James Gurley+Sam Andrew on Big Brother, Janis Joplin, Jimi

[JasO]

In 1968 Big Brother and the Holding Company hit the top of the album charts with “Cheap Thrills.” This psychedelic masterwork featured Janis Joplin and the groundbreaking guitar work of James Gurley and Sam Andrews. Many of those on the scene point to Gurley as the first innovator of psychedelic guitar. As Barry Melton, guitarist on San Francisco’s first psychedelic record (Country Joe & the Fish’s 1965 “Bass Strings”/“Section 43”) says, “James is the founder of psychedelic guitar because he was the first guy to play in the zone. He never really played straight all that well, but the thing that defines psychedelic guitar is that it gets improvisational and goes out to this place where the beat is assumed. The music is kind of out there in space, and James Gurley was the first man in space! He’s the Yury Gagarin of psychedelic guitar.”

In 1978, Big Brother reunited for the first time in five years to play at a concert in Berkeley, California. At the time, I was the new editor at Guitar Player magazine and was invited to the rehearsals. James Gurley, Sam Andrews, and I ended up doing three hours of interviews together, which I’ve just transcribed in their entirety for the first time. We cover everything from Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix (some great insights here!), the birth of psychedelic guitar, drugs, guitars and gear, and lots more. If you’re interested, it begins here: http://jasobrecht.com/