Big Brother & The Holding Company: David Getz, James Gurley, Janis Joplin, Peter Albin, Sam Andrew.

This collection of rare early live performances by San Francisco's psychedelic blues-rock legends Big Brother & the Holding Company will be manna from heaven for fans of Big Brother frontwoman Janis Joplin. While disc two of the double-disc set contains the 1966 concert recording previously released as CHEAPER THRILLS (the sound quality here is much improved), the first disc contains live material of the same vintage that has never before been released. Over the course of both, you can hear the group's sound coalescing and Joplin gradually turning into the grand dame of Bay Area blues belters, bulldozing everything from Jimmy Reed's "Hi Heel Sneakers" to the folk standard "Coo Coo."