Songs That Were Covers: Piece of My Heart

Welcome to Songs That Were Covers on Rock and Roll Flashback! This series will
feature the songs that were covers of the original version. In many instances the original recording did not always become a hit. In some cases it would take at least one or more cover versions in order for the song to become a top hit. However, sometimes the subsequent covers also failed to achieve hit status. I'm Bill Price, and in this episode I will feature the original and two cover versions of “Piece of My Heart “.

All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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Transcript

Welcome to Songs That Were Covers on Rock and Roll Flashback. This series will
feature the songs that were covers of the original version. In many instances the original recording did not always become a hit. In some cases it would take at least one or more cover versions in order for the song to become a top hit. However, sometimes the subsequent covers also failed to achieve hit status. In this episode, I will feature the original and two cover versions of “Piece of My Heart “.

Mention the song title and some of you might remember the hit single released by Big Brother and the Holding Company, which featured vocalist Janis Joplin. It however, was not the original version.

The soul song “Piece of My Heart” was written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns.
Interestingly, Berns initially asked Van Morrison of the UK band Them, to record the
song. But Morrison decided not to record “Piece of My Heart”, since he preferred using his own material. 

The original version of “Piece of My Heart” was recorded by Erma Franklin, the older sister of Aretha Franklin. Erma Vernice Franklin was born on March 13, 1938 in Shelby, Mississippi. As a child, Erma and sisters Aretha and Carolyn sang in church. Later, Erma provided backing vocals, and also toured with Aretha once she became a recording artist. She also provided vocal backup on Aretha’s hit “Respect”. In 1967, Erma recorded “Piece of My Heart “ for Bert Bern’s Shout record label. By December the single managed to climb to the number 10 position on the Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart and peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. Surprisingly, in Canada it did better by peaking at number three. Erma’s single was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Female R & B vocal Performance category. But at the 11th Annual Grammy Awards, she lost to her sister Aretha, for the song “Chain of Fools”. In 1992, “Piece of My Heart “ was released in the UK and several European countries, peaking at number five in Denmark, number nine in the Netherlands and the UK and number 10 in Ireland. Erma’ discography runs from 1962 to 1970 and includes 3 albums and 15 singles.
Erma Franklin passed away on September 7th, 2002 at the age of 64.

Here is the original version of “Piece of My Heart “ by Erma Franklin.

In August 1968, Big Brother and the Holding Company, which featured lead singer Janis Joplin, released the first cover version. Joplin was born on January 19th, 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas. In 1963 she relocated from Texas to San Francisco, but returned to Port Arthur in 1965. The following year she was back in San Francisco, where she joined Big Brother and the Holding Company. In her first performance with the band, she appeared at the Avalon Ballroom. After her appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, the band’s debut album “Big Brother and the Holding Company was released. The single appeared on the band’s second album titled “Cheap Thrills” on the Columbia Record label. In the US it climbed to number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Sam Andrew was responsible for the song’s instrumentation in which he employed three loud distorted guitar solos, which gave the song a psychedelic touch. On the single’s B-side was a cover of the song “Summertime”.

When Erma Franklin first head Joplin’s version, she did not recognize it, because of the different vocal arrangement and it’s psychedelic rock style. At the time, Janis Joplin’s recording of “Piece of My Heart “ became her biggest hit that entered the charts. In 1971 “ Me and Bobby McGee”, which was written by Kris Kirstofferson, surpassed “Piece of My Heart”, when it reached number the one position. In spite of achieving a number one hit, “Piece of My Heart “ remains the song most linked to Janis Joplin. Co writer Bert Berns did not have opportunity to hear Joplin’s version, due to suffering a fatal heart attack in 1967. Just three years later, Janis would die from a drug overdose at the age of 27.

In 1968, I had the opportunity to hear Janis perform at the Swing Auditorium, located in San Bernardino, California. The Swing Auditorium was a popular venue for rock groups up until the early 1980s. Be sure to check out the Swing Auditorium podcast for the history of the venue.

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien better known as Dusty Springfield, was born on April 16th, 1939 in London, England. In November 1963, she released her first single titled “ I Only Want to Be with You”. Through out the 1960s, she had 10 singles that were in the top ten. In the latter part of the 1960s, Dusty’s career was struggling. In an attempt to revive it, she signed with Atlantic Records and recorded in Memphis the album titled “Dusty in Memphis”. Unfortunately, the album did not manage to garner much success. In the UK it failed to enter the charts, and in the US it only managed to reach number 99 on Billboard’s Top LP’s. Between 1963 and 2008 Dusty’s discography included 21 albums and 69 singles, 10 of which were top ten hits, and 4 that were in the top 20. In 1968, Dusty Springfield recorded a cover version of “Piece of My Hear”, which appeared in the Extended Play release titled “If You Go Away” on the Phillips label. Dusty’s recording is very similar to that of Erma’s version. 

Here is Dusty Springfield’s version of “Piece of My Hear”.

Country artist Faith Hill also recorded a cover of “Piece of My Heart”. The single, which was on her debut album “Take Me as I Am”, climbed to number one on the country charts in 1994. Interestingly, Faith’s producers insisted on not letting her listen to Joplin’s version until she had finished recording the song. “Piece of My Heart” became Faith’s second consecutive number one country hit.

Here a short sample of  Faith’s cover version of “Piece of My Heart”.

We’ll conclude this episode with Janis Joplin’s version.

This has been a look back the song “Piece of My Heart”, the original and three cover versions on Songs That Were Covers.