Big Brother & The Holding Company - Be A Brother (1970)

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. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their lead singer.

Big Brother went on to become the house band at the Avalon Ballroom, playing a progressive style of instrumental rock. Feeling a need for a strong vocalist, Helms contacted Janis Joplin in Austin, Texas, who at the time was considering joining up with Roky Erickson of The 13th Floor Elevators. She sang for the first time with Big Brother in 1966. "Be A Brother" is an album by Big Brother and the Holding Company, released in 1970. It was their first album after Janis Joplin's departure. Whether Big Brother & the Holding Company would have made any waves at all in the late-'60s San Francisco music scene sans Janis Joplin could be argued. "Be A Brother" is a good indicator of what they would have sounded like without her amazing voice. Recorded in 1970, guitarist David Schallock and singer/songwriter/producer Nick Gravenites were added to help fill the space created with the absence of Joplin. These ten original compositions include "Home on the Strange," "Mr. Natural," "Funkie Jim," and "I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle" dedicated to Merle Haggard. This is a decent blues-based session similar to early Butterfield Blues Band records, which isn't a bad thing at all.
All tracks composed by Big Brother and the Holding Company; except where indicated.


01.  "Keep On"  - 4:21
02.  "Joseph's Coat"  (John Cipollina, Nick Gravenites)  - 3:10
03.  "Home on the Strange"  (Peter Albin, Sam Andrew)  - 2:15
04.  "Someday"  (Sam Andrew)  - 2:17
05.  "Heartache People"  (Nick Gravenites)  - 6:36
06.  "Sunshine Baby"  - 3:30
07.  "Mr. Natural"  (Sam Andrew)  - 3:31
08.  "Funkie Jim"  - 3:47
09.  "I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle"  (Nick Gravenites)  - 3:14
10.  "Be a Brother"  (Nick Gravenites)  - 3:04

Released: 1970
Genre:  Psychedelic rock
Length:  35:09
Label:  Columbia Records
Producer:  Nick Gravenites

Credits
Sam Andrew - vocals, guitar
Nick Gravenites - vocals
David Schallock - guitar, vocals
James Gurley - guitar, bass
Peter Albin - guitar
David Getz - drums, piano