Jefferson Airplane

I looked at a bunch of albums over the weekend that a friend's brother was scrapping, and ended up taking about 50. Best of all was a perfect copy of Flight Log, poster/book included. I've got all the JA albums except 30 Seconds Over Winterland, so I already have most of it, but it's something I always wanted and never bought at the time. I really noticed "Have You Seen the Saucers" for the first time--I've had Early Flight for ages, but somehow it escaped my attention. (I love "Mexico" so much, I guess I got sidetracked.) Great song. Christgau praises it in one CG entry, makes fun of it the next. He got it right the first time.

Oops--it's not "Have You Seen the Saucers," it's "Have You Seen the Stars Tonite?" from Blows Against the Empire. Which I don't have, so that explains it.

That whole LP is klassic!

that album is great! it's a trip!

Blows really is a great album - I especially get a kick out of 'Mau Mau Amerikon' cause it's like everyone assumed 'We Can Be Together' was the pinnacle of Kantner's revolution-speak lyrics and he went 'pff, I was just getting started', haha. "Rabid lover-feelin' the starch in your grin Callin' for acid cocaine and grass" etc

Just listened to Manhole for the first time. This is killer! I feel as if - especially on the title track - this is how I always wanted to hear Grace Slick sing. Her obsession with Spanish music is right up front on those first two tracks.

RIP Marty Balin

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/jefferson-airplane-guitarist-marty-balin-dead-76-730912/

RIP Marty, goddamn what a voice.

RIP, gonna spin "Coming Back To Me" when I get home

What a voice, yes.

Today...I feel like pleasin you...more than before
Marty!

If you only you believe in Miracles...such a smooth yet haunted sounding voice.

so long marty, will always love those airplane records

Really saddened by this... such an amazing, smooth, sultry, sweet voice - whether on his own or as such a perfect counterpoint to Grace Slick. And an excellent songwriter too.

Damn, RIP

There's a nice Facebook post from Jorma Kaukonen that showed up on my wall twice removed. It's a little long...would it be a breach of some sort to post it here? It looks like it was meant to be widely disseminated.

Easily my favorite vocalist of that group. Grace tends toward stridency and Paul couldn't sing a lick. His was a fine, blue eyed soul voice. Besides the obvious JA material, i always liked, nay loved his mid to late 70s JStarship tunes also. And even his solo hit Hearts, which would make a fine song for Al Green himself!

Went down into the crowd to try to stop things at Altamont and got punched

Not only that, it looks like he got shoved off the stage @ around 4:40 in the clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLWhRDkJSWE

I love his voice, yeah. The combination of his and Slick's really makes some of the early Jefferson Starship stuff for me.

Seems like the world would have had a lot fewer people had "Miracles" not been written.

It's an amazing song, the way it builds and swells, and yeah the sexiness of it. Very unique. I remember precisely where I was when I first heard it and probably so do a lot of people

Today and With Your Love are my faves. eerie transcendent power of love.

Old enough that I bought Spitfire on release, just as I was beginning to love the Airplane via Worst Of.

After Bathing at Baxters is yer man innit.
Quite quite scrumptuous.

Long John Silver is a really solid album... sick guitar, great songs throughout.

Stash box 4 ever!

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5b/Jaljs.jpg

I bought a vinyl copy a couple months ago; the older clerk who checked me out paused to show his millennial employees the jacket photo of the weed and told them how lucky they were to not have to deal with such dirty, earthy pot.

Lol. A teachable moment

Listening to their Woodstock set now....

"All right, friends, you have seen the heavy groups... now you will see morning maniac music."

https://www.grammy.com/sites/com/files/styles/news_detail_header/public/jefferson_airplane_woodstock-51240095_1.jpg

the 21-minute performance of “Wooden Ships”... 🤯

"All right, friends, you have seen the heavy groups... now you will see morning maniac music."

The previous night's/that early morning's lineup was (in order) Creedence, Sly, the Who, and then the Airplane. Pretty decent stretch of entertainment.

I didn't seriously get into (or even hear a whole album by) Airplane until a year ago, and then suddenly I couldn't listen to anything but Baxter's, Crown, and Volunteers for weeks on end.

always had the toughest time finding my way into these fools but man i'm fucking pretty hard w Volunteers.

That’s the gateway.

dig it. also

I am listening to Volunteers and I'm here to tell you that Nicky Hopkins is THE SECRET WEAPON.

― Curious George (1/6 Scale Model) (Rock Hardy),

otm

watched some clips of Slick on Letterman in the early-mid 80s. honestly she does seem cool af

man, I was otm in the oughts, what happened

Hey Fredrick and DCBA-25 are my top 2

There's this commercial for a cruise line I see a lot right now that uses "White Rabbit." Very disorienting--I still find "White Rabbit" to be an audacious and hypnotic song, and the commercial just glides by the lines about logic and proportion and feeding your head. I don't get it, unless they hand out hallucinogenics on this particular cruise line.

They should’ve used “Wooden Ships.”

i liek planes

Seaplanes...subaquarian boatcraft.

Baxters is yer man. Or anything live in 1968. I think they started jamming live sometime in 67 and progressively got better over that year. But were playing possibly too fast by 1969.
So 68 is peak them live for me. I think the same year is true for QMS and the Dead were quite good that year too. Also the Big Brother & the Holding Co live from that year is pretty great. Not sure who else. Maybe it's just peak ballroom in general, people having somewhat improved in playing over the previous year and some members changed for other bands. QMS got rid of Jimmy and Grateful Dead gained Micky Hart.
Airplane had pretty stable membership from late 66 to late 69. Think that later date is when Dryden goes and Covington joins though could be 70.
Only recently realised that Covington was only around for one lp before being replaced by Barbata. I find Covington a bit plodding and heavy handed after Dryden being dextrous and sublime,like.

On the topic of live 68 stuff, I had the luck to discover/watch a kinescope recording of an Airplane appearance on the Tonight Show from early 1968 at the Paley Center in NYC when I visited last year. It's part of an undated compilation of various 60s band appearances from the show, and when I talked to one of the curators about trying to dig up the exact date to help them, they didn't seem interested. This is the listing:

https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=jefferson&p=1&item=B:59554

At the beginning, Carson says: “Jefferson Airplane is one of the most important and influential rock groups around. Originally from San Francisco, they’ve got a big sound, as everybody in Rockefeller Center found out this afternoon when they were running through this. They will be appearing Friday and Saturday night um, where at, I don’t believe I have it here... (Grace and Paul say “Fillmore” off camera) oh, yeah I’ve got it here, Fillmore East, so if you’re in the New York area you might want to drop over, would you welcome please, Jefferson Airplane!”

The performance is live and it kills. The set is really, really weird, with a rocking horse on the stage, a brass bed and lots of beads, random 'hip' junk etc. They open with a really slow version of Today, half the band hidden in the shadows wearing shades. They segue right into Somebody to Love and Grace is in top form, baiting the audience, saying "pick out the guy next to you, get somebody to love - what, is he too fat?". She's also wearing a military jacket with a grenade pinned to the pocket, as seen here:

https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/american-rock-singer-grace-slick-the-lead-vocalist-of-the-news-photo/2996509

There's actually audio floating around of this, mistakenly labeled as coming from the Jonathan Winters show - Crown of Creation at the end is from the Smothers Brothers show:

https://ia801203.us.archive.org/17/items/JeffersonAirplane1968JonathanWintersShowLosAngelesCA/JeffersonAirplane1968JonathanWintersShowLosAngelesCA.mp3?cnt=0

Anyways, as there's pretty much no chance of this ever being 'released' unfortunately, I'd definitely recommend going over to see it if you get a chance.

They played the Fillmore East May 3 and 4 (Fri/Sat), 1968 so the Tonight Show spot would've been just prior

man, I was otm in the oughts, what happened

better to be otm then not, than never to be otm at all is what i say.

dig it. also

/I am listening to Volunteers and I'm here to tell you that Nicky Hopkins is THE SECRET WEAPON.

― Curious George (1/6 Scale Model) (Rock Hardy), /

otm

Not sure this has been posted before, but if ye've never seen the Goddard-filmed rooftop concert in NYC 1968, it is awesome. Jack Cassidy is the coolest ever.

https://youtu.be/vuwMEiNg3B8

jack & jorma (and grace obv) look cool as shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYsQJIdgApY