Sam Andrew | Janis Joplin guitarist, 73
Sam Andrew, 73, guitarist and founder in 1965 of the San Francisco rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and whose tempestuous relationship with its lead singer, Janis Joplin, included writing songs for her and having a love affair with her, died Feb. 12 at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. He had a heart attack in early December and suffered numerous complications, said his wife, Elise Piliwale.
Sam Andrew, 73, guitarist and founder in 1965 of the San Francisco rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and whose tempestuous relationship with its lead singer, Janis Joplin, included writing songs for her and having a love affair with her, died Feb. 12 at UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. He had a heart attack in early December and suffered numerous complications, said his wife, Elise Piliwale.
In 1966, the band's manager brought an unknown singer to a rehearsal. "She . . . started singing some songs," Mr. Andrew said in a 2012 MusicRadar interview. "I thought, 'Wow!' "
The singer was Janis Joplin, whose performances propelled the band to worldwide fame that turned out to be short-lived.
Besides playing guitar, Mr. Andrew sang and wrote songs, including "Combination of the Two," performed during the band's breakout performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and was featured in several films, including 1998's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Joplin died of a drug overdose in 1970. She was 27.
In his later years, Mr. Andrew, in addition to touring with the re-formed band, was musical director of the off-Broadway and touring show Love, Janis, about the life of Joplin.
"I'm in the Janis Joplin business," he told the Marin Independent Journal in 2006. - L.A. Times