ( 1968 ) Petulia ( 1968 ) Janis : The Way She Was ( 1974 ) Comin ' Home ( 1988 ) Nine Hundred Nights ( DVD ) Pioneer Entertainment ( 2004 ) Rockin ' at the Red Dog : The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock ( 2005 ) Hold Me ( LIVE in Germany ) ( DVD ) Ryko Distribution ( 2007 ) Janis Joplin with Big Brother : Ball and Chain ( DVD ) Charly ( 2009 ) See also List of bands from the San Francisco Bay Area References Jump up ^ Unterberger, Richie. `` Big Brother & the Holding Company Biography ''. AllMusic. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 09. Jump up ^ Nagelberg, Kenneth M. ( 2001 ). `` Acid Rock ''. In Browne, Ray Broadus ; Browne, Pat. The Guide to United States Popular Culture. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 8. ISBN 0 - 87972 - 821 - 3. Jump up ^ Buckley, Peter ( 2003 ). The Rough Guide to Rock ( 3rd ed. ). Rough Guides. p. 91. ISBN 1 - 84353 - 105 - 4. Jump up ^ BRAITMAN, STEPHEN M.H. ( 8 October 1997 ). `` Big Brother Was Watching ''. Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 24 October 2016. Jump up ^ `` Keeping The Music Alive ''. Cincy Groove. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 09. Jump up ^ Brant, Marley ( 2008 ). Join Together : Forty Years of the Rock Music Festival. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 16. Jump up ^ Sinclair, Mick ( 2004 ). San Francisco : a cultural and literary history. Interlink Books. p. 204. Jump up ^ `` Chronology ''. janisjoplin.net. 1998 -- 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010. Jump up ^ `` Big Brother & The Holding Co ''. Bbhc.com. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 09. Jump up ^ Joplin, Laura ( 2005 - 08 - 16 ). Love, Janis. HarperCollins. ISBN 0 - 06 - 075522 - 9. Jump up ^ `` Show 41 - The Acid Test : Psychedelics and a sub-culture emerge in San Francisco. ( Part 1 ) : UNT Digital Library ''. Digital.library.unt.edu. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 09. Jump up ^ Joplin, Laura ( 2005 - 08 - 16 ). Love, Janis. HarperCollins. ISBN 0 - 06 - 075522 - 9. Jump up ^ Big Brother and The Holding Co. 1999 CD reissue booklet, with notes by Sam Andrew. Jump up ^ The Oracle vol1 no. 6. '' Jump up ^ Bromley, David G. ; Shinn, Larry D. ( 1989 ), Krishna consciousness in the West, Bucknell University Press, p. 106, ISBN 978 - 0 - 8387 - 5144 - 2 Jump up ^ Chryssides, George D. ; Wilkins, Margaret Z. ( 2006 ), A reader in new religious movements, Continuum International Publishing Group, p. 213, ISBN 978 - 0 - 8264 - 6168 - 1 Jump up ^ Joplin, Laura ( 1992 ), `` Love, Janis '', University of Michigan, Villard Books, p. 182, ISBN 978 - 0 - 679 - 41605 - 0 Jump up ^ Rolling Stone, The Fortieth Anniversary Special Edition, Issue 1030 / 1031, July 12 -- 26, 2007. Jump up ^ Buried Alive : The Biography of Janis Joplin. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 0 - 517 - 58650 - 9. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ `` Live at Winterland 68 : Music ''. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 09. Jump up ^ Murrells, Joseph ( 1978 ). The Book of Golden Discs ( 2nd ed. ). London : Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 236. ISBN 0 - 214 - 20512 - 6. Jump up ^ `` Janis Joplin Merchandise and Music - The OfficialJanis.com Boutique ''. Web.archive.org. 2 August 2009. Archived from the original on 2 August 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` Janis Joplin Merchandise and Music - The OfficialJanis.com Boutique ''. Web.archive.org. 11 February 2009. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` Janis Joplin - Unofficial Discography ''. Janis.user.icpnet.pl. Archived from the original on 2007 - 02 - 08. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 09. Jump up ^ `` BB : BBBase ''. Bbhc.com. Retrieved July 3, 2013. Jump up ^ Segraves, John ( October 21, 1968 ). `` Janis Joplin Overwhelms ''. Evening Star Washington, D.C. pp. B6. Jump up ^ `` Janis Joplin Concert Dates - OfficialJanis.com ''. Web.archive.org. 22 March 2009. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2017. ^ Jump up to : Fessier, Bruce ( 2007 - 02 - 10 ). `` Janis Joplin News Articles - Kozmic Blues ''. Janisjoplin.net. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 09. Jump up ^ `` About Tom Finch ''. tomfinhc.com. 28 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` DeVestern, Halley - TheCelebrityCafe.com ''. Web.archive.org. 17 October 2013. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2017. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) Jump up ^ Egan, Timothy ( 1991 - 12 - 18 ). `` Estate Loses Suit to Control Plays on Janis Joplin ''. NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Duffy Bishop Biography & History ''. AllMusic. Retrieved 2016 - 02 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Sam Andrew Interview ''. Web.archive.org. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2017. Jump up ^ `` The Lost Tapes ( 00001 ) - $21.98 : Big Brother & The Holding Company, Official EShop ''. Web.archive.org. 13 May 2012. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2017. ^ Jump up to : `` Big Brother & the Holding Company : Big Brother & the Holding Co. 1965 - 2003. Die Band, die Janis Joplin berühmt machte. Homepage ''. Web.archive.org. 27 September 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2017. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Sam Andrews, Founding Guitarist of Big Brother & the Holding Company, Dead at 73 ''. Billboard. Retrieved 14 February 2015. Jump up ^ `` Big Brother & The Holding Co ''. Bbhc.com. 1997 - 07 - 21. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 09. Jump up ^ `` Wayback Machine ''. Web.archive.org. 13 February 2015. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2017. External links Official website Janis Joplin website Big Brother & the Holding Co. discography at the Grateful Dead Family Discography Book about Big Brother & the Holding Co. Big Brother and the Holding Company : Nine Hundred Nights ( excerpt ) on YouTube Big Brother and the Holding Company Peter Albin Dave Getz Ben Nieves Cathy Richardson Sam Andrew James Gurley Chuck Jones Janis Joplin Nick Gravenites Kathi McDonald Dave Schallock Mike Finnigan Tom Finch Studio albums Big Brother and the Holding Company Cheap Thrills Be a Brother How Hard It Is Ca n't Go Home Again Live / compilation albums In Concert Cheaper Thrills Live at Winterland ' 68 The Lost Tapes Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 Singles `` Piece of My Heart '' Related Nine Hundred Nights ( documentary ) Monterey Pop Festival Janis Joplin Studio albums Big Brother & the Holding Company ( 1967 ) Cheap Thrills ( 1968 ) I Got Dem Ol ' Kozmic Blues Again Mama ! ( 1969 ) Pearl ( 1971 ) Live albums In Concert ( 1972 ) Live at Winterland ' 68 ( 1998 ) The Woodstock Experience ( 2009 ) Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 ( 2012 ) Compilations Janis Joplin 's Greatest Hits ( 1973 ) Janis ( 1975 ) Wicked Woman ( 1976 ) Farewell Song ( 1982 ) Janis ( 1993 ) This Is Janis Joplin ( 1995 ) 18 Essential Songs ( 1995 ) Love, Janis ( 2001 ) The Lost Tapes ( 2008 ) Move Over ! ( 2011 ) Blow All My Blues Away ( 2012 ) The Pearl Sessions ( 2012 ) Songs `` Ball and Chain '' `` Careless Love '' `` Cry Baby '' `` Down on Me '' `` Flower in the Sun '' `` Hesitation Blues '' `` Kozmic Blues '' `` Mary Jane '' `` Me and Bobby McGee '' `` Mercedes Benz '' `` Move Over '' `` Nobody Knows You When You 're Down and Out '' `` Piece of My Heart '' `` See See Rider '' `` Silver Threads and Golden Needles '' `` Summertime '' `` Tell Mama '' `` To Love Somebody '' `` Trouble in Mind '' `` What Good Can Drinkin ' Do '' `` Work Me, Lord '' Related Big Brother and the Holding Company Full Tilt Boogie Band Janis ( 1974 documentary ) Love, Janis ( 2001 musical ) Nine Hundred Nights ( 2001 documentary ) Janis : Little Girl Blue ( 2015 documentary ) Sam Andrew Jorma Kaukonen Gabriel Mekler Michael Monarch Book WorldCat Identities BNF : cb13901963r ( data ) GND : 10275086 - 5 ISNI : 0000 0001 2284 7219 LCCN : nr89008888 MusicBrainz : 3cf5a3be - 25ef - 4408 - 98fe - e66fee536be1 SUDOC : 175846413 VIAF : 122423176 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Brother_and_the_Holding_Company&oldid=860862838 '' Categories : American blues rock musical groups Big Brother and the Holding Company members Psychedelic rock music groups from California Jam bands Janis Joplin Columbia Records artists Musical groups from San Francisco Warner Bros. Records artists Hidden categories : Pages using Timeline All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from September 2013 CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Brezhoneg Català Čeština Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Italiano Magyar Nederlands Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Русский Slovenčina Suomi Svenska 9 more Edit links This page was last edited on 23 September 2018, at 15 : 38 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: who is big brother and the holding company
Answer: an American rock band