Big Brother occupies a significant place in the history of San Francisco psychedelic rock, as one of the bands that best captured the era's loosest, reckless, and indulgent qualities in its high-energy mutations of blues and folk-rock. Big Brother are primarily remembered as the group that gave Janis Joplin her start, but that is not the whole story. There are not many Big Brother gigs featuring Janis on tape. The music on Disc 2 has been released in various forms by less than reputable record labels, although it is presented here in its first official release. Disc 1 is the Holy Grail for Big Brother fans. 12 unreleased tracks presented here for the first time, recently discovered by the surviving members of Big Brother. Not only is the sound pristine, the performances show remarkable maturity for a group developing their trademark sound at hyperspeed. Back in 66 right after Janis joined the band, Big Brother & The Holding Company were habitually blowing people's minds; each and every time they performed in front of an audience.

Disc: 1
1. Bye Bye Baby
2. Great White Guru
3. Women Is Losers
4. Oh My Soul
5. Amazing Grace
6. Caterpillar
7. It's A Deal
8. Hi Heel Sneakers
9. Faster Pussycat Kill Kill
10. Turtle Blues
11. All Is Loneliness
12. Light Is Faster Than Sound

Disc: 2
1. (Come On Baby) Let The Good Times Roll
2. I Know You Rider
3. Moanin' At Midnight
4. Hey Baby
5. Down On Me
6. Whisperman
7. Women Is Losers
8. Blow My Mind
9. Oh My Soul
10. Ball & Chain
11. Coo-Coo
12. Gutra's Garden
13. Harry
14. Hall Of The Mountain King

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00197U0Y4/?tag=imwan-20

Here's the press release:

THE LOST TAPES OF BIG BROTHER AND THE HOLDING COMPANY FEATURING JANIS JOPLIN UNEARTHED BY AIRLINE RECORDS–INCLUDES 12 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS!

Revered worldwide for their groundbreaking role as 1960s San Francisco-based psychedelic rock pioneers channeling everyone from John Coltrane to Bessie Smith into their own hard-driving sound, Big Brother and the Holding Company introduced the one and only Janis Joplin to the world. Live tapes of Big Brother in its prime with Joplin fronting the band are an extremely rare commodity, rendering The Lost Tapes a truly historic discovery. This two-CD set from Airline Records contains no less than 12 stunning tracks–the entire first disc--that have never been released before in any form, along with a second disc of equally thrilling live material that sees its first legitimate release on this package.

Consisting of guitarists Sam Andrew and James Gurley, bassist Peter Albin, drummer David Getz, and the mighty Janis as their mind-blowing lead singer, Big Brother's sets were liable to proceed in any number of contrasting directions. Over the course of the concert that comprises the first disc, Janis belts her own blues-soaked "Women Is Losers" as well as the subtly dynamic "Bye Bye Baby," songs soon to be eminently familiar via the band's studio versions. There was also room on their set list that evening to investigate Tommy Tucker's tough shuffle "Hi-Heel Sneakers," the riveting "Oh My Soul," and an amazing 11-minute rendition of the timeless spiritual "Amazing Grace."

Even diehard Big Brother fans well acquainted with the material on the second disc have never encountered it in such pristine condition, both discs benefitting from 24-bit mastering. Highlights on the second CD include rousing treatments of "Let The Good Times Roll," "I Know You Rider," "Moanin' At Midnight," "Hey Baby," and the Albin-penned "Coo Coo." Also aboard are the Port Arthur, Texas-born Joplin's pulverizing renderings of two songs forever associated with her brief but indelible musical legacy, "Down On Me" and Big Mama Thornton's "Ball And Chain."

This deluxe collection features liner notes by Big Brother members Sam Andrew and David Getz; their warm, vivid reminiscences adding to the immense appeal of the most extensive authorized domestic release currently available by the band. Big Brother was already a powerhouse despite being together as a unit a relatively short time, and this is where it all began for Janis. With The Lost Tapes, you're sitting front row as they prepare to meet stardom head on.

I've had the Varese Sarabande Live in San Francisco 1966 release since it came out in 2002. It looks like I'll have to get this one for the improved sound on the second disc as well as the unreleased show on the first. Thanks for passing this along. Anything of Big Brother & the Holding Company with Janis is an automatic must for me.

I'll be getting this set too, although I immediately have two questions. Number one--is there any recording date for the material on disc one? Odd that it goes unmentioned, even in passing, in the press release. I need to pull out my bootleg Janis CD-R's and see if any of this material seems to be on there...all of her recordings prior to the signing with Mainstream seem to be in some sort of legal no-man's-land, as Laura Joplin apparently has no control over them.
That said...question #2:





I have this Varese Sarabande disc too. On the back it says "This compilation (P)2002 David Getz for Big Brother & The Holding Co. (C)2002 Varese Sarabande Records Inc. Released through the courtesy of David Getz for Big Brother & The Holding Co. Manufactured by Varese Sarabande Records, Inc. 11846 Ventura Blvd. Suite 130, Studio City CA 91604. Distributed by Universal Music And Video Distribution, 10 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws. Printed in the U.S.A."

Oh, and I bought my copy at Best Buy. Does this sound like a bootleg to anybody else?

It didn't until you mentioned Best Buy.

Well, I guess that's one rumor I never heard about Best Buy...

Oddly enough, on the official Big Brother & The Holding Company website ( http://bbhc.com/eshop/index.php?main_pa ... ucts_id=59 ) the band is apparently selling one of these so-called bootlegs--a 2000 release called "Cheaper Thrills", issued on the Acadia Records label in the UK.

"Cheaper Thrills was the name given this concert upon its original 1984 LP release on Edsel Records, also in the U.K. The artwork from this LP was also used in an early 90's CD release of "Cheaper Thrills", also on the Edsel label.

This biggest difference between the various editions of "Cheaper Thrills" and "Live In 1966" release of 2002 would be the inclusion of "Hall Of The Mountain King" as a bonus track on the latter, which is apparently now carried over to this new 2008 release as well.

My research continues...Disc one of this set has an interesting pedigree: It was originally announced as download release last August, complete with artwork (see http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V5CHH8/?tag=imwan-20 ) but the download was never officially made available--however, the tracks did apparently mistakenly get out (via I-tunes, no less), and are now circulating online.



As you can see, the artwork for the aborted release claims that the recording was made at the Matrix Club in San Francisco in 1967; there is at least one bootleg 2-CD set out there that also claims to be from the Matrix in 1967, with a completely different track listing, although, according to http://www.officialjanis.com, BBATHC played the Matrix at three different times in 1967--in January, April and October. They also played the Matrix in November of 1966.

What does this all mean? I'm not really sure...

AFAIK, Varese Sarabande doesn't do boots/gray area.

I may need to pick this up. I did hear the Acadia once, & didn't like it much, though.

I picked this set up from Newbury Comics yesterday on sale for $15.88, and last night got right down to the listening, as well as a-b'ing disc 2 with the 2002 Varese cd which i also own (prior to that i had owned the UK "Cheaper Thrills" import).

Firstly, i had disc 2 and the Varese cd playing simultaneously on 2 players, switching the source on my amp intermittently. The two discs cue'd up perfectly together throughout play, and although i do not have a high-end audiophile system, i can say with much confidence that there was NO difference in sound quality whatsoever between those 2 discs. So, the claims that disc 2 was remastered/improved for this release at all from the 2002 Varese cd doesn't hold up (at least not to my ears).

That having been said, the earlier previously unreleased show on disc 1 actually has better sound overall than disc 2. It's also interesting in that Janis doesn't command the spotlight on as many of the tracks as on the later show, so there are more vocals from the men, overall. I liked the show, and it clocks in at just over an hour, as opposed to the disc 2 time of 48 minutes.

The difference between the artwork in the two packages warrants mention as well. The only liner notes in the Varese issue are the 1983 notes by David Getz (the exact same notes included in this 2-cd set). However, the new set adds some brief liner notes by Sam Andrew. Aside from the really nice cover, inside the new booklet there is a panel of the color artwork orginally used for the cover of "Cheaper Thrills", but without that title overlaid on it. And there is also a single panel B&W shot (a real nice one) of the band toasting with glasses of beer. ZERO mention of recording dates/venues for either of the discs/shows.

Although the Varese disc lacks the 2008 liner notes by Sam Andrew, it does have a total of 4 unique B&W photos inside the booklet. There are two photo "fragments" (cropped shots), one is a shot of Janis with Peter Albin on stage, the other is a casual candid shot of Janis with David Getz. There is an outdoor group portrait that runs over the fold, about 1 1/2 panels wide. There is also a single panel photo (with some credits overprinted in the non-vital areas) of the band relaxing (most with instruments in hand) during a rehearsal or recording. Additionally, the booklet's back panel is a nice color layout with repros of 4 different vintage Big Brother gig posters.

In a more perfect world they should've included all of the Varese artwork together in a more meaty booklet for this release (it is a simple 3-panel foldout booklet).

All that said, for $16 i think it was worth it to have these two shows together in one package, and my personal solution on the artwork is to simply keep the Varese booklet along with the new release booklet together. Of course that makes getting any money back selling the Varese cd null, but i'll be happy enough to pass it along to someone for free without the booklet. But there is defintely no aural improvement from the 2002 Varese on disc 2 of this release, so don't be taken in by that false claim if it's the only reason you would buy this. But if you're even a semi-serious Big Brother fan, you will want to hear disc 1.

Rick, thanks for the great & helpful review!

I got "The Lost Tapes" in the mail yesterday. Great set, although Rick is correct--Disc 2 is identical to the Varese CD in every way except for the printing on the disc. Disc 1 is teriffic, although I believe a small portion of this show was previously released on the 1983 Joplin compilation "Farewell Song"--according to the liner notes, the track "Medley: Amazing Grace/Hi Heel Sneakers" was recorded at the Matrix on January 31, 1967, which doesn't jibe with the January 17-22 concert dates found in the "Concert Dates" page at http://www.officialjanis.com, but does correlate with the full-legnth recordings of both tracks on Disc 1 of this set (and with the artwork I pasted above). In other words, that "Farewell Song" "medley" is, in fact, these two seperate songs from this concert, spliced together.

Awesome show though, and coupled with the July 1966 recording, really demonstrates how far Janis had come as both a singer and as an onstage performer in those six months--she's not yet a star, and the audience at the Matrix that night was just discovering her talent. Her singing also contrasts with some of her later performances (particularly those from 1969) where she sounded (frankly) tired and drunk. It's always good to see "new" Janis recordings emerge from the vault, although now that the Zooey Deschanel Joplin biopic has been shelved (a good thing IMO) Laura Joplin doesn't appear to have sanctioned any upcoming reissues--"Farewell Song" and "Joplin In Concert", though both still in print, were never remastered back during the 1990's Joplin reissue campaign, and an official Joplin DVD video anthology would be welcome as well.

"Joplin In Concert" is a great set.

Hadn't heard that the biopic (and wasn't there another project with Pink attached?) was scrubbed... any more details?

Just because I am compulsively unable to leave something alone, I e-mailed Varese Sarabande to ask them if they had any official response to being (essentially) accused of bootlegging music. (The CD Watchdog lives!!!) Here's the response I got:



As for why the Zooey Deschanel Joplin biopic was shelved, I honestly have no idea, but I would have to assume that the project died out of sheer indifference--amd lets face it, with Laura Joplin signing off on everything, the film undoubtedly would have been a rather...um...sugarcoated portrait of Janis. I'm not sure if the film was to be based on the "Love Janis" stage musical at all (http://www.lovejanisthemusical.com/index.html) but it seems likely.

Unfortunately, the Mike Myers-Keith Moon biopic is apparently still in production.

... with Verne Troyer in a special guest role as Moon's drum stool.