Big Brother & The Holding Company

[DanvillRob]

I know you've all heard about the incident below.

I saw a documentary on Janis recently, and it caused me to look up some photos of her....and guess what I found? Photos taken of her this very night!

 

Bob Birdwell: I wanted to tell the story of what has become to beknows as “The Great Janis Joplin Cake Fight Incident”. My memory isn’t 100% clear on the details. Had I known that I’d be required to recount the tale 46 years later, I would have paid more attention! Another clouding issue is that when band members who were there discussed the incident 40+ years later, we certainly all remembered it…but we all remembered it slightly different! So now, my own recollections are tainted by theirs. We were booked to play a concert at John Swett high school in Crockett, CA. This was sometime in 1966, I think it was their ‘Home-Coming’ dance but I don’t recall the exact date. We were the headline group, as we just had a record released that was getting a smattering of air play. Big Brother was booked as the opening act. Before the concert started, the promoter presented us with a big sheet cake to celebrate the release of the “45″, as single’s were called then. The top of the cake said something like “Congratulations To Peter Wheat & The Breadmen – Baby What’s New”. We were standing around a table with the cake on it, thinking about how to cut it, etc. Janice Joplin was there, but wasn’t really taking part in the festivities. I actually don’t recall where the rest of her band was, but I’m sure they were there too. Janis walked up to the table and stuck her finger deep into the middle of the cake and scooped up some icing. My reaction was almost involuntary, and I slapped her hand away and told her to keep her dirty fingers out of the cake since people were going to be eating it. She said something back to me (I don’t recall what it was) then either tried to smear the icing on my clothes, or flung it off her fingers at me. This is where it gets fuzzy. Someone said I scooped up some icing and flung it back at her. I personally don’t think I’d ever do anything like that! ( LOL ) Nevertheless the incident quickly escalated into a full flung mini-cake throwing fight. It ended quickly, and we all had a good laugh about it.

[bonzoboy]

This may seem strange to a lot of people but whenever I hear Janis or see a picture of her to this very day,I get goosebumps.That's the effect that she always had on me-that voice just tears my heart out.The first time I saw her performance of Ball and Chain at the Monterey Pop Festival I had a lump in my throat the felt like it was the size of a baseball,it was the most passionate heartfelt singing that I'd ever heard before then and ever since.She was an incredible Pearl in an industry filled with bottom feeders.

[NightTimeConcealmentX91]

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[DanvillRob]

Interesting piece of trivia..... if you look carefully at the Bassman bottom in both photos, in the photo of Peter Wheat it's right in the middle of the photo partially covered by the light fixture, in the Big Brother photo it's right behind the bass player..... I took off the "Fender" logo and put on a "Chevrolet" logo!

 

I also had a Showman bottom up there...but I don't recall which one it is.

[milod]

What I get a kick out of is how similar "we" all tended to look as bands in that era... even whether "country" or "rock" or whatever emphasis.

 

<grin>

 

Ah, those Fender amps, the home-made lighting... the feelings of how special we were on the stand and the rush of having the music "work" as an ensemble...

 

Makes me chuckle, literally...

 

m