Legendary blues and rock singer Janis Joplin first rose to stardom as the lead singer for San Francisco psychedelic band Big Brother & the Holding Company and maintained prominence later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band. Known as The Queen of Rock and Roll at the height of her career, Joplin redefined the role of women in music with her signature bluesy wail and electrifying stage presence, providing some of the most emotionally charged performances of her era.

Cheap Thrills, the major-label debut of Janis Joplin, was one of the most eagerly anticipated, and one of the most successful, albums of 1968.

A Village Voice reviewer lauded one of Joplin’s concert performances thus: “She sure projects. …She jumps and runs and pounces, vibrating the audience with solid sound. The range of her earthy dynamic voice seems almost without limits.” With critiques like that, it is not surprising that Joplin left Big Brother to go solo in 1968, soon after the group recorded their second album, Cheap Thrills, for Columbia.

“Janis Joplin said, “we’re just a sloppy group of street freaks.” But these San Francisco acid rockers, one of the first Haight-Ashbury groups, were the most simpatico band she ever had, especially when its raw racket backs her up on “Piece of My Heart,” perhaps her greatest recording.” – www.rollingstone.com

Features:
• 180g Audiophile Vinyl
• Sourced from original masters
• Mastered by Bob Irwin at Sundazed Studios
• Pressed at RTI
• Album jacket recreated from original art