Rocktober '60s Song #7: "Piece of My Heart" by Big Brother and The Holding Company (1968)

It would be a crime -- or should be anyway -- if I had gone a whole Rocktober celebrating '60s rock without including Janis Joplin.  Originally sung by Aretha Franklin's sister and released in 1967, "Piece of My Heart" was a minor hit for Erma Franklin, reaching #10 on the Billboard R&B charts.  But it was Big Brother and The Holding Company's cover a year later that thrust the song into the mainstream.  

Big Brother, of course, had a lead singer (for two albums, anyway) named Janis Joplin.  After the band's eponymous debut album and now-legendary performance at the Monterrey Pop Festival, Big Brother and The Holding Company recorded their second album, Cheap Thrills, in 1968.  Guitarist Sam Andrews rearranged and psychedelicized "Piece of My Heart," and Janis turned it into one of the most recognizable (and, in my opinion, best) vocal performances in rock history.  

Yes, I realize this was the first song I featured in my Glorious Ladies of Rocktober in 2015, but it deserves to be recognized whenever I get the chance.  I could never get tired of hearing this song, and I get chills when I listen to it alone.  

"Piece of My Heart" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and then Janis left the band in late 1968 to pursue a solo career.  Of course, as we all know, she didn't make it to 28, dying 48 years and 5 days ago, joining Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix in the 27 Club a mere two weeks after Hendrix's untimely demise, and about nine months before Jim Morrison would join them.  Here is one of the great rock songs of all-time.