Happy Birthday Janis Joplin | Big Brother In San Francisco

One of the greatest voices in the history of rock, Janis Joplin, was silenced after her tragic death at the age of 27 in 1970. It’s hard to predict what the future would’ve held for Janis had she survived, but considering all she accomplished in just a few short years before her death, we’d imagine Janis would’ve continued her innovative ways. Today marks what would’ve been Joplin’s 71st birthday and we want to celebrate the occasion by sharing a phenomenal Big Brother & The Holding Company performance from 1968 that was recently unearthed by Music Vault.

The video below finds Janis & Big Brother performing in San Francisco on August 16, 1968. Within a month, Joplin would leave the group and soon would form Kozmic Blues Band. However, there was nothing like the powerhouse sound of Joplin with Big Brother as displayed by the performances of “Down On Me,” “Cuckoo,” “In The Hall Of The Mountain King,” “Blow My Mind,” “Ball And Chain” and “Light Is Faster Than Sound” they played that night in the Bay. There’s also interview footage mixed in between songs. Take a look:

0:00:00 -Down On Me
0:02:34 -Cuckoo
0:07:36 -Interview Part 1
0:08:29 -In the Hall of the Mountain King
0:15:20 -Interview Part 2
0:16:25 -Blow My Mind
0:20:24 -Interview Part 3
0:21:13 -Ball And Chain
0:28:07 -Interview Part 4
0:29:20 -Light Is Faster Than Sound
0:34:20 -Interview Part 5