Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals, as well as her "electric" stage presence.
The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Much of the band's music was, as music historian Richie Unterberger described it, possessed of "an eerie and sometimes anguished ambiance." Their most successful material was by songwriters Annette Tucker and Nancie Mantz, though the group also penned their own songs. Incorporating psychedelia and elements of embryonic electronic rock, the band's sound was marked by innovative recording techniques with fuzz-toned guitars and oscillating sound effects. In addition, guitarist Ken Williams' and singer James Lowe's concept of "free-form garage music" provided the band with a richer sonic palette and exploratory lyrical structure than many of their contemporaries.
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some initial personnel changes, the band became well known with the lineup of vocalist Janis Joplin, guitarists Sam Andrew and James Gurley, bassist Peter Albin, and drummer Dave Getz. Their second album Cheap Thrills, released in 1968, is considered one of the masterpieces of the psychedelic sound of San Francisco; it reached number one on the Billboard charts, and was ranked number 338 in Rolling Stone's the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album is also listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Blues rock is a fusion genre and form of rock music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock. From its beginnings in the early to mid-1960s, blues rock has gone through several stylistic shifts and along the way it inspired and influenced hard rock, Southern rock, and early heavy metal.
William Keith Relf was an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for rock band the Yardbirds. He then formed the band Renaissance with his sister Jane Relf, the Yardbirds ex-drummer Jim McCarty and ex-The Nashville Teens keyboardist John Hawken.
Pearl is the second and final solo album by Janis Joplin, released on January 11, 1971, three months after her death on October 4, 1970. It was the final album with her direct participation, and the only Joplin album recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, her final touring unit. It peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, holding that spot for nine weeks. It has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.
Chester Leo "Chet" Helms, often called the father of San Francisco's 1967 "Summer of Love," was a music promoter and a counterculture figure in San Francisco during its hippie period in the mid- to-late 1960s.
Albert Bernard Grossman was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music and rock and roll scene. He was famous as the manager of many of the most popular and successful performers of folk and folk-rock music, including Bob Dylan; Janis Joplin; Peter, Paul and Mary; the Band; Odetta; Gordon Lightfoot; and Ian & Sylvia.
"Piece of My Heart" is a romantic soul song written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns, originally recorded by Erma Franklin in 1967. Franklin's single peaked in December 1967 at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart in the United States.
Deep Tracks is a Sirius XM Radio channel featuring lesser-known classic rock music selections such as album tracks, one-hit wonders, concert recordings, "forgotten 45s" and "B-side" tracks.
The Texas International Pop Festival was a music festival held at Lewisville, Texas, on Labor Day weekend, August 30 to September 1, 1969. It occurred two weeks after Woodstock. The site for the event was an open field just south and west of the newly opened Dallas International Motor Speedway, located on the east side of Interstate Highway 35E, across from the Round Grove Road intersection.
Gabriel Mekler was an American songwriter, musician, and record producer who attained fame in the 1960s, helming albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Janis Joplin. He also collaborated with R&B singer Etta James for two critically acclaimed albums in the early 1970s, mixing blues, soul, and then topped it off with Genya Ravan production jazz and rock.
Catherine E. Richardson is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and narrator from the Chicago suburbs in Illinois. She is the lead singer for the band Jefferson Starship and her own Cathy Richardson Band, and has performed the Janis Joplin parts for Joplin's former band Big Brother and the Holding Company.
The Heroes of Woodstock Tour was a North American concert tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1969 Woodstock Festival. The tour featured several bands, most of which performed at the original Woodstock festival or feature members that performed at the festival. The musicians featured differed slightly from venue to venue but most of the concerts featured Jefferson Starship, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat, Ten Years After and Tom Constanten. Some dates featured Melanie, Edgar Winter, John Sebastian, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Mountain and the Levon Helm Band. Country Joe McDonald hosted all of the concerts, playing a couple of songs in between the different sets. The tour was widely viewed as a financial failure as attendance proved to be dismal across most of the dates.
Guitar Rock was a 27-volume series issued by Time-Life during the mid-1990s, spotlighting rock music—in particular, hard rock, classic and album-oriented rock of the 1960s through early 1990s.
The New Orleans Pop Festival was a rock festival held on Labor Day weekend, two weeks after the Woodstock Festival. It was held at the Pelican International Speedway in Prairieville, Louisiana, about 65 miles up the Mississippi River from New Orleans and 15 miles south of Baton Rouge. Over 26 bands performed during the three days of the festival, including seven veterans of Woodstock. It had a peak attendance of 25,000–30,000 people.
The Family Dog Denver was a concert dance hall located at 1601 West Evans Avenue in Denver, Colorado. Opened from September 1967 to July 1968, it is regarded as a seminal music venue that launched Denver on its trajectory to its current status as a major concert destination by introducing never-before-seen acts like The Doors, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Buffalo Springfield, Janis Joplin, Chuck Berry, and many others. Many acts, like The Doors and Van Morrison, for example, had yet to become famous when they played The Dog, evidenced by the poster artists having to stylize the names of their leading songs into the poster art for the shows. The Family Dog is also seen as a cultural turning point in Denver from the conservative, western-minded sensibility of the early and mid-20th century to the current, liberal-minded climate. The venue's history, surrounding drama and ultimate impact had been largely unknown and unrealized until it was unearthed and detailed for the first time in the 2021 documentary The Tale of the Dog, produced and directed by Dan Obarski & Scott Montgomery and distributed by Cinedigm. As there are no useful photos, no video and little written history remaining of the Family Dog Denver, the film's oral history format told in first person by the people who were there serves as a definitive reference for “The Dog.”
Woodstock – Back to the Garden: 50th Anniversary Collection is a live album by various artists. It was recorded at the Woodstock music festival, which took place on August 15–18, 1969, in Bethel, New York. It includes 30 songs by 21 different musical artists, in order of performance, along with a number of stage announcements. It was released as a three-disc CD and as a five-disc LP on June 28, 2019.
Aerodrome, Schenectady, NY Aerodrome shows Al Quaglieri compiled this roster of Aerodrome acts over 20 years of research.
January 25 – The Box Tops, Luv Minus Zero [grand opening night] March 14 – The YWCA Co-Ed Club dance March 21 – The Aerodromes March 22-23 – The Electric Prunes, Aerodrome March 24 – The Electric Prunes performing "Mass in F Minor" ["guys, jackets a must!”] March 28 – The Yardbirds, The Aerodromes April 4 – The Aerodromes April 5-6 – Ultimate Spinach & Aerodromes April 7 – Aerodromes & Ultimate Spinach all ages April 12-14 – The Beacon Street Union, The Aerodromes April 18 – Aerodromes April 19-21 – Aerodromes, Tyrolean Flower Act April 25 – The Aerodromes, "Dating Game Night" April 26-27 – Jimmy Angel with The Distant Sounds & Aerodromes April 27 – Jaycees Battle of the bands [afternoon show] April 28 1-7 – All teenagers Jimmy Angel with The Distant Sounds & Aerodromes April 28 – The Yardbirds May 2 – The Aerodromes May 3-5 – The Hassles, The Aerodromes May 9 – The Bougalieu May 10-11 – Oxford Watch Band, East Coast Clique May 12 – Oxford Watch Band May 29 – High School Night (sponsored by the Schenectady Deanery Catholic Youth Organization) May 30-June 1 – Burgundy Sunset, East Coast Recital June 2 – Burgundy Sunset July 5-6 – The Bougalieu, The Page One (Syracuse) July 12-13 – The Bougalieu July 19-20 – The Bougalieu July 23 – Battle of the Bands: Tempered Blues, Love's Ice Cube, Second Level, Royal Blush, Mixed Emotions, Boston Tea Party, Men Form Sound, Strangers, Stained Glass Encyclopedia (benefit for the Eugene McCarthy-Paul O’Dwyer campaign) July 29 – Wilmer Alexander Jr & The Dukes (benefit for the Eugene McCarthy-Paul O’Dwyer campaign) July 31 – Steppenwolf; August 26 – Archie Bell & The Drells August 30, 31 – Wilmer & The Dukes, Karyn September 1 – The Doors [unconfirmed, also listed for September 2] September 16 – Joe Tex October 25-26 – The Fuzzy Bunnies
1969 March 28 – Johnnie Taylor April 12 – Wilmer & The Dukes May 10 – Peaches & Herb, Maurice & Earl, The Mark IV and David Ward May 25 – Clarence Carter July 3 – B.B. King July 9 – The Jeff Beck Group July 11 – The Lemon Pipers, Pacific Gas & Electric July 16-17 – Majic Ship July 18 – NRBQ, Majic Ship July 19 – Johnnie Taylor July 25 – The Buddy Miles Express, The Oz’n Ends August 1 – The Oz’n Ends, Free August 2 – Free August 9 – Chicago Transit Authority, Spyder August 14 – Wilmer & The Dukes August 15-16 – JJ & The Impacts, NRBQ August 20 – Led Zeppelin, Spyder, Last Thursday August 23 – Jr. Walker & The All Stars August 24 – The G.E. Pursuit of Happiness Show September 19 – Canned Heat September 20 – The Sam & Dave Revue September 26 – Velvet Underground October 10 – Canned Heat November 7 – Tim Hardin November 26 – Country Joe & The Fish Dec 6 – The Kinks [cancelled] December 13 – The Zombies (imposter group)
1970 April 4 – reopened on a month to month basis under new ownership April 11 – MC5, Snake May 29 – Steppenwolf, Friends of Whitney Sunday June 26 – Janis Joplin, Snake [last show, closed after this] Promised but never appeared: Strawberry Alarm Clock Moby Grape Jefferson Airplane
