Almost Hits: Big Brother And The Holding Company - Down On Me (1967)

Big Brother and the Holding Company was a mediocre band that would be totally forgotten today except for one very important asset. Their singer and frontwoman was the legendary Janis Joplin, perhaps the most highly regarded, female, white blues and rock singer in history.

The band's most famous song off of their debut LP is the single "Down On Me." It's a cover of an old folk song that has at least five earlier recorded versions dating back to 1930 including a few rare field recordings (songs recorded outside of a studio).

Joplin is credited on the band's single as the song's sole arranger. She also wrote some new lyrics that gave the historic piece a more uplifting message than the earlier, more serious recordings.

Big Brother's brief, 2:06, 45 RPM stays true to the band's raw, acid-rock sound and features Joplin wailing away at full throttle, but with just enough restraint to get the song played on AM radio. Real, earthy, blues-oriented hard rock was just beginning to assert itself in 1967 so, at that time, "Down On Me" may have been too much for listeners of mainstream Top 40 radio. That could be the reason it never charted higher than #42. A posthumous live version was released as a single and peaked at #91.

It was definitely one of the highlights of Joplin's very short career.
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Almost Hits is an occasional exploration into songs that failed to reach the top #20 on the American Billboard Hot 100. Many have become classics despite what their chart position would indicate.

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