The band was formed by Peter Albin, Sam Andrew, James Gurley (1939 – 2009) and Chuck Jones in San Francisco, in a Victorian mansion/boarding house owned by Peter's uncle at 1090 Page Street in the Haight-Ashbury. That house became the site of Wednesday night jam sessions which were organized by Chet Helms who was the real "Big Brother," naming the band, bringing James Gurley into the fold and later seeing that his old friend Janis Joplin came to sing with them. The first official Big Brother gig was at the Open Theater in Berkeley, January 1966. Within a short time they became the house band for Chet at the Avalon Ballroom and began to develop a loyal following, largely due to the charismatic, pioneering guitarwork of James Gurley. The band had what Sam Andrew called a "progressive-regressive hurricane blues style," playing such tunes as Hall of the Mountain King, Coo Coo, That's How Strong My Love Is, and Down On Me. Janis Joplin made her debut with Big Brother at the Avalon Ballroom in June 1966, and a year later, in June 1967, Big Brother and Janis performed at The Monterey Pop Festival. From that point on, Janis became the main focus of attention, with her high voltage and raw emotional performances, while Big Brother faded into the backgroud and became known for being her back-up band.
At the end of the summer of 1968, just after appearing at the Palace of Fine Arts Festival in San Francisco, Joplin announced that she was leaving Big Brother in the fall of that year. The official reason given was her desire to go solo and form a soul music band. Sam Andrew also left the band to join Janis in her new project. Janis played with Big Brother until December 1, 1968, at a Family Dog Benefit concert in San Francisco. Twenty days later she and Sam played in Memphis for the first time with her new band, later called Kozmic Blues Band.
After Janis left Big Brother, Dave Getz and Peter Albin joined Country Joe and the Fish and toured the U.S. and Europe and played on the Country Joe album Here We Go Again (Vanguard Records 1969). Getz and Albin left Country Joe in May 1969 with the intention of re-forming Big Brother with guitarist David Nelson. They auditioned several singers including Eddie Money, Kathi McDonald and John Herald but the band finally came back together in the fall of 1969 with nearly the same line-up (except Joplin): Albin, Andrew, Getz and Gurley were joined by Nick Gravenites (vocals), Dave Schallock (guitar) and Kathi McDonald (vocals). Be a Brother was released in 1970. Gurley moved to bass guitar while Albin played rhythm, Sam Andrew sang more lead vocals with Kathi McDonald, David Schallock on lead guitar, Dave Getz on drums and occasional keyboards. Nick Gravenites would also produce the album, write and sing on a number of the tracks. They releasad their last studio album, How Hard It Is, in 1971. The same lineup: Kathi and Sam and Nick on vocals joined by organist Mike Finnegan. The band remained with this lineup until 1972 but drugs, loss of management, lack of gigs and internal squabbles caused them to gradually fall apart and disband during that year. During the next 15 years they re-united once to play "The Tribal Stomp" in 1978 at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley.
The latest incarnation began in 1987, and has been touring part-time ever since with most of its original members, including Sam Andrew, Peter Albin, Dave Getz, and James Gurley. James left in 1996 because he did not support his colleagues' idea to hire a female singer to replace Joplin. He was replaced in 1997 by Tom Finch. Big Brother no longer has a fixed lead singer; Michel Bastian, Lisa Battle, Halley DeVestern, Lisa Mills, Andra Mitrovich, Kacee Clanton, Sophia Ramos, Mary Bridget Davies, Chloe Lowery, Jane Myrenget, Lynn Asher, Maria Stanford, Cathy Richardson, and Superfly's Shiho Ochi are among the singers that have played in concerts with them. Ben Nieves is the present guitar player along with Sam Andrew. In 1999 the band released the album Do What You Love, with Lisa Battle as the lead singer. The album contains some new versions of classic tunes like "Women is Loser" and a few new songs. The "Hold Me" album, with Sophia Ramos as lead singer and Chad Quist as guitar player, was recorded live in Germany in 2005, and released in 2006. In 2008 they released the two-CD set The Lost Tapes, with songs recorded at concerts between 1966 and 1967 in San Francisco, and featuring Janis Joplin as lead singer. Some songs had already been unofficial releases, but there are 12 never-before-released songs.
Former guitarist James Gurley died on December 20, 2009 of a heart attack, just two days before his 70th birthday.
Flower In The Sun
Big Brother & The Holding Company Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You loved me, too,
So how come you just sit there and laugh
And laugh and laugh and laugh?
Things just can't be this way
And not for very long
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no.
Our love affair said it's just history, yes it is.
And I tried to love you in my own way,
I think that you know I did.
But to have you here, to see you living,
Oh so near to me, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oh but you are distant and so it's dead
And so often people are glad to be old, yeah yeah,
Our love affair is just history, yes it is.
Once in a green time a flower
Oh, fell in love with the sun.
The passion lasted for an hour
And then she wilted from her loved one.
Once in a green time a flower
Oh, fell in love with the sun.
The passion lasted for an hour
And then she wilted from her loved one.
And I see you looking up at the sky, how high it is, yeah.
You wonder if there is, whoa another me
Now how can that be, how can it be?
Well, I sit here and I ask you, why all this?
I just got toni-ni-ni-night
Our love affair said it's just a history
But baby, baby, I said it's over, Charlie,
I can't stand another lo-lo-lonely,
I'm never too lonely.
It's over baby,
Where were you when I wanted ya
And needed ya right by my side?
I said-a, baby, baby, don't you feel me moving,
Baby, don't you hear me cry ?
I know I hurt you, but Lord don't you know I cried,
I know I hurt you, but babe don't you know I tried,
Oh baby, oh babe, whoa.
The lyrics of Big Brother & The Holding Company's song Flower in the Sun portray the pain and heartbreak of a failed relationship. The singer expresses their confusion and hurt over the way their partner is now treating them. They can't understand why their partner is laughing at their pain and distance, and they are mourning the loss of the love they once shared. The metaphor of the flower in love with the sun is used to illustrate the fleeting and ultimately destructive nature of some romances.
The singer's attempt to love their partner comes across as genuine but ultimately fruitless, and they are left alone and lonely. They question whether there could be another version of themselves out there, one who might have been able to make the relationship work. But ultimately, they come to accept that it's over and that they can't go on living in the past. The passionate, tragic nature of the song is emphasized by the repeated use of the word "love affair" and the pleading tone of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh please don't you think baby that I am wrong to cry, yeah.
I don't think it's wrong to cry because you loved me too.
You loved me, too,
You also loved me, but now you don't care and you just laugh.
So how come you just sit there and laugh
And laugh and laugh and laugh?
I don't understand why you're laughing instead of caring about the love we had.
Things just can't be this way
And not for very long
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no.
It's impossible for things to continue like this for long. It has to change.
Our love affair said it's just history, yes it is.
Our love affair is over and it's just a memory now.
And I tried to love you in my own way,
I think that you know I did.
I tried to love you with my own style and I believe you are aware of it.
But to have you here, to see you living,
Oh so near to me, yeah, yeah, yeah.
To have you close to me and see you alive is really special to me.
Oh but you are distant and so it's dead
And so often people are glad to be old, yeah yeah,
Our love affair is just history, yes it is.
You are now distant from me and it feels like our love is dead. Sometimes people are happy to grow old and our love is just over now.
Once in a green time a flower
Oh, fell in love with the sun.
The passion lasted for an hour
And then she wilted from her loved one.
Once a flower loved the sun but their passion lasted only for an hour as the flower fell in love with someone else.
Once in a green time a flower
Oh, fell in love with the sun.
The passion lasted for an hour
And then she wilted from her loved one.
Once a flower loved the sun but their passion lasted only for an hour as the flower fell in love with someone else.
And I see you looking up at the sky, how high it is, yeah.
You wonder if there is, whoa another me
Now how can that be, how can it be?
I see you looking up at the sky and wondering if there's another version of me out there. It's impossible.
Well, I sit here and I ask you, why all this?
I just got toni-ni-ni-night
Our love affair said it's just a history
But baby, baby, I said it's over, Charlie,
I'm questioning why everything is happening right now as I just got through the night. Our love affair is over and I'm saying it loud and clear.
I can't stand another lo-lo-lonely,
I'm never too lonely.
I can't bear to be alone anymore but I'm never alone.
It's over baby,
Where were you when I wanted ya
And needed ya right by my side?
It's over now and I'm wondering where you were when I needed you by my side.
I said-a, baby, baby, don't you feel me moving,
Baby, don't you hear me cry ?
I'm telling you to pay attention to me and feel my emotions.
I know I hurt you, but Lord don't you know I cried,
I know I hurt you, but babe don't you know I tried,
I acknowledge that I hurt you, but I want you to know that I cried about it and I really did try my best.
Oh baby, oh babe, whoa.
I'm still emotional and hurting over our love affair.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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