Dave Getz of Big Brother & The Holding Company Interview Show
Before the incomparable rock, soul and blues singer Janis Joplin was introduced to the rest of the world, her first band Big Brother & The Holding Company had spent five months on the scene without her, fast becoming one of San Fransisco's most identifiable bands along with the Dead, the Airplane and Quicksilver. When the troubled but talented Texas gal Janis joined the band it put them over the top, and for the next two and a half years they ascended to fame with a self-titled debut in 1967, an explosive performance that summer at the Monterey International Pop Festival that blew all the doors open, and the subsequent masterpiece "Cheap Thrills," the #1 album of 1968. Janis moved on with two other bands for another two LPs ("I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!" and the #1 1970 album "Pearl"), continuing to gain popularity until she died of an overdose in 1970. Meanwhile Big Brother stuck around for two early '70s albums, broke up, and reformed as a touring band from 1987- present.