Sam Andrew

Sam Houston Andrew III (December 18, 1941 – February 12, 2015) was an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, composer, artist and founding member and guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company. During his career as musician and composer, Andrew had three platinum albums and two hit singles. His songs have been used in numerous major motion picture soundtracks and documentaries.

Andrew was born in Taft, California. As the son of a military father, Andrew moved a great deal as a child. He developed a skill for music at a very early age. By the time he was seventeen living in Okinawa, he already had his own band, called the "Cool Notes", and his own weekly TV show, an Okinawan version of American Bandstand. His early influences were Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard. He also listened to a great deal of Delta blues.

Shortly after he graduated from high school, his father was transferred to Hamilton Air Force Base in northern California. Andrew started attending classes at the University of San Francisco, and became involved with the San Francisco folk music scene of the early 1960s. After he returned from a two-year stay in Europe, over a year in Paris and almost a year in Germany, Andrew met Peter Albin at 1090 Page Street.

As Big Brother and the Holding Company began to gel, Andrew brought many songs to the band. He was a prolific songwriter all of his life, penning his first tune at the age of six. Of his early compositions, "Call on Me" and "Combination of the Two" have been two of Big Brother's most enduring classic tracks. Until Andrew’s health declined in December 2014, he continued in his original role as the musical director of the band.

Janis Joplin was recruited by band manager Chet Helms to join Big Brother in 1966. When Helms’ friend Travis Rivers traveled from San Francisco to Austin, Texas, to make Joplin an offer, she eagerly told him they should start driving to San Francisco. Rivers insisted that first she must tell her parents face-to-face about her intention, and she did.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.