Piece of My Heart

Recorded in August 1967 in New York for Bert Berns’s Shout label, with Gary Sherman arranging and conducting the session. Erma Franklin’s vocal was backed by a soulful studio band that gave the single its gospel-inflected drive. The single became Franklin’s best-known release and a Top 10 R&B hit, helping establish her as a major soul singer in 1967. Its original version drew strong notices and quickly set up the song for wider recognition through later covers. The track became Franklin’s signature record and is best known today as the original version later transformed into a major hit by Janis Joplin. It remains a staple of soul and rock canon, frequently covered and sampled as one of the era’s defining breakup anthems.