Cheap Thrills
View on Discogs
Album Summary
Recorded live in the studio in 1968 with all the raw, untamed energy of a Fillmore West Saturday night, 'Cheap Thrills' was the second album from Big Brother & The Holding Company, released on Columbia Records. Produced by John Simon, the record captured Janis Joplin at the absolute height of her volcanic power — a woman who didn't just sing songs, she set them on fire. Columbia had big expectations, and baby, this record delivered every single one of them, arriving in the summer of 1968 as the San Francisco sound was shaking the foundations of popular music. The cover art, famously designed by underground comics legend Robert Crumb, gave the world a visual that was every bit as bold and irreverent as the music inside.
Reception
- The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart and stood as one of the best-selling rock albums of 1968, spending multiple weeks at the top.
- 'Piece of My Heart' became a major hit single, cracking the top 40 and announcing Janis Joplin to mainstream America as a force that simply could not be ignored.
- The album was certified multi-platinum and remained a chart presence for well over a year, a testament to its deep and lasting connection with the listening public.
Significance
- Cheap Thrills stands as a cornerstone document of the San Francisco psychedelic rock and blues-rock movement, capturing a moment in the late 1960s counterculture that was as spiritually alive as anything ever put to tape.
- Janis Joplin's raw, emotionally devastating vocal performances across this record — from the pleading desperation of 'Piece of My Heart' to the earth-shaking magnitude of 'Ball and Chain' — redefined what a woman's voice could do in rock and roll, and her influence echoes through generations of singers who came after her.
- The album masterfully bridged the gap between deep blues tradition and contemporary rock energy, weaving together blues standards and original material into a seamless, soulful whole that honored its roots while blasting toward the future.
Samples
- Piece of My Heart — one of the most recognized and covered tracks from the album, with a sampling and interpolation legacy that stretches across hip-hop, soul, and R&B productions over multiple decades.
- Ball and Chain — Joplin's definitive live-wire performance has been sampled and referenced across various hip-hop and soul recordings, cementing its place as one of the most powerful vocal moments in rock history to be revisited by later artists.
Tracklist
-
A1 Combination Of The Two 152
5:45
-
A2 I Need A Man To Love 182
4:56
-
A3 Summertime 180
3:59
-
A4 Piece Of My Heart 160
4:12
-
B1 Turtle Blues 109
4:21
-
B2 Oh, Sweet Mary 160
4:16
-
B3 Ball And Chain 81
9:30
Artist Details
Big Brother & the Holding Company was a raw, psychedelic rock outfit that came together in San Francisco in 1965, right in the heart of the Haight-Ashbury scene where the whole world seemed to be catching fire with something new and electric. They played a loose, feedback-drenched, blues-soaked sound that was wild and unpolished in the best possible way, but it was the moment they welcomed Janis Joplin into the fold that everything changed — her voice, a force of nature wrapped in silk and sandpaper, turned them into one of the defining acts of the Summer of Love and beyond. Their 1968 album Cheap Thrills hit number one and burned itself into the soul of American rock history, cementing not just Janis as a legend, but Big Brother as the thundercloud of sound that made her lightning possible.
