Take Another Piece Of My Heart Ball And Chain Big Brother And The Holding Company

Piece Of My Heart and Ball and Chain Album: Cheap Thrills (1968)
by Big Brother and the Holding Company ft. Janis Joplin

Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American 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. After some initial personnel changes, the band became well known with the lineup of vocalist Janis Joplin, guitarists Sam Andrew and James Gurley, bassist Peter Albin, and drummer Dave Getz. Their second album Cheap Thrills, released in 1968, 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 listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Cheap Thrills is the second studio album by American rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, issued by Columbia Records in 1968. Cheap Thrills was the band's final album with lead singer Janis Joplin before she left to begin a solo career. For Cheap Thrills, the band and producer John Simon incorporated recordings of crowd noises to give the impression of a live album, for which it was subsequently mistaken by many listeners. Only "Ball and Chain" was actually recorded in concert at the Winterland Ballroom.

Cheap Thrills reached number one on the charts for eight nonconsecutive weeks in 1968.

In 2007, Cheap Thrills was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Big Brother obtained a considerable amount of attention after their 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival and had released their debut album soon after. The followup, Cheap Thrills, was a great success, reaching number one on the charts for eight nonconsecutive weeks in 1968. Columbia Records offered the band a new recording contract, but it took months to get through since they were still signed to Mainstream Records. The album features three cover songs ("Summertime", "Piece of My Heart" and "Ball and Chain"). The album also features Bill Graham, who introduces the band at the beginning of "Combination of the Two". The album's overall raw sound effectively captures the band's energetic and lively concerts. The LP was released in both stereo and mono formats with the original monophonic pressing now a rare collector's item. The album had been considered for quadraphonic format in the early '70s and eventually in 2002, was released as a Multichannel Sony SACD. The original quadraphonic mix remains unreleased.

The cover was drawn by underground cartoonist Robert Crumb after the band's original cover idea, a photo of the group naked in bed together, was vetoed by Columbia Records. Crumb had originally intended his art for the LP back cover, with a portrait of Janis Joplin to grace the front. But Joplin—an avid fan of underground comics, especially the work of Crumb—so loved the Cheap Thrills illustration that she demanded Columbia place it on the front cover. It is number nine on Rolling Stone's list of 100 greatest album covers. Crumb later authorized the sale of prints of the cover, some of which he signed before sale.

In an interview for the AIGA, Columbia Records art director John Berg told design professor Paul Nini, "[Janis] Joplin commissioned it, and she delivered Cheap Thrills to me personally in the office. There were no changes with R. Crumb. He refused to be paid, saying, 'I don't want Columbia's filthy lucre.'"

When Erma Franklin heard Joplin's cover on the radio, she barely recognized the song. She graciously said in a 1973 interview: "Her version is so different from mine that I really don't resent it too much."

Big Brother's version, which runs for over four minutes, was cut down to two minutes for radio play. The most devastating cut was Sam Andrew's psychedelic guitar solo... obviously not cut from here...

Joplin's rendition shows up in these TV shows:

Mad Men ("A Tale Of Two Cities" - 2013)
Cold Case ("Free Love" - 2010)
Boston Public ("Chapter Seventy-Nine" - 2004)

And in these movies:

Introducing The Dwights (2007)
Romance & Cigarettes (2005)
Riding In Cars With Boys (2001)
Home For The Holidays (1995)

Ball and Chain was written and originally recorded by a blues singer named Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, who recorded the original version of "Hound Dog." The ball and chain is an image associated with prisoners, as a weighted ball attached to a chain would be shackled to an inmate's leg to keep him from escaping. In this song, Thornton relates the image to her man, who is keeping her down.

Big Brother & Joplin's interpretation of this song solidified her reputation as an incredibly soulful performer who can handle the gnarliest of the blues. A staple of her live performances, she sang it at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and also at Woodstock. She recorded the song in 1968 with her band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and after her death in 1971, the song appeared on many of her compilation albums.

When Joplin performed this song, she would often end it with a free form section singing, "Love is such a pain, love is such a pain," in a kind of rapture. Joplin explained that when she was able to achieve this, she was "transcending" the song - a talent that made her a uniquely gifted singer.

Big Brother and the Holding Company

Janis Joplin – vocals
Sam Andrew – guitar, bass on "Oh, Sweet Mary", vocals
James Gurley – guitar
Peter Albin – bass, lead guitar on "Oh, Sweet Mary", lead acoustic guitar on "Turtle Blues".
Dave Getz – drums
Additional personnel

John Simon – piano, producer
Vic Anesini – mastering, mixing
Nicholas Bennett – packaging manager
Steven Berkowitz – A&R
Fred Catero – engineer
John Byrne Cooke – liner notes
Robert Crumb – cover artwork
David Diller – engineer