Here's a copy of an old review I wrote for
Cheap Thrills, the first Big Brother & the Holding Company album which appeared in the music magazine
No Depression:
Quote:
Janis Takes No Prisoners On Cheap Thrills
Dying young may be a good career move for a rock star, but it precludes any possibility of cashing in on that one last comeback tour. Janis Joplin became an icon and celebrated public figure in August of 1968, immediately after this album, Cheap Thrills was released and was dead three short years later. She didn't even live long enough to pay off advances from Columbia Records against future royalties. In the long run, Columbia Records was the primary beneficiary of Janis Joplin's premature death. Her record label has made a fortune from repackaging her catalog as deluxe boxed sets and anthologies over the years. It's ironic because no deluxe Columbia product has distilled the pure undiluted essence of Janis as much as her humble debut album with Big Brother and the Holding Company.
For all its ragged glory, Cheap Thrills endures as the best showcase of Janis Joplin's extraordinary singing talent. Among the songs are the chart topping R&B classic Piece of my Heart, the funky rhythm driven Combination of the Two, a raw and soulful recasting of the Gershwin jazz classic Summertime and Janis' signature tune the show stopping Ball and Chain.
A number of music critics took aim at Big Brother's musicianship and criticized the band as unprofessional and not up to par with Janis' talents. Janis, being young and riddled with insecurities, was wounded by the barbs. She left the band four short months after Cheap Thrills. It's a shame, because Big Brother's ramshackle and reckless playing was uniquely attuned to the explosive dynamics of Joplin's "take-no-prisoners" approach to blues singing.
Janis never found another group of musicians she bonded with like Big Brother. Her last album Pearl is technically better than Cheap Thrills, but musical virtuosity is over-rated. All of the highly paid studio musicians backing Janis on Pearl were unable to capture the sublime ferocity of Big Brother on stage at Monterey Pop in 1967.
Ask any hardcore fan of Janis and they will tell you that Cheap Thrills is the first CD they'll grab when their house is burning down.
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