The Music
1968 is one of my favorite years for rock and roll. Just after their roaring success at the Monterey Music Festival, Big Brother and the Holding Company put out their first album in 1967. Cheap Thrills is their second release, and sadly the last studio album with Janice Joplin. The music on this album is everything you've come to expect from this band: Janice's raspy howling voice, the heavy hitting guitars, and that bluesy/psychedelic sound from the late 60's.
Ball & Chain
The Cover
Part of the reason I was hot for this album is the cover, namely, the artist on the cover, R.Crumb. The front cover art was initially planned to be on the back of the album since this is where one usually expects to find the song listings and credits, which is what the comic frames show. Janice was a huge fan of R. Crumb and sought him out for this work. Mr. Crumb, however, reportedly refused any payment for this work since he didn't want to be seen as taking money from a for-profit company like Capitol Records. The band originally wanted a photo of the band members, naked, in bed with each other, which the record company denied. The back of the album features the single image of Janice, shown above. The inside cover has the song listing on the left, and an excellent action shot of the band, which is precisely how I see them in my head. The inside image is shown below.
