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. 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.
Joplin left the band in 1968, following the recording of Cheap Thrills, for a successful solo career. The band recruited new members Nick Gravenites, Kathi McDonald, and Dave Schallock to replace her, and released two more albums before breaking up in 1972. The classic lineup (minus Joplin, who had died in 1970) reunited in 1987. The band has continued to perform ever since, with a variety of different lead singers. James Gurley left for a solo career in 1997 and died in 2009. Sam Andrew died in 2015.
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