How Hard It Is
The fourth and last studio album, with a song Nick Gravenites wrote for Joplin.
Big Brother & The Holding Company, 1971
- Released
- August 1971
How Hard It Is, released in August 1971, was the band's fourth and final studio album. Sam Andrew, Kathi McDonald and Nick Gravenites were the vocalists, joined by Mike Finnigan on vocals, piano and organ. McDonald sings lead on Black Widow Spider and David Schallock plays lead guitar on five tracks. Gurley played bass.
Nick Gravenites wrote Buried Alive in the Blues for Janis Joplin, who died before she could record her vocal. The Full Tilt Boogie Band put it on her last album, Pearl, as an instrumental, and Gravenites sings it here. How Hard It Is peaked at number 157 on the Billboard Top LPs chart and stayed on it for three weeks.
Track listing
- How Hard It Is4:21
- You've Been Talkin' 'Bout Me, Baby3:27
- House on Fire3:56
- Black Widow Spider3:32
- Last Band on Side One1:57
- Nu Boogaloo Jam3:24
- Maui3:27
- Shine On5:25
- Buried Alive in the Blues3:59
- Promise Her Anything but Give Her Arpeggio3:55
Personnel
- Sam Andrew guitar, vocals
- James Gurley bass
- Peter Albin guitar, bass, mandolin, vibraslap
- Dave Getz drums, percussion, marimba, piano
- Kathi McDonald lead vocals on Black Widow Spider, backing vocals
- Mike Finnigan vocals, piano, organ
- Nick Gravenites lead vocals on Buried Alive in the Blues
- David Schallock lead guitar
More from Big Brother & The Holding Company
Big Brother & the Holding Company (1967), Cheap Thrills (1968), Be a Brother (1970), Live at Winterland '68 (1998)
Sources
- How Hard It Is, Wikipedia