Along with Janis Joplin, Sam Houston Andrew, Peter Albin and Dave Getz, James Gurley was a member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, A Chet Helms and Albert Grossman-handled band that with the voice of Janis, the ragged psychedelic blues-rock material they performed and the production quality at Columbia Records made their playing sound positively awesome. "Cheap Thrills" was not to be denied as one of the all-time classic LPs of the Flower Power era. Gurley was already well-versed in alternative lifestyles by the time Haight-Ashbury got cranked up, and he influenced the sound, style and image of the band as much if not more than Janis did before they took that show uptown. I could go on till dawn about all that stuff, but James is back with Janis now, wailing the blues for all eternity. Rest in peace. WC1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gurley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brothe ... ng_Company