Big Brother & The Holding Company - Live At The Carousel Ballroom Featuring Janis Joplin

From the personal vault of famed soundman Owsley "Bear" Stanley, never before released concert performance

Includes bonus track "Call On Me" recorded at the Saturday show, June 22, 1968. As well as powerful versions of "Summertime," "Piece Of MY Heart," "Combination Of The Two," and 11 more.

Includes extensive liner notes by Bear, family and friends, and rock journalist Jaan Uhelszki

Two LP version pressed on highest quality 180-gram vinyl

Big Brother are primarily remembered as the group that gave Janis Joplin her start. There's no denying both that Joplin was by far the band's most striking asset, and that Big Brother would never have made a significant impression if they hadn't been fortunate enough to add her to their lineup shortly after forming. Starting in 1966, Janis and Big Brother and the Holding Company became the accidental architects of what would be known as the San Francisco Sound. During that important cultural watershed quaintly referred to as the Summer of Love, they provided an unruly, party-tastic link between the cool, cerebral music of the Jefferson Airplane and the psychedelic covenant of the Grateful Dead. They were 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.

Columbia/Legacy Recordings is proud to announce the release of Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968, a previously unavailable live concert recording of Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, recorded June 23, 1968, at San Francisco's Carousel Ballroom by legendary soundman Owsley Stanley, a.k.a. "Bear." Stanley supervised the mastering of this release before his fatal car accident on March 12, 2011, in his adopted homeland of Australia. The release of the album marks the one-year anniversary of his passing and is dedicated to Bear.

This is Bear's unique vision — how he heard the band live, and how he wanted to transmit it. From the very specific non-stereo mix, to the cover artwork he commissioned from Stnaley Mouse, to the liner notes written by those who knew Bear best, this is truly Bear's presentation of this phenomenal band and inspirational music.

"What is key about these moments captured by Owsley is that they're a true representation of what this mythic band really sounded like live," notes rock scribe Jaan Uhelszki in her essay on Janis and Big Brother's enduring ability to astound and surprise. "The rough magic, the explosive synergy, the dangerous frisson of boundaries being demolished between artist and audience....these 14 songs are a testament to what a force of nature Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company was during these two nights at the Carousel Ballroom. Showing them at the zenith of their considerable power."

Tracks:
1. Combination Of The Two
2. I Need A Man To Love
3. Flower In The Sun
4. Light Is Faster Than Sound
5. Summertime
6. Catch Me Daddy
7. It's A Deal
8. Call On Me
9. Jam – I'm Mad
10. Piece Of My Heart
11. Coo Coo
12. Ball & Chain
13. Down On Me
14. Call On Me (Saturday Show—June 22, 1968) Bonus Track