The album was recorded by Owsley Stanley in 1968, and released on 12 March 2012 through Columbia and Legacy, on the one-year anniversary of his death in an automobile accident.

[1][2] The concert by Big Brother and the Holding Company was performed at the Carousel Ballroom on June 23, 1968, shortly after recording sessions ended for the group's number-one hit album, Cheap Thrills.

[3] The concert took place during a brief six-month period in which the facilities were owned by bands including the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead.

This is the first of Stanley's Bear's Sonic Journals, hundreds of released and unreleased live shows from the San Francisco psychedelic rock era.

The Holding Company's heavily psychedelic instrumentals jell superbly with Joplin's commanding vocals, making standouts like "I Need a Man to Love" and "Ball and Chain" all the more stellar.

After the eighth track, "Call on Me," it is announced to Hells Angels bikers Tiny and Tim that their motorcycles would be towed if they were not promptly moved out of the parking lot.

[10] Liner note writer Jaan Uhelszki explains, "These 14 songs are a testament to what a force of nature Janis Joplin and the Big Brother and the Holding Company was during these two nights at the Carousel Ballroom".