"Down on Me" is a traditional song from 1930s that became popular following its remake by Big Brother and the Holding Company

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. They are best known as the band that featured Janis Joplin as their...

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Janis Joplin

Janis Joplin

Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...

 rearranged the song and created new lyrics. The song was originally released in the summer of 1967 and was featured on the band's debut album Big Brother & the Holding Company

Big Brother & the Holding Company (Album)

Big Brother & the Holding Company is the debut album from Big Brother and the Holding Company and the studio debut of Janis Joplin. The album was originally released in the summer of 1967, following the band's major success at the Monterey Pop Festival. The album was a minor success, peaking at #60...

. The song would reach #42 on the charts, barely missing the Top 40 mark. A live, more aggressive version is featured on the 1973 Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits

Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits

Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits is a 1973 collection of hit songs by American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin, who died in 1970. Writing for Allmusic, Steve Huey called the collection "solid, if skimpy" and noted the inclusion of "Me and Bobby McGee", missing from other Joplin compilations.-Track...

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