Be a brother
How hard it is

"When Janis Joplin left Big Brother to form her Kozmic Blues Band in late 1968, disbanding seemed the only option for her old group; especially as guitarist Sam Andrew had followed her. But after a few months in Country Joe & The Fish, bassist Peter Albin and drummer Dave Getz decided to reform Big Brother with guitarist James Gurley, adding guitarist Dave Schallock and replacing Joplin with Electric Flag singer Nick Gravenites and highly regarded blues vocalist Kathi McDonald ... Bottling this formidable firepower in short, sharp songs, 1970's Gravenites-produced Be A Brother dealt potent blasts of soul-infused acid rock and west coast boogie ... The set is completed by 1971's more expansive How Hard It Is, which sees McDonald sadly all but buried. With notes from the late Sam Andrew, this twofer provides an occasionally revelatory reappraisal for a band initially doomed to struggle in the vast shadow of their former singer".

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"The second and final of the post-Janis Joplin Big Brother albums for Columbia looks and sounds like the closing of a chapter ... Although Janis Joplin had a guest vocal on Be a Brother, her only participation here consists of photos inside the album jacket, a family tree of sorts. This is a striking record by an important band, but Joplin's contributions were so overwhelming that the integrity in these grooves never got the chance to reach a wider audience when it was first released".

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