"Ball and Chain" (also "Ball 'n' Chain" or "Ball & Chain") is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...

. Although her recording did not appear on the

record charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

, the song has become one of Thornton's best-known, largely due to performances and recordings by

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

Background and releases

In the early 1960s,Thornton recorded several songs for Bay-Tone Records. Two were released on a single, "You Did Me Wrong" and "Big Mama's Blues". A review by ''Billboard'' magazine noted "moderate sales potential", but it did not enter the magazine's R&B single chart. According to music writer Gillian Gaar, Thornton also recorded "Ball and Chain" for Bay Tone, although it was never released. In 1968,

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded b ...

released "Ball and Chain". An edited version, titled "Ball and Chain Part 1" was released as a single, while the complete four and a half minute song is included on a joint album by Thornton,

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...

, and

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

titled ''Ball and Chain''. Thornton is backed by a small combo with her frequent guitar accompanist Edward "Bee" Houston. She later recorded several live and studio performances of the song, included her 1969

Billboard Top 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artis ...

album ''Stronger Than Dirt''.

Janis Joplin / Big Brother and the Holding Company renditions

Janis Joplin, who frequently acknowledged Thornton's musical influence, recorded several live performances of "Ball and Chain". According to

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After som ...

guitarist

James Gurley James Martin Gurley (December 22, 1939 – December 20, 2009) was an American musician. He is best known as the principal lead guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company, a psychedelic/acid rock band from San Francisco which was fronted ...

, Joplin first heard the song during a performance by Thornton at a bar in San Francisco. The group transformed the song into a slow minor-key blues with breaks. They performed the song at the

Monterey Pop Festival The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16 to 18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix ...

in 1967 to an enthusiastic audience and critical reception. The first performance on June 17 was not filmed, so the band was persuaded to perform the song again on the next day. Drastically edited footage of this second performance (cutting out the second verse and a lengthy guitar solo) featured in the 1968 film ''

Monterey Pop ''Monterey Pop'' is a 1968 American concert film by D. A. Pennebaker that documents the Monterey International Pop Festival of 1967. Among Pennebaker's several camera operators were fellow documentarians Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles. The pa ...

'', while the full June 17 performance was released in 1993 on the three-disc box set ''Janis''. Another live version of "Ball and Chain", recorded March 8, 1968, at the

Fillmore East The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the (at the time) Lower East Side neighborhood, now called the East Village neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan of New York City. ...

, was included on Big Brother's 1968 breakthrough album '' Cheap Thrills''. Other live versions are included on '' Cheaper Thrills'', '' Live at Winterland '68'', ''

Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 ''Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968'' is a live album by Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin. The album was recorded by Owsley Stanley in 1968, and released on 12 March 2012 through Columbia and Legacy, on the one-year ann ...

'', '' The Woodstock Experience'', and '' In Concert''.

Copyright issues

According to Gaar, Thornton originally had recorded the song for Bay-Tone Records in the early 1960s, although the label did not issue it. Gaar adds that " ay-Tone heldon to the copyright—which meant that Thornton missed out on the publishing royalties when Janis Joplin recorded the song later in the decade." However, Thornton's (and Big Brother/Joplin's) releases list "W.M. Thornton" as the songwriter, as well as the performing rights administrator BMI. By another account, Thornton signed an agreement with Bay Tone which caused problems with later releases. In a 1972 interview, Thornton acknowledged giving Joplin permission to record the song and receiving royalty payments from its sales.

Recognition

Big Mama Thornton's "Ball and Chain" is included on the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".

References

{{authority control 1968 songs Big Mama Thornton songs 1968 singles Arhoolie Records singles Janis Joplin songs Song recordings produced by John Simon (record producer)