#big brother and the holding company
Piece of My Heart
Performed by Big Brother and the Holding Company
Written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns
Erma Franklin originally recorded this piece in 1967. Her version has kind of a jazzy, peppy feel to it. Like a, “Hey, everything is cool, but it could be a bit better, ya know? You could do better” vibe to it. There’s horns, and some of the usual understated instrumentation of the era. It had a pretty badass bass line to it, too. But it was Janis fronting BB&tHC that gave this the screaming pain that we’ve come to know and love.
That same bass line is still there, and it’s still pretty badass. But a trio of guitar solos, heavy on the distortion, were added between verses to really accentuate what Janis brings. Because it just isn’t Acid Rock without guitar distortion.
In my younger days, I used to call her “The Screaming Bitch.” I still do occasionally, but damned if that gravelly, SoCo fueled screech of hers isn’t just one of my favorite voices out there. This particular song takes me back to AIT at Ft Eustis. Every morning, after PT, we’d come in, shower and shave, then go back to our bay to get dressed for class, and hopefully go get breakfast. While we were getting dressed, someone would put on a CD. And without fail, it would either be Offspring’s Smash, or Janis Joplin’s Greatest Hits. Even now, I can still vividly recall the sound of 30 guys groaning in unison.
This song has been covered to death, too. Is this a testament to Ragovoy and Berns lyrics? Hell no, it’s all about Janis. So much so, that when Faith Hill recorded it for her debut album, she hadn’t heard it before and wasn’t allowed to listen to Janis’s version so that what she sang wasn’t colored by it. She re-recorded it for her third album four years later.
It’s been done by Steven Tyler, Melissa Etheridge, Jenny Morris, Sammy Hagar, Bonnie Tyler (her version is way too cutesy), Beverly Knight… Hell, even Etta James did a cover of it before she died.
What’s not to love? We’ll take that piece.
Lyrics:
Didn’t I make you feel
Like you were the only man
Didn’t I give you everything
That a woman possibly can
Lord but with all the love I give you
It ain’t never enough
Well, I’m gonna show you baby
That a woman can be tough
So, come on, come on, come on, come on and
Break it
Break another little piece of my heart now baby
Take it
Take another little piece of my heart now honey
You can have it
Have another little piece of my heart now baby
You know you’ve got it
If it makes you feel good
You’re out on the street looking good
And you know, deep down in your heart
That it ain’t right
No you never ever hear me when I cry at night
Though I tell myself that I can’t stand my pain
But when you hold me in your arms, I say it again
So, come on, come on, come on, come on and
Break it
Break another little piece of my heart now baby
Take it
Take another little piece of my heart now honey
You can have it
Have another little piece of my heart now baby
You know you’ve got it
If it makes you feel good
