Big Brother history, part four, January to June 1968

Posted on April 26, 2012 by J L tagged.

This is the story of Big Brother and the Holding Company.

January to June 1968

Linda McCartney took this photograph when she was Linda Eastman. Linda and I and quite a few other people became vegetarians at this time, not for our health, as Isaac Bashevis Singer might say, but for the health of the chickens.

Hey, I get to be Kermit the Frog.

5 January 1968 Rainbow Ballroom Fresno California

6 January 1968 Sacramento State College Steve Brown captured this lovely image of Janis.

12 January 1968 Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles

13 January 1968 Barnes Park Bandshell Monterey Park California

16-21 January 1968 Golden Bear Club Huntington Beach California

25 January 1968 Fillmore Auditorium San Francisco

26-27 January 1968 Winterland San Francisco John Byrne Cooke, son of Alistair Cooke. John studied Romance Languages at Harvard. He was our estimable road manager and has remained a good friend.

I don’t want to say that John is tall, but here he is hovering over Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, Mimi Fariña and Joan Baez.

John writes western novels, he’s a photographer, he sings Louvin Brothers songs and he introduced us to a whole new world.

John is now writing a book about his days with Janis in Big Brother, the Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt.

John took this photograph of Debbie Green and Mimi Fariña.

28 January 1968 Avalon Ballroom San Francisco

We’re playing Oh, Sweet Mary.

Chet and Lori Helms with Bill Graham. Bill is doing the talking. Imagine that.

2 February 1968 The Cheetah Los Angeles

3 February 1968 Earl Warren Showgrounds Santa Barbara

9 February 1968 Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Santa Clara California

10 February 1968 Community Concourse Exhibit Hall San Diego

16 February 1968 Palestra Philadelphia

A palestra was originally a wrestling school in Greece (palaistra). In Italian, the word now means gymnasium.

17 February 1968 Anderson Theatre New York City

This restaurant was right next door to where we played so we spent a lot of time there.

Tastes, feelings, colors, smells, enthusiastic people who were personal, direct and kind, the people we encountered were the opposite of the stereotype of New Yorkers.

Ukrainian easter eggs, Afghan coats, secondhand shops, it was like a giant bazaar.

23-24 February 1968 Psychedelic Supermarket Boston I walked into a store in Boston, asked for yoghurt and the grocer almost spat at me. Yes, folks, there was a time when yoghurt was seen as exotic, something that only a Democrat would eat.

25 February 1968 Rhode Island School of Design Providence Rhode Island

I lived in Paris 1962-1964 and a friend there was feeding yoghurt (yaourt) to his baby. First time I tasted it. Delicious. Tastier then… and there. We often had it with meals in the student cafeteria at the Sorbonne.

1-2 March 1968 The Grande Ballroom Detroit Michigan

8 March 1968 Fillmore East opens. Linda Eastman (McCartney) made this poster.

We were living in the Chelsea Hotel.

Jane Fonda lived in the Chelsea at that time. So did Julie Christie.

Combination of the Two

9 March 1968 Wesleyan University Middletown Connecticut

15-17 March 1968 Electric Factory Philadelphia

22-24 March 1968 The Cheetah Chicago

2-6 April The Generation New York City

7 April 1968 Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, Richie Havens, Paul Butterfield. B.B. King inspired us that night with his sacred words and music.

10 April 1968 Anaheim Convention Center

11 April 1968 We play Summertime on ABC-TV Hollywood Palace.

11 April 1968 Fillmore Auditorium with Booker T and the MGs and Iron Butterfly

12-13 April 1968 Winterland San Francisco

14 April 1968 Carousel Ballroom

19 April 1968 Selland Arena Fresno

20 April 1968 University of California Santa Barbara

24 April 1968 Straight Theatre San Francisco

26 April 1968 Foothill College Los Altos California

27 April 1968 San Bernardino California

1 May 1968 College Field Chico State College Chico California

2 May 1968 Carousel Ballroom San Francisco

1968 3-4 May The Shrine Expo Center Los Angeles

3-6 May 1968

10 May 1968 Cal-Poly State University San Luis Obispo California

Sam Berdofsky drew this poster for our gig in Santa Rosa.

11 May 1968

12 May 1968 San Fernando Valley State College Northridge California

15 May 1968

Fairly typical set list at this time.

16 May 1968 That doesn’t look like one of James’ usual guitars.

17 May 1968 Freeborn Hall University of California at Davis

18 May 1968 Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Santa Clara Northern California Folk Rock Festival

This was a special gig, quite memorable. The weather was beautiful and there was a spirit of togetherness.

19 May 1968 Civic Auditorium Pasadena James singing Easy Rider. “And I will even buy you some cardboard fruit.”

21 May 1968 Bermuda Palms San Rafael California One dollar seemed to be the going rate for these Angels affairs. Would be about $10 now.

I used to play saxophone in this building with a big band.

Five errors ? Dave, Janis, Sam, James and Peter. That was easy.

24-26 May 1968 Carousel Ballroom with the Clara Ward Singers

31 May 1968

9 June 1968 Whisky-A-Go-Go Hollywood

13 June 1968 Fillmore Auditorium

14-15 June 1968 Winterland San Francisco

16 June 1968 Fillmore Matrix Benefit

22-23 June 1968 Carousel Ballroom

Owsley Stanley put us on tape many times. SONY released his recording of this engagement.

24 June 1968 Burlingame Country Club Burlingame California

26-29 June 1968 Denver

Janis Joplin

See you next week?

Sam Andrew

___________________________________________________

Big Brother history, part three, July to December 1967

Posted on April 19, 2012 by J L tagged.

July to Decmber 1967

1 July 1967 Avalon Ballroom Big Brother and the Holding Company Quicksilver Mount Rushmore Horns of Plenty

“Big Brother and the Holding Company ?” How did you get a name like that ? Well, on a beautiful spring day in 1965, Chet Helms held in his hands two legal tablets full of quirky, eccentric, purposefully puerile names. Names like Tom Slow and his Sarcastic Grand Mo. Or Country Schmo and The Knish. Or Quicksilver Military Service. The Grapefruit Head. The Jefferson’s Bear Pain.

On one legal tablet, Chet had the name “Big Brother,” no doubt prompted by a recent reading of Orwell. On another legal tablet page, Chet had the words “The Holding Company.” ‘Holding ?’ Why Holding ? “Holding” was slang at that time for “possessing,” as in, “Hey, man, are you holding any drugs ?”

So, on one yellow tablet Chet had “Big Brother” and on the other he had “the Holding Company.” “Big Brother ?” “Holding Company ?” “Big Brother” was big government. “”Holding Company” was corporate government. Corporations weren’t people yet. Their ‘free speech’ hadn’t yet become protected by the Supreme Court, which was still an honorable institution.

“Big Brother ?” “Holding Company ?” Very political. Country Joe and The Fish were a political group, but their name was non political. They should have had our name and we should have had theirs. Country Janis and The Fish would have been something to consider, even if we didn’t have Janis yet.

James Gurley said, “Hey, how is a name like Big Brother and the Holding Company going to fit on a marquee or a record label ?”

And I thought, “You mean there’s going to be a marquee… and a record label ?”

2 July 1967 Mount Tamalpais Marin County, California.

I had a difficult time driving down off Mount Tamalpais after this gig. We had a 1955 Cadillac hearse which was unwieldy anyway, and I didn’t know Marin County yet, and especially Tamalpais, so I had a fun time negotiating all those curves, peaks and valleys after cocktails and cannabis.

4-6 July 1967 Fillmore Bo Diddley Big Joe Williams Quicksilver Big Brother

7-8 July 1967 Circle Star Theatre San Carlos California Theatres in the round, such as the Circle Star, can be quite tricky. Westbury Music Fair on Long Island is another one. When they begin revolving there is a slight jerk that you should be ready for or otherwise you could spill your Bombay martini.

14-15 July 1967 Continental Ballroom grand opening.

We’re playing Cuckoo here, a song that became Oh, Sweet Mary on Cheap Thrills.

20-21 July 1967 Avalon Ballroom Big Brother and the Holding Company Mount Rushmore

23 July 1967 Straight Theatre San Francisco Grand Opening Big Brother and the Holding Company Freedom Highway The Phoenix Wildflower The Grateful Dead Mount Rushmore Quicksilver Messenger Service New Salvation Army Band Mother Earth Country Joe and The Fish The Charlatans Blue Cheer

The Gurley man

28-30 July 1967 California Hall San Francisco

Josie and Eddy

31 July 1967 Haight Ashbury Free Clinic Benefit

8 August 1967 Denver Dog Denver Colorado A band at this event played Bye, Bye, Baby. The guitar player even copied my mistakes. First time I heard that.

10 August 1967 Kaiser Dome San Bernardino

11-12 August 1967 Continental Ballroom Santa Clara California

13 August 1967 Avalon Ballroom

16 August 1967 Golden Gate Park

Sharrie Gomez and I doing a Macy’s ad.

Bo and his balalaika

24-27 August 1967 Avalon Ballroom Big Brother Bo Diddley Bukka White The Salvation Army Banned

28 August 1967 Lindley Meadow Golden Gate Park

Hunter S. Thompson

We had a shoot in Sausalito at the Heliport with Irving Penn.

This is the way Irving Penn’s portrait of us and the Grateful Dead looks on the wall at The National Portrait Gallery, London.

1-3 September 1967 Straight Theatre Haight Ashbury San Francisco

4 September 1967 La Dolphine Estate Debutante Party Burlingame California

6 September 1967

8-9 September 1967 Family Dog Denver

Truth in advertising

You probably cannot see that Janis and I are committing some kind of nefarious act over there under the tree.

15 September 1967 Canceled

September 16, 1967 Monterey Jazz Festival Big Brother T-Bone Walker B. B. King Richie Havens The Clara Ward Singers Afternoon Blues Show

T-Bone Walker was my guitar hero since I was 14, so I was very excited to see him here.

19-24 September 1967 Golden Bear Huntington Beach California with Big Mama Thornton.

5 October 1967 The Matrix San Francisco

6 October 1967 The Ark Sausalito California

7 October 1967 Avalon Ballroom

8 October 1967 Santa Clara Fairgrounds Santa Clara California

13-14 October 1967 Eagles Auditorium Seattle This engagement was canceled, I believe, and we played at The Ark instead.

15-16 October 1967 Avalon Ballroom

20 October 1967 Contra Costa College San Pablo California

27 October 1967 Cal State Hayward California

28 October 1967 McNear’s Beach San Rafael California

28-29 October 1967 Peacock Country Club San Rafael

31 October 1967 Trip Or Freak Hallowe’en Ball Winterland San Francisco

2-3 November 1967 Fillmore San Francisco with Richie Havens

November 1967 Golden Bear Club Huntington Beach California

4 November 1967 Winterland San Francisco with Richie Havens and Pink Floyd

James Gurley plays an F# minor.

4 November 1967 The Ark with Baltimore Steam Packet and Moby Grape

Sally Mann photographed by Rosie McGee

Way Beck in the old days

13 November 1967 Avalon Ballroom Big Brother and the Holding Company The Grateful Dead Quicksilver Messenger Service

16 November 1967 Cubist stock certificate

This event never happened. In any year. I wish it would have.

23-25 November 1967 The Family Dog presents Thanksgiving Turkey Strut and Trot at The Avalon.

24 November 1967 California Hall San Francisco

25 November 1967 Avalon Ballroom Mount Rushmore

1 December 1967 The Matrix San Francisco with Sandy Bull and Dan Hicks

2 December 1967 1st L.A. appearance, it says. I didn’t realize that.

17 December 1967

18 December 1967 California Hall

19 December 1967 Shrine Auditorium Los Angeles

20 December 1967 Whisky-A-Go-Go Hollywood

22 December 1967 Turlock Fairgrounds Turlock California

25 December 1967 Sokol Hall Christmas Party

26-31 December 1967 Winterland San Francisco

Happy New Year ! 31 December 1967

See you next week?

Sam Andrew

____________________________________________

In the land of the Maidu: 3-4 March 2012

Posted on March 4, 2012 by J L tagged.

4 March 2012

Feather Falls Casino Oroville California

Check the calendar, change strings and listen to the tunes.

These are Elise’s handwritten directions. She writes down the route and says, “Hey, it’s near Chico,” and I reply, “Yes. Paradise.”

Our room in the Feather Falls Casino hotel.

The hallway, such a familiar scene for someone who travels a lot.

The minute we get in the room, Elise starts making the magic happen.

I turn on the television. Have you googled “santorum” lately ?

I’ve played this guitar for a long time now. Paul Reed Smith gave her to me. She’s been a good one.

Donna Patterson and Tom Finch in the green room.

Donna always knows how to answer my questions about Twitter, Facebook, Google. You Tube, My Space. The woman is a cyberencyclopedia.

Peter making the sets. There is a certain sense of déjà vu here.

Peter, Sam, Stefanie, Tom.

This is who made the escalator in the casino. They’ve been around for a while.

Srefanie and her husband David.

Peter, Donna, Mike, Tom, Elise.

Donna. Hey, I could paint this and make it the Donna Lisa.

Peter playing It’s Cool…Baby.

We did two one hour sets.

Stefanie, Tom and Peter working on their dance steps.

Tom Finch. He’s getting a little frisky.

It can be so surreal backstage.

Thinking about Ishi.

This is a real Native American.

So we wake up the next morning and I pack the car, all the while thinking about Ralph, an unreasonable man. This sticker is on the back of Elise’s car. She’s voted for him in every presidential election since 1996.

Elise leaves our room neat and clean for the next guests.

Says a prayer of thanksgiving and farewell.

And drives us down highway 70 south to Sacramento.

We decide to stop in Davis, California, near Sacramento. I have played in this town, but it seems to me that I have never really been here before.

We have a little vacation, very interesting, visiting bookstores and other interesting places. Beautiful day.

I bought this book and Elise read it to me.

We thought about going to this China restaurant, but it felt so good just being outside.

I am doing a painting of Lady Marchmain and the border will be very elaborate, but I am doing it in subtle colors so I don’t overpower her face.

Elise delighted in the metal sculpture on this Davis dumpster.

Art and ice cream… what’s not to love ?

I went into another bookstore and saw this image.

Is nothing sacred ? I mean, legendary pizza. Well, I hope it is.

What would she think of that ? She’d probably be amazed that anyone would care enough to name a shop Woodstock.

Things weren’t weird enough. We had to walk by this building, and Elise said, “Hey, it’s Barry. What’s he doing here ?”

What indeed ?

My main memory of Barry Melton is from when he looked a little more like Harpo Marx.

Such a great guy. We played together in Scotland a few years ago when Carla Piliwale and Edd Hart came over to be with us.

So, Elise and I said goodbye to Davis, a charming little town.

We drove west on Highway 80 and took the 37 highway across the top of the bay. There was Mount Tamalpais at last, welcoming us to Marin.

Home to San Geronimo.

Thank you always for being here, and I’ll see you next week.

Sam Andrew

Big Brother and the Holding Company

_________________________________________________________________________________________

It’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood.

Posted on November 13, 2010 by J L tagged.

14 November 2010

Steve Brown took this lovely photograph of Janis.

I could have met Stela Mandel at this engagement, but, no….

The very lively Cathy Richardson.

Marin: Lizards in the summer, Salamanders when it gets cooler.

Elise au naturel.

Janis at her house in Larkspur. She was once the pool champion of Avenue D.

If Tom Cruise lived in East Texas, he might look like this.

Basic human decency, rock and roll version.

Two and a half years old.

Elise when she was modeling. Sarasota, Florida. 1980s.

Mary Bridget Davies. Very intelligent, smart as can be. Funny. Strong.

Kate Russo and Peter Albin in Koh Samui, Thailand.

My sister Lillian and my father.

See? I told you she knew how to play flügelhorn.

Janis had an angular, jabbing kind of writing style. Sharp as she was.

Moondog, serious classical composer, author of All Is Loneliness.

Tom Finch and Tara Coyote. Glamorous and amorous.

Nick Gravenites, a very happy unidentified woman, and John Cipollina.

On the cover of the Rolling Stone, Italian style. Good photograph.

We learned Ball and Chain from this woman.

Elise took this dawn photograph of the Wörthersee in southern Austria.

Tim Braun and Woo Salazar in the Kansas City, Missouri, Love, Janis.

278 West 11th Street, NYC. I lived in the West Village for almost ten years.

McNear’s Beach, I think. Janis, Peter, Dave, Sam. Total madhouse.

One of the many appropriations of Robert Crumb’s great idea.

We played with Steve at The Shoreline Amphitheatre a couple of years ago.

Karen Lyberger, glassical scholar, Hawaii.

Merl Saunders, Barry Melton, Norton Buffalo, shot by Don Aters.

The Hummingbird that Janis first played Bobby McGee on. Beautiful guitar.

I remember these vehicles.

Joan, Karen, Elise, Hawaii.

This was quite a gig.

Big Brother in Kyoto. Tom Finch, Duffy Bishop. 1996?

Just another night backstage.

Shanghai Elise.

In this manicured England, we were at the Bein Inn. Not like a Be In.

The top of San Francisco. Fisherman’s Wharf. Aquatic Park. The Marina.

Aspects of Elise. 1980s.

Max Clarke, peripheralist, photographer extraordinaire.

Carla, Elise’s mother, and Edd came to Scotland when we played there.

Almost two.

Dave Getz, Hawaii.

Regensburg, Germany 2003.

Kathi McDonald and Bob Mosely.

The Pik Ass Playroom.

White Plains, New York.

With my brother Dan in Austin. 1980s.

I wonder how many times I’ve played Piece of My Heart?

Elise is singing.

Getting ready to go to Okinawa the first time.

Do I look proud to be with these people? Sophia Ramos and Ben Nieves.

Chad Quist, Lisa Mills, Todd Vinciguerra. This was a good band.

With Kathi McDonald. Seattle.

Sam Andrew

Big Brother and the Holding Company

__________________________________________________________

Dunsmuir and Leggett, California

Posted on September 15, 2010 by J L tagged.

12 September 2010

Dunsmuir and Leggett, California

This is a photograph by Donna Patterson of Mount Shasta. She has her top blown off (the mount, not Donna) because she is one of the Sisters in the volcano belt. Some of her sisters are Mount Hood, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens. I was on the road with Pearl Heart (don’t ask) somewhere near Vancouver, Washington, standing in my motel room, shaving with the door open, when I heard a loud boom. That was Mount Shasta’s sister, Mount Saint Helens blowing her top.

So, not to be theatrical or anything, but here we are in Dunsmuir practicing for the show, which will be on a baseball field, a baseball field that has felt the mighty step of Babe Ruth and heard the preppie cadences of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who said, “This Dunsmuir water is the finest that I have ever tasted.”

I’m not sure that Nat Cole was ever here in Dunsmuir, but Elise and I turned on the television and there he was in a film called Cat Ballou. Completely ridiculous. Mr. Cole, one of the greatest jazz pianists, and you know how he sings, was standing there in overalls with a banjo and singing country songs. So postmodern. Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin. Really out there.

We’re working on Ball & Chain here. Almost got it.

Me giving Tom Finch some pointers on how to play his solos.

Peter telling us what our Dachshund will do to us IN THE NIGHT.

The Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman. Stefanie Keys, ladies and gentlemen.

A force of nature. Encouraging, positive, alive, vibrant, OK a little goofy, and a joy to be with.

Some of the lovely Dunsmuirians. Ryan Marchand is the good looking one.

Kat Patterson doing an unforgettable rendition of He Who Smelt It, Dealt It. Please note extremely correct toe articulation.

We left Dunsmuir, which is very far north in California, drove down to the Colusa Clearlake exit, and took Highway 20 west to join Highway 101 north and drove to Leggett in Mendocino County. This was a marathon drive and Elise did it with skill, charm and aplomb. The Peg House has a sense of humor and so, ha, ha, they decided to put this mock up police car in front of their place. That’s to get everyone to slow down, see?, so that they might come in and spend some money. Ha, ha.

Tom Finch was truly playing some beautiful guitar on this trip, and Stefanie made me very proud. She is getting better every gig. She’s smart, she works, she’s happy…what a woman!

With Amélie and Chris. I’m trying to get Amélie to give up smoking, so this is a subliminal message.

Arianna Antinori, my irrepressible friend who is Roman but now lives in Vicenza, Italy, which is not that far from Belluno, the home of my dear friend, Dario Da Rold. Look how beautiful Arianna is. She will sing some songs with us when we play in Vicenza.

Shiho-san (Superfly) came and sang with us at Woodstock (Bethel, NY) and I just loved her. This is an interview/article with her in Japan Times.

Elise and I had such a good time on this trip. Lots of laughs, fun to see new things. I love this woman.

Sam Andrew

Big Brother and the Holding Company

Big Brother history, part four, January to June 1968

Big Brother history, part three, July to December 1967

In the land of the Maidu: 3-4 March 2012

It’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood.

Dunsmuir and Leggett, California

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