Drummer, Dave Getz Continues the Legacy!
- Cheryl Alterman | The Music Soup Editor
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 26
The original drummer from Big Brother and the Holding Company, Dave Getz is still holding a beat for the body of music that he helped create, with Janis Joplin. A position in the music industry he has been fulfilling for 70 years, since he was only 15 years old.
As the drummer for the legacy band Big Brother and the Holding Company, Dave Getz played on one of the greatest rock albums of all time, “Cheap Thrills,” a No. 1 record in 1968.
Dave Getz, originally from Brooklyn NY, can probably comfortably retire now at a young 85 years of age, due to the classic rock he made with the then little known up and coming young soon to be, superstar blues singer from Texas, Janis Joplin. Instead of hanging up his sticks, this year he decided to make a 13 track album, called, “Anthems, Themes & Little Stories”.
"This is probably the best thing I’ve ever made in terms of total conception and quality", says Getz: "I can think of it as a total work of art, and I don’t think I had that capacity at an earlier age. You can listen to every song many times and still find something new to enjoy about it.”
“There are 22 genres on Spotify,” he points out, “and this record doesn’t fit in any of them.”
The music has elements of Jazz, Rock, Latin music, World music, Chamber music, you name it. Tom Finch, who co-produced the album, and is featured on guitar on most of the tracks calls it “a genre mash.” Ben Fong-Torres the well-known Bay Area and Rolling Stone Magazine rock critic and host of MoonAlice Radio has said about the CD; "It's a superb album with a wide variety of sounds. I don't usually program instrumentals but I can hear these on the radio".
However it’s classified, it’s a credit to Getz that at 85 when so many musicians of his
generation are either finished or still playing versions of what they created 50 to 60 years ago, he still has the creative passion and drive to write and record new music and send it out into the world.
Dave has kept the name of the band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. He is the only original member from back in the days with Janis. The lead singer, Darby Gould is phenomenal and she also is lead singer in many other bands, one being my fave RUSH tribute band, Fred Barchetta. Darby is a great Janis and she pulls off even the most challenging vocals with a seamless ease. As she does in the other bands she fronts like her vocal range of Geddy Lee in Fred Barchetta. She's a vocal force of nature and such a natural fit for both.
Getz said, “I don't play drums anymore like I could when I was 27, but there’s part of me that’s still the same as when I was that age". “The artist part gets better and broader with more wisdom as you get older. The attitude of wanting to make music, to say something original, the creative part, doesn’t get old.”
Details: “Anthems, Themes & Little Stories” can be ordered on the website www.BBHC.com. it's also available for download of individual tracks of Dave Getz; on Spotify, iTunes, Apple music, Pandora, etc
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