Sold Date: September 29, 2020
Start Date: June 15, 2020
Final Price: $17.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 144
Buyer Feedback: 0

Big Brother & The Holding Company With Janis Joplin
Cheap Thrills
Columbia 1970 Gatefold Re-issue

Item Details
Manufactured in: USA
Recorded: March - May 1968 in NY and Los Angeles.
Original Issue: August 12, 1968
This Issue: 1970
Label: Columbia PC 9700
Runout Deadwax Matrix Numbers:
Side 1: (stamp:) XSM137375-2D COLUMBIA NY B
Side 2: (etch:) XSM137376 G2A CT & T 1A (stamp:) ○ (etch:) P
I confess to having totally believed all these decades that the album was a live recording at the Fillmore, just like it says on the jacket front. The album was announced beforehand as live and even pre-sold as such. The producer John Simon had Wally Heider record one of their shows at Winterland only as an "audition" for a future production live gig. John said said there was lots of energy in that recording but also "mistakes a-plenty." John decided it would instead be a "fake live" album recorded in Columbia's NY Studio B. A stage was assembled in the studio's live room with lowered curtains. a spotlight, and the band's own PA. Simon created tape loops of fake audience reactions using studio secretaries, engineers, and the group's entourage told to just "whoop and holler." The only real live track on this LP is "Ball and Chain" from Winterland on side B, but even that had the lead guitar track over-dubbed in the studio. Tracks 1 and 2 on Side 1 have Bill's intro and "crowd noise" mixed in with the studio tracks. "Turtle Blues" was mixed with ambient noise separately recoded in a Hollywood bar named "Barney's Beanery" on Santa Monica Blvd (one of Janis's favorite watering holes). Even after learning all this, while play testing I was totally impressed with just how live all the material sounded. This really turned out to be a “like live” masterpiece full of vibrancy.
Was bought new by this seller many years ago and now offered from his private collection (you have absolutely known provenance). Has had limited plays only on an expertly setup high-end audiophile turntable, arm, and cartridge. Has never been exposed to heat or tobacco smoke and always stored vertically in a specially designed record cabinet (Rackit) to prevent warpage.
Was cleaned on a VPI HW 16 with Audio Intelligent solutions and ultra-pure water rinse (50X purer than distilled water) before my pre-sale sound check. I wear nitrile surgical gloves while cleaning and play testing to avoid any chance of transferring finger oils to the vinyl.
Very sensitive play testing was performed straight off my Ayre P-5xe fully balanced phono preamp over Sennheiser HD 600 headphones using a Schiit Audio Valhalla 2 tube headphone amp fitted with Voskhod Soviet matched tubes (see last photo).
Track list
1: Combination Of The Two, I Need A Man To Love, Summertime, Piece Of My Heart.

2: Turtle Blues, Oh, Sweet Mary, Ball And Chain.

I never take "distant" photos nor the too-prevalent type with the LP sticking halfway out of the jacket. I take close-ups under photo lamps so you can see nearly everything I describe in the jacket grading. It is virtually impossible to know the true vinyl condition from any photograph. That takes very bright and close visual inspection PLUS play testing with thorough coverage on high resolution equipment.
Grading Details
Note: Record grading by text characters is subjective and does not fully describe quality levels. Please see photos and my detailed descriptions below.

Outer Jacket Inspection:
NM
The only thing worth mentioning is some very light rubbing wear on the spine edge. All other surfaces look unworn with zero yellowing and bright vibrant color. Exceptionally well preserved.

Vinyl visual inspection:
After cleaning, surface visuals were inspected under high intensity halogen light. I rotated and tilted the record in multiple angles with my eyes a few inches away from the vinyl. Both sides had high gloss, deep lustre, and no lines or traces. On side 1 within track 1 finally found a reflective "smudge" that looked like it had been gently buffed only on the very top surface well above groove modulation. I couldn't see anything but perfect surfaces on Side 2 no matter how hard I looked or tilted it under bright light.

Play Testing:
NM/NM
Extensive play testing was performed after visual inspection. I recorded the entire album to 192k/24-bit WAV files in ProTools for personal archival. That allowed me to take all the time I wanted to go back through any track to make sure my listening notes were accurate. First, this is an exceptionally quiet pressing. You will not be aware of any scratches, crackle, pops or clicks. My written listening notes only picked out one "click" at the very end of S2:T1. I found myself just relaxing into each track and let them engulf me in their performance with no conscious awareness that I was listening to vinyl. There is always varying amounts of vinyl noise even on the best audiophile pressings, but it is almost in another plane of existence on this LP. The music just pulled me in. The top track for audio transparency and purity is "Summertime." Voice and instrumentation have clarity, power, and realism. "Ball and Chain" has some very low level vocal parts with Janis barely audible with only the analog analog tape hiss in the background, nothing else. On more loud/dense mixes the voices may be mostly flat dead center mono, but man, those guitars are something else! They are powerful and oh so present, with a convincing concert hall long-tail reverberation attribute. Has to be heard to know what I mean. The play quality to me is NM/NM without question. I can understand a collector waiting to find a 1968 first press but it will be hard to find one that does not sound scratched up or full of groove damage from cheap turntables with very high tracking forces. However if you want an exceptionally fine sounding 1970 era copy, I think this one is it.

Packaging Record will be placed outside the jacket to protect against seam splitting. Original inner sleeve is included separately. Record has been placed into a band new "rice paper" MFSL Original Master Sleeve, as the original is paper and certainly holding onto some dust inside. This will keep vinyl surfaces clean during shipping and ultimate buyer usage. Outer jacket is contained in a new clear polyethylene protective sleeve. Sent in good quality record mailer with cardboard stiffeners.
Shipping Shipping will be via USPS Media Mail for a flat charge of $3.98 per single album sale. A combined shipping discount is available on multiple sales completed within 5 business days($3.98 plus $0.50 for each additional LP). If you intend to buy more than one LP do not pay immediately but wait for my all-combined invoice. A discount for the combined items will show on that invoice. Then, once payment is received, the items will ship.