Cheap Thrills [Remastered] - Big Brother & The Holding Company > Reviews > Cheap Thrills? - Priceless

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Joplin at her best
Disadvantages:	Bonus tracks .  .  . not the best

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Tracks:
1. Combination of The Two - 5:47 (Sam Andrew)
2. I Need a Man To Love (Andrew/Joplin)
3. Summertime - 4:00 (Gershwin/Gershwin/Heyward)
4. Piece of My Heart - 4:15 (Berns/Ragovoy)
5. Turtle Blues - 4:22 (Joplin)
6. Oh Sweet Mary - 4:16 (Albin/Getz/Andrew/Joplin/Gurley)
7. Ball and Chain - 9:37 (Big Mama Thornton)
8. Roadblock - 5:31 (Studio Outtake)
9. Flower in the Sun - 3:04 (Studio Outtake)
10. Catch me Daddy - 5:32 (Live)
11. Magic of Love - 3:58 (Live)

Producer: John Simon

Label: Columbia Records

Didn't know where to start with this one as whatever angle you look at it from, its starting point is….at worst…a big hefty 1968 concoction of pure class.

The physical packaging enveloping the psychedelic art work of Crumb (making it No. 9 on Rolling Stones list of 100 Greatest Album Covers); the screeching raw accompaniment and yet harmoniously precise backing of the often under rated Big Brother and The Holding Company (BBHC); the juxtaposed renditions of an awe inspiring melange of tracks penned by Gershwin, Ragavoy, BBHC and Joplin herself; the brutal yet totally justifiable mashing of "Live" with "studio sessions" and (of-course) the bitter sweet vocals of Joplin herself…

Cheap Thrills was the title finally settled on after "Dope, Sex and Cheap Thrills" was considered by the President of Columbia Records, Clive Davis, as a little too extreme. On its release in 1968, Cheap Thrills burst into the charts reaching No. 1 and going Gold within a couple of months.

Although each album track contains great swathes of pure musical elation for me, the titles that require constant repeating to the point of massive hyper salivation refilling the reservoir dust bowls in the south east of England include:

I Need A Man to Love - Live recording allowing the full scope of this Joplin penned blues number to hit a point of such emotional heart wrenching proportions that a triple heart bypass is on the cards for me every time I hear it.

Summertime - Beautiful guitar harmonies hacked into with soaring rock guitar solo's bouncing from Major to Minor, underpinned by a whispering percussion and the shrills of JJ.

Piece of My Heart - A Grade 1 Whisky soaked rendition of this classic number. This subject is without doubt more than close to home for Joplin.

Ball and Chain - Live rendition…you can sense the absolute awe in the audience to the point of fevered applause and vocal adulation when they feel Joplin has got as far as she can go with the soaring vocals…then she goes some more. In addition to this is the murky accompaniment of a band well versed in this track.

Turtle Blues - A self penned classic of the….guess what…Blues Genre showing Janis' softer and spiritual side with the odd stabbing of pain thrown in for good measure.

On October 4th 1970, after recording only 4 albums (2 being with Big Brother and The Holding Company), Janis Joplin, aged 27, died of an overdose of "unusually pure heroin and alcohol" after being off the drugs for some time.

In summary… Nobody had ever heard singing as emotional, as desperate, as determined, as loud as Joplin's, and Cheap Thrills was hers, and BBHC's, greatest moment.

Janis Joplin's voice, intensity, and distinctive look positioned her perfectly to become one of the most recognizable icons of the 1960s musical and social revolution.

I believe that Joplin would have been modest to the rating afforded by Rolling Stone Magazine as 338 in the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time …whereas I argue that this is an outrage… makes it year upon year within my top 10. Respect to JJ.