SITTIN' DOWN
BY MY WINDOW
JUST LOOKIN' OUT
AT THE RAIN
Cheap Thrills
is the second
studio album
by American
Rock band
Big Brother and the Holding Company
released on
August 12, 1968,
by Columbia Records.
Cheap Thrills
was the band's
final album
with lead singer
Janis Joplin
before she left
to begin
a solo career.
Producer
John Simon
incorporated recordings
of crowd noises
to give the impression
of a live album,
for which it was
subsequently mistaken
by many listeners.
Only
"Ball and Chain"
was actually
recorded live
in concert,
at the grand opening
of the
Fillmore East
on
March 8, 1968.
Cheap Thrills
was a critical
and commercial success,
reaching number one
on the
Billboard Top LPs chart
for eight non consecutive weeks
in 1968.
In 2007,
Cheap Thrills
was inducted into
the Grammy
Hall of Fame.
Rolling Stone
magazine
ranked the album
number 338
in its 2003 list
of the
"500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
It was repositioned to
number 372
in the
2020 list.
History
Big Brother
obtained a
considerable amount
of attention after
their 1967 performance
at the Monterey Pop Festival
and had released
their debut album
soon after.
The follow up,
Cheap Thrills,
was a great success,
reaching number one
on the charts
for eight nonconsecutive weeks
in 1968.
Columbia Records offered
the band a new
recording contract,
but it took seven months
to extricate the band
from their contract
with
Mainstream Records.
The album features
three cover songs
"Summertime",
"Piece of My Heart"
and
"Ball and Chain"
The voice of
Bill Graham
is heard in the
live introduction
of the band at
the beginning of
"Combination of the Two".
The album's overall
raw sound
effectively captures
the band's energetic
and lively concerts.
The LP was released in
both stereo
and
mono formats
with the
original
monophonic pressing
now a
rare collector's item.
Artwork and Title
The cover
was drawn by
underground cartoonist
Robert Crumb
after the band's
original cover idea,
a photo of the group naked
in bed together,
was vetoed by
Columbia Records.
Crumb had originally
intended his art
for the LP
back cover,
with a portrait of
Janis Joplin
to grace the front.
However,
Joplin,
an avid fan of
Crumb's work,
demanded that
Columbia place
his illustration
on the front cover.
It ranks number nine
on
Rolling Stone's
list of
100 greatest
album covers.
Crumb later
authorized the sale
of prints
of the cover,
some of which he
signed before sale.
Columbia Records
art director
John Berg said,
"[Janis] Joplin commissioned it,
and she delivered
Cheap Thrills to
me personally
in the office.
There were no changes
with R. Crumb.
He refused to be paid,
saying,
'I don't want Columbia's filthy lucre.'"
In at least one
early edition,
the words
"HARRY KIRSHNER!
(D. GETZ)"
are faintly visible
in the word balloon
of the turbaned man,
apparently referring to
a track that was dropped
from the final sequence.
The words
"ART: R. CRUMB"
replace them.
The album was
initially to be titled
Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills,
but the title was
disallowed by
Columbia Records
Release and Reception
Cheap Thrills
was released in
the summer of 1968,
one year after
Big Brother's debut album,
and reached number one
on the Billboard Top
LPs chart
in its eighth week
in October.
It kept the
top spot for
eight non consecutive weeks,
while the single
"Piece of My Heart"
also became a huge hit.
By the end of the year,
Cheap Thrills
was the most
successful album of 1968,
having sold nearly a
million copies.
However,
the success was
short-lived,
as Joplin left the group
for a solo career
in December 1968
TRACKLIST
Combination Of The Two
I Need A Man To Love
Summertime
Piece Of My Heart
Turtle Blues
Oh, Sweet Mary
Ball And Chain
(Live)
BONUS
Roadblock
[Studio Outtake]
Flower In The Sun
[Studio Outtake]
Catch Me Daddy
[Live]
Magic Of Love
[Live]
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