Big Brother & The Holding Company
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San Francisco, United States (1965 – 1968, 1969 – 1972, 1987 – present)
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 US Billboard charts, and was ranked number 338 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The band was formed by Peter Albin, Sam Andrew, James Gurley (1939 – 2009) and Chuck Jones in San Francisco, in a Victorian mansion/boarding house owned by Peter’s uncle at 1090 Page Street in the Haight-Ashbury. That house became the site of Wednesday night jam sessions which were organized by Chet Helms who was the real “Big Brother,” naming the band, bringing James Gurley into the fold and later seeing that his old friend Janis Joplin came to sing with them. The first official Big Brother gig was at the Open Theater in Berkeley, January 1966. Within a short time they became the house band for Chet at the Avalon Ballroom and began to develop a loyal following, largely due to the charismatic, pioneering guitarwork of James Gurley. The band had what Sam Andrew callled a “progressive-regressive hurricane blues style,” playing such tunes as Hall of the Mountain King, Coo Coo, That’s How Strong My Love Is, and Down On Me. Janis Joplin made her debut with Big Brother at the Avalon Ballroom in June 1966, and a year later, in June 1967, Big Brother and Janis performed at The Monterey Pop Festival.
The band was formed by Peter Albin, Sam Andrew, James Gurley (1939 – 2009) and Chuck Jones in San Francisco, in a Victorian mansion/boarding house owned by Peter’s uncle at 1090 Page Street in the Haight-Ashbury. That house became the site of Wednesday night jam sessions which were organized by Chet Helms who was the real “Big Brother,” naming the band, bringing James Gurley into the fold and later seeing that his old friend Janis Joplin came to sing with them. The first official Big Brother gig was at the Open Theater in Berkeley, January 1966. Within a short time they became the house band for Chet at the Avalon Ballroom and began to develop a loyal following, largely due to the charismatic, pioneering guitarwork of James Gurley. The band had what Sam Andrew callled a “progressive-regressive hurricane blues style,” playing such tunes as Hall of the Mountain King, Coo Coo, That’s How Strong My Love Is, and Down On Me. Janis Joplin made her debut with Big Brother at the Avalon Ballroom in June 1966, and a year later, in June 1967, Big Brother and Janis performed at The Monterey Pop Festival.
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Top Albums
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Hold Me: Live In Germany
Big Brother & The Holding Company
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Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company Buy- Download Album
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Do What You Love
Big Brother & The Holding Company Buy- Download Album
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Shoutbox
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nopuppet wrote:
down on me!
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etsialius wrote:
Oh, Janis
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keate14 wrote:
Such a good bass :)
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galuhindi wrote:
<3
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qcardy wrote:
"Ball and Chain" at the Monterey Pop Festival has to be one of the greatest performances by any artist ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhBFRNBxT_o
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Arthur_Lima wrote:
@R0lliew00d Fui atrás dessa aí para conhecer e, realmente, achei incrível!
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R0lliew00d wrote:
Blindman... poucas execuções e a música é incrível! :/
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SebuuuPL wrote:
<33
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mrtentakel wrote:
The Holding Company = THC. Haha, i love weed.
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OwenxJenkins wrote:
It feels weird as an 18 year old in to Punk to sit down and listen to BB&THC & Jefferson Airplane records, I wish I lived in the 60s so badly.
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pyfagoras wrote:
JANIS JOPLIN OMG
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BowieFreak wrote:
<3
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WSteven wrote:
Love my generation
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Yuri_Reboucas wrote:
WOW, I LIKE IT!
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rok2slayr wrote:
fuckin hippies...i love it!
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wizardgunta wrote:
NEW webpage for Big Brother and the Holding Company DVD at: www.sfbarh.com New Hi Def video interviews with original players and "live" never released BBHC performance from 1978 & 1994
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_grafoman wrote:
Janis Joplin was fuckin better than Axl Rose
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zootex wrote:
One of the greatest sounding bands I've ever heard.
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Grimmoire wrote:
Catch Me Daddy -> heh, Janis Joplin was the earlier Axl Rose XD
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Chikun93 wrote:
I never heard of this group, but when I heard this song on the Radio, I could tell it was Janis.
Videos
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Play
Janis Joplin Big Brother and…
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Play
Janis Joplin Turtle Blues
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Play
Big Brother And The Holding…
7 shouts
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Play
Coo Coo - Big Brother & Holding…
3 shouts
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Recent Activity
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chrzanu_sc and screamdreamjon added Big Brother & The Holding Company to their libraries. 39 minutes ago
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mildbill5324 tagged Big Brother & The Holding Company with janis joplin and big brother and the holding company. yesterday afternoon
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Katja_84 tagged Big Brother & The Holding Company with ‘quelle nostalgie’. last week
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EmptyBlackBox, Venona-Bass, nibykot and 6 other people added Big Brother & The Holding Company to their libraries. last week
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EmptyBlackBox tagged Big Brother & The Holding Company with ‘psychedelic’. last week
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Bizmuto tagged Big Brother & The Holding Company with rock, blues, psychedelic and 2 other tags. 14 days ago
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Bizmuto, cdubssss, mckohler and 17 other people added Big Brother & The Holding Company to their libraries. 14 days ago
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bussyari tagged Big Brother & The Holding Company with ‘rock’. last month
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Groups (34)
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Polscy Hipisi,Polish Hippie
83 members
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Monterey Pop Festival
117 members
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Peace and Love
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Queer Artists and Band Members
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Janis Joplin Fan Club
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