Jefferson Airplane - Journey (The Best Of) EAC-FLAC RePoPo

******************************************************************************* Jefferson Airplane - Journey (The Best Of) ******************************************************************************* CD: Jefferson Airplane - The best of Jefferson Airplane [1967-1974] track 21 name altered to be correct YEAR: 1996 01. Embryonic Journey [1967] [0:01:56.63] 02. High Flyin' Bird [1974] [0:02:35.10] 03. It's No Secret [1966] [0:02:40.45] 04. Come Up The Years [1966] [0:02:33.12] 05. Somebody To Love [1967] [0:03:00.35] 06. Blues From An Airplane [1966] [0:02:12.13] 07. White Rabbit [1967] [0:02:34.20] 08. Plastic Fantastic Lover [1967] [0:02:39.57] 09. Aerie (Gang Of Eagles) [1972] [0:03:51.73] 10. The Ballad Of You And Me And Pooneil [1967] [0:04:38.00] 11. Crown Of Creation [1968] [0:02:56.40] 12. Lather [1968] [0:02:58.35] 13. The Last Wall Of The Castle [1967] [0:02:42.32] 14. Greasy Heart [1968] [0:03:24.53] 15. Volunteers [1969] [0:02:10.30] 16. When The Earth Moves Again [1973] [0:03:56.10] 17. Triad [1969] [0:04:58.20] 18. We Can Be Together [1969] [0:05:51.00] 19. Wooden Ships [1969] [0:06:25.42] 20. Milk Train (Live) [1973] [0:03:31.58] 21. Have You Seen The Saucers (Live) [1974] [0:04:11.50] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ALLMUSIC BIOGRAPHY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by William Ruhlmann Jefferson Airplane was the first of the San Francisco psychedelic rock groups of the 1960s to achieve national recognition. Although the Grateful Dead ultimately proved more long-lived and popular, Jefferson Airplane defined the San Francisco sound in the 1960s, with the acid rock guitar playing of Jorma Kaukonen and the soaring twin vocals of Grace Slick and Marty Balin, scoring hit singles and looking out from the covers of national magazines. They epitomized the drug- taking hippie ethos as well as the left-wing, antiwar political movement of their time, and their history was one of controversy along with hit records. Their personal interactions mirrored those times; the group was a collective with shifting alliances, in which leaders emerged and retreated. But for all the turmoil, Jefferson Airplane was remarkably productive between 1965 and 1972. They toured regularly, being the only band to play at all the major '60s rock festivals -- Monterey, Woodstock, even Altamont -- and they released seven studio albums, five of which went gold, plus two live LPs and a million-selling hits collection that chronicled their eight chart singles. Rather than formally breaking up, they mutated into other configurations, Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship, and went on to further success in the 1970s and '80s, before reuniting for an album and tour in 1989. The initial idea for the group that became Jefferson Airplane came from 23-year -old Marty Balin (born Martyn Jerel Buchwald in Cincinnati, OH, January 30, 1942), a San Francisco-raised singer who had recorded unsuccessfully for Challenge Records in 1962 and been a member of a folk group called the Town Criers in 1963-1964. With the Beatles-led British Invasion of 1964, Balin saw the merging of folk with rock in early 1965 and decided to form a group to play the hybrid style as well as open a club for the group to play in. He interested three investors in converting a pizza restaurant on Fillmore Street into a 100- seat venue called the Matrix, and he began picking potential bandmembers from among the musicians at a folk club called the Drinking Gourd. His first recruit was rhythm guitarist/singer Paul Kantner (born Paul Lorin Kantner in San Francisco, CA, March 17, 1941), who in turn recommended lead guitarist/singer Jorma Kaukonen (born Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen in Washington, D.C., December 23, 1940). Balin, who possessed a keening tenor, wanted a complementary powerful female voice for the group and found it in Signe Toly (born Signe Ann Toly in Seattle, WA, September 15, 1941). The six-piece band was completed by bass player Bob Harvey and drummer Jerry Peloquin. The group's unusual name was suggested by Kaukonen, who had once jokingly been dubbed "Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane" by a friend in reference to the blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson. Jefferson Airplane made their debut at the Matrix on August 13, 1965, and began performing at the club regularly. They attracted favorable press attention, which -- at a time when folk-rock performers like Sonny & Cher, We Five, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, the Beau Brummels, and the Turtles were all over the charts -- led to record company interest. By September, Jefferson Airplane was being wooed by several labels. At the same time, the band was already undergoing changes. Peloquin was fired and replaced by Skip Spence (born Alexander Lee Spence, Jr. in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on April 18, 1946; died in Santa Cruz, CA, April 16, 1999). Spence considered himself a guitarist, not a drummer, but he had some drumming experience. Also in September, Signe Toly married Jerry Anderson, who handled lights at the Matrix, becoming known as Signe Anderson. In October, Harvey was fired and replaced by Jack Casady (born John William Casady in Washington, D.C., April 13, 1944), a friend of Kaukonen's. On November 15, 1965, this lineup -- Balin, Kantner, Anderson, Kaukonen, Spence, and Casady -- signed to RCA Victor Records. They had their first recording session in Los Angeles on December 16, and RCA released their debut single, Balin's composition "It's No Secret," in February 1966; it did not chart. Meanwhile, Jefferson Airplane began to appear at more prestigious venues in San Francisco and even to tour outside the Bay Area. In May 1966, Anderson gave birth to a daughter, and caring for the child while performing with the band became a challenge. Meanwhile, Spence became increasingly unreliable as his appetite for drugs increased, and he was replaced in June by session drummer Spencer Dryden (born Spencer Dryden Wheeler in New York, April 7, 1938; died in Petaluma, CA, January 11, 2005). Spence went on to form the band Moby Grape. Following a second non-charting single, Balin and Kantner's "Come Up the Years," in July, Jefferson Airplane released their debut LP, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, on August 15, 1966, just over a year after the band's debut. The album had modest sales, peaking at only number 128 during 11 weeks on the Billboard chart. (A third single, Balin and Kantner's "Bringing Me Down," was released from the album, but did not chart.) At this point, Anderson's commitment to her family caused her departure from the group. Jefferson Airplane was able to find a strong replacement for her in Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing in or near Chicago, IL, October 30, 1939), the lead singer for the San Francisco rock band the Great Society, which happened to be in the process of breaking up at the same time. Slick joined Jefferson Airplane in mid-October 1966, and by the end of the month was with them in the recording studio. She brought with her two songs from the Great Society repertoire: the rock tune "Somebody to Love," written by her brother-in-law Darby Slick, the Great Society's guitarist, and her own composition, the ballad "White Rabbit," set to a bolero tempo, which used imagery from Alice in Wonderland to discuss the impact of psychedelic drugs. Both songs were recorded for Jefferson Airplane's second album, Surrealistic Pillow. RCA did not release either of them as the advance single from the album, opting instead for the departed Spence's "My Best Friend" in January 1967; it became the group's fourth single to miss the charts. Surrealistic Pillow followed in February. It debuted in the charts the last week of March, and its progress was speeded by the release of "Somebody to Love," the first Jefferson Airplane single to feature Grace Slick as lead vocalist. By early May, both the album and single were in the Top 40 of their respective charts; a month later, both were in the Top Ten. With that, RCA released "White Rabbit" as a single, and it too reached the Top Ten. Surrealistic Pillow became Jefferson Airplane's first gold album in July. Meanwhile, the band, which, naturally, had attracted national media attention (much of it focusing on Slick's photogenic looks), began recording a new album and continued to tour. On June 17, 1967, they performed at the Monterey International Pop Festival, which was celebrated for introducing many of the new San Francisco rock bands (as well as the Jimi Hendrix Experience) and launching the "Summer of Love" that the season was touted to be in 1967. Jefferson Airplane's performance was filmed and recorded. Two songs from their show, "High Flying Bird" and "Today," were featured in the documentary film Monterey Pop, released in 1968. The concert recording was heavily bootlegged and over the years has turned up on numerous gray-market releases as well. The nature of Jefferson Airplane's commercial breakthrough, and the nature of the band itself, restricted their commercial appeal thereafter. AM Top 40 radio, in particular, became wary of a group that had scored a hit with a song widely derided for its drug references, and Jefferson Airplane never again enjoyed the kind of widespread radio support they would have needed to score more Top Ten hits. At the same time, the group did not think of itself as a hitmaking machine, and its recordings were becoming more adventurous. Kantner's "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil," the band's new single released in August, featured him as lead singer with Slick and Balin harmonizing. It reached number 42 on the strength of the band's prominence, but they never again crossed the halfway mark in the Hot 100. At the same time, the rise of FM radio, attracted to longer cuts and the kind of experimental work the group was starting to do, gave them a new way of exposing their music. Nevertheless, their third album, After Bathing at Baxter's, its songs arranged into lengthy suites, was not as successful as Surrealistic Pillow when it appeared on November 27, 1967, reaching the Top 20 but failing to go gold. Also notable was the diminished participation of Marty Balin, who co-wrote only one song, and now was being marginalized in the group he had founded. After Kantner's "Watch Her Ride," released as a single from After Bathing at Baxter's, stalled at number 61, RCA released a new Jefferson Airplane single written and sung by Slick in the spring of 1968. But radio was even more resistant, and "Greasy Heart" stopped at number 98. It was included in the band's fourth album, Crown of Creation, released in August. The title track got to number 64 as a single, and the LP, which featured more concise, less experimental tracks than After Bathing at Baxter's, marked a resurgence in the group's commercial success, reaching the Top Ten and eventually going gold. Jefferson Airplane's live appeal was chronicled on the concert album Bless Its Pointed Little Head, released in February 1969. In August, the group appeared at the Woodstock festival, and it was featured on the million-selling triple-LP soundtrack album to the resulting film in 1970, though it did not appear onscreen in the version initially released. The band's fifth studio album, Volunteers, appeared in October 1969 as its title song became a minor singles chart entry. Volunteers stopped short of the Top Ten, but it went gold in three months. On December 6, 1969, the band played at the Rolling Stones' disastrous Altamont free concert in California, its performance (complete with Balin's beating at the hands of Hell's Angels) captured in the 1970 documentary film Gimme Shelter. Jefferson Airplane released one more single, the non-charting marijuana anthem "Mexico," in 1970 in its familiar configuration, but the turn of the 1970s brought great changes in the group. Already, Kaukonen and Casady, with assorted sidemen, had begun to play separately as Hot Tuna while maintaining their membership in Jefferson Airplane; they had recorded shows the previous September for a self-titled debut album issued in May 1970. Spencer Dryden was fired early in the year and replaced by drummer Joey Covington (born Joseph Michno in Johnston, PA, in 1945). At shows performed in October 1970, violinist Papa John Creach, who had been performing with Hot Tuna, first played with Jefferson Airplane. Creach (born John Henry Creach in Beaver Falls, PA, May 18, 1917; died February 22, 1994) was a journeyman musician decades older than any of the other members of Jefferson Airplane, and his recruitment was evidence of the ways in which the band's approach was changing. An even more radical change was the departure of Marty Balin, who left the band at the end of the fall tour in November. (His resignation was formally announced in April 1971.) Jefferson Airplane did not have a new album ready for release in 1970, and RCA filled the gap with a compilation, sarcastically dubbed The Worst of Jefferson Airplane and released in November. The album went gold quickly and was later certified platinum. Issued on its heels was Paul Kantner's debut solo album, Blows Against the Empire, featuring most of the members of Jefferson Airplane as well as various other musical friends. Due to that long list of sidemen and the album's science fiction theme about a group of hippies hijacking a spaceship, Kantner co-billed the disc to "Jefferson Starship." As yet, there was no such entity, but Kantner would use the name for a real band later. Having completed their recording commitment to RCA, Jefferson Airplane shopped for a new label, but was wooed back when RCA offered them their own imprint, Grunt Records. Grunt bowed with the release of the sixth Jefferson Airplane studio album, Bark, in August 1971. The album stopped just short of the Top Ten and quickly went gold. Covington, Casady, and Kaukonen's "Pretty as You Feel," later issued as a single, gave the band its final placing in the Hot 100 at number 60 early in 1972. Grunt issued albums by bandmembers including Creach and Hot Tuna, as well as discs by friends, but Jefferson Airplane remained its most successful act. In the early '70s, the members of Jefferson Airplane became increasingly preoccupied by their side projects. Hot Tuna, having issued a second live album, First Pull Up, Then Pull Down, in the spring of 1971, put out their first studio effort, Burgers, in February 1972. Kantner and Slick, who had become a couple and had a child, China Kantner (who went on to be an MTV VJ in her teens), issued a duo album, Sunfighter, in December 1971. In April 1972, Covington left the band and was replaced by veteran drummer John Barbata (born in Passaic, NJ, April 1, 1945), formerly a member of the Turtles and a backup musician for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The group then recorded its seventh studio album, Long John Silver, which was issued in the summer of 1972. It reached the Top 20 and went gold within six months. For the accompanying tour, they added singer/multi-instrumentalist David Freiberg (born in Boston, MA, August 24, 1938), formerly a member of the San Francisco rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service, to provide the male lead vocals formerly sung by Balin. The tour concluded at the Winterland ballroom in San Francisco on September 22, 1972, in effect marking the end of Jefferson Airplane, although no formal announcement was ever made. Kaukonen and Casady went back to performing as Hot Tuna. Kantner, Slick, and Freiberg recorded a trio album, Baron von Tollbooth & the Chrome Nun, issued in the spring of 1973 and featuring the rest of Jefferson Airplane as side musicians. Slick's debut solo album, Manhole, issued in early 1974, also featured many of the same performers. Kantner and Slick then organized a new band along the same lines as Jefferson Airplane, but without Kaukonen and Casady, and called it Jefferson Starship. Meanwhile, a second Jefferson Airplane live album drawn from the 1972 tour, Thirty Seconds Over Winterland, was issued in the spring of 1973. Early Flight, a collection of stray tracks, appeared in the spring of 1974. Grunt issued the compilation Flight Log (1966-1976) at the start of 1977, filling the two LPs with tracks by Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and various other spinoff acts. 2400 Fulton Street: An Anthology, named after the address of a house owned by the band in the 1960s, was a two- disc set released in 1987. All of these albums sold well enough to reach the charts. The various members of Jefferson Airplane went through various solo efforts and group affiliations in the 1970s and '80s, plus considerable litigation with an old manager and each other. This was all cleared up by the late '80s, however, and in 1989 Kantner, Slick, Kaukonen, and Casady (who, with manager Bill Thompson, still owned the rights to use the name Jefferson Airplane) brought in Balin (who had sold out his share in the group in 1971) and reunited as Jefferson Airplane for a tour and album. The tour, which ran from August 18 to October 7, was well received; the album, Jefferson Airplane, released by Epic Records, was only a modest success. After that, the band again became inactive. Slick retired. Kaukonen and Casady resumed performing as Hot Tuna. Kantner eventually resurrected the Jefferson Starship name, sometimes including Balin and even occasionally Slick, and playing Jefferson Airplane songs. RCA continued to release archival recordings, its most interesting issues being the 1992 box set Jefferson Airplane Loves You and the 1998 concert recording Live at the Fillmore East. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOME TRACKS REVIEWED AT ALLMUSIC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Embryonic Journey by Matthew Greenwald Jorma Kaukonen's first solo original contribution to Jefferson Airplane's songbook, "Embryonic Journey" is an acoustic guitar instrumental that truly defies classification. An amalgamation of ideas, it starts off as a simple, warm, descending folk melody. However, Kaukonen changes gears (while still keeping the subtle feeling of the melody) dramatically with some classical overtones that bring the song to an elegant close. Kaukonen's gorgeous modulation at the end of the song shows true compositional genius at work. Overall, it added a feeling and a mood to the second side of the Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow album, and it's irreplaceable. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High Flyin' Bird by Matthew Greenwald One of the songs that graced the Jefferson Airplane's repertoire, "High Flyin' Bird" had been a folk-rock coffeehouse staple since the early '60s. A minor-key folk ballad with strong blues roots, "High Flyin' Bird" is a downcast song about being tied down, by human consciousness in general. Pretty heavy for the early '60s, when it was written by folk journeyman Billy Wheeler. The song has been recorded by numerous artists, namely the Au Go-Go Singers (featuring a very young Stephen Stills). But the Airplane's version, where Marty Balin, Grace Slick, and Paul Kantner each take a verse, is probably the most definitive. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's No Secret by Matthew Greenwald The pilot single from Jefferson Airplane's debut album, "It's No Secret" is a very strong slice of mid-'60s pop/rock. Originally intended for Otis Redding to record, this soul-inflected ballad is built on some classic pop chord changes. However, Balin's love of soul music comes through loud and clear during the bridge, with its syncopated melody that recalls "Respect." Although originally recorded on the Airplane's debut album in 1966 with excellent results, the band continued to keep it in their live sets through the years, and one of the best versions is included on their fine 1968 live album, Bless Its Pointed Little Head. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Come Up the Years by Matthew Greenwald After the Airplane material became so abstract and political in the latter years, listening again to this ode to a young man's dilemma becomes an eye- opening experience. It stands as testimony to what their early craft was all about. "Come Up the Years," from their first album, Takes Off, has all the necessary ingredients to remind the listener what a great band the Airplane was from its beginning. Its precision lyrics and a pleasant light folk-rock melody help to bring to life this sad story of a young man that has fallen in love with a much younger, "shouldn't touch," girl -- not unlike the Spoonful's "Younger Girl," which very well may have inspired this composition. The story is told by the emotion-fueled vocals of Marty Balin, with the formidable Signe Anderson at his side to add the harmony and vocal punch this song needs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somebody to Love by Joe Viglione Originally titled "Someone To Love" when the former Grace Wing's brother-in-law and bandmate, Darby Slick of The Great Society, penned it for that band, it became the break-through hit for the Jefferson Airplane when re-titled "Somebody To Love" going Top 5 in May of 1967. The opening with Grace Slick's voice booming an acappella "When the truth is found" is such a great top of the hour lead-off call to arms that classic rock and oldies radio do just that with it decades after its initial sojurn at the upper reaches of the charts. Followed in less than two months by "White Rabbit" the members wouldn't have Top 40 success again until 8 years later when revitalized as Jefferson Starship Marty Balin's "Miracles" went Top 3 in September of 1975. "Somebody To Love" with its jangly guitars and cool San Franciscan sound moves with a pop intensity and urgent lyric so essential to the vibe of the time. Todd Rundgren wanted to find himself and Leroy a girlfriend in "We Gotta Get You A Woman" in 1971 and John Cougar needed "a lover that don't drive" him crazy in 1979, but the purest sentiment regarding finding a significant other was in this track, a direct admonition: "You'd better find somebody to love." The Lady Mondegreen or mis heard lyric here is a major one. In the second verse. The lyric sheet reads "When the garden flowers ...are dead", but it sounds like sly Grace might be slipping in "When God and his laws, are dead...". How counterculture. The song is an essential element of The Jefferson Starship's repertoire, the band mutating it into a sludgy "Jumpin' Jack Flash" riff closer in the new millenium. Both latter-day group vocalists Darby Gould and Diana Mangano understand the majesty and sing the words Grace Slick is known for with reverence. Check out the 1990's version live from the House Of Blues with a rare guest appearance by Grace which shows up on the Deep Space/Virgin Sky CD. The hard rock is a far cry from the manic almost garage band original ...and Slick says "garden flowers" very clearly in the live rendition. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blues from an Airplane by Matthew Greenwald A slightly dark and brooding song, "Blues From an Airplane" was the opening song on Jefferson Airplane's 1966 debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. It's a classy way to introduce the band to the public. Built around a murky, minor-key melody, the sound of the group is that of a darker version of the Lovin' Spoonful. Lyrically, it's a real young man's blues: "Don't know what to do/and I don't have you by my side." The sense of modern craft in the group is already apparent on this song. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- White Rabbit by Joe Viglione From the Surrealistic Pillow album comes this song which, like the word surrealistic indicates, has "an oddly dreamlike or unreal quality". Few psychedelic moments can match Grace Slick's trance-like monotone perhaps inspired by having just read - Lewis Carroll: The Complete Illustrated Works: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found here. With hypnotic guitar work in the slow-march intro sounding like it was induced by F.A. Mesmer himself, it's all the more ominous in the harder rocking version released decades later on the Deep Space/Virgin Sky live reunion CD. Originally performed with The Great Society, this composition by Grace came right on the heels of "Somebody To Love" and instantly insured Ms. Slick superstardom with more Top 40 airplay in 1967 than her famous colleague Janis Joplin. With well over a hundred cover versions by such diverse acts as punk/new wavers The Damned, the hard rock Lizzie Borden (no relation to the new wave girl group produced by Genya Ravan) and, believe it or not, jazz maestro George Benson, it is Grace and her pharmaceutical prescription advice which is the definitive rendition and inspired the Keanu Reeves film The Matrix as much as James Cameron's The Terminator did. When in the movie Morpheus offers Neo the little red pill or the little blue pill, it is pure Grace Slick opening the door to wonderland with narcotics. Years later it is amazing the censors didn't put a stop to it, Janis Ian's "Society's Child" finding more problems with an interracial love affair than The Jefferson Airplane's window to another world. It's a classic in the truest sense of the word and always a pause for fun when it comes on the radio. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plastic Fantastic Lover by Matthew Greenwald A song about television? Leave it to Jefferson Airplane to do it. The closing song on their landmark Surrealistic Pillow album, "Plastic Fantastic Lover" has its origins in an L.A. hotel room (probably the Tropicana, where the band was staying at the time). Marty Balin was watching television and thinking about how so many people were a bit too entranced with the medium. Like a lot of Airplane songs, it's loaded with a strong sense of low-key sarcasm. Musically, it's a fine blues-rocker, with a very strong James Brown/ funk influence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aerie (Gang of Eagles) by Matthew Greenwald A somewhat unusual blues-based song from the Grace Slick songbook, "Aerie (Gang of Eagles)" has a sad, downcast quality to the lyrics, almost like a requiem for someone. The melody is meandering and tends to have trouble staying in focus. The slightly depressing and tired quality of the song and arrangement mirrors the end of the 1960s, and the Airplane's fate as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil by Matthew Greenwald One of Jefferson Airplane's most powerful rockers, "Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil" (a sly reference to Fred Neil, one of Paul Kantner's biggest influences) is almost a mini-suite. The first section is a strong 1-4-5 chord progression backed by a 4/4 rhythm. The song abruptly shifts into a psychedelic folk-rock riff that slides into an instrumental section before returning to the main 4/4 verses. Lyrically, it's a very loose love song in keeping with the general atmosphere of the time. It's very visual, and the feeling of color and vision (or, more accurately, LSD) is paramount. It was released as a single (just missing the Top 40) in late 1967, and it was the lead track on the Airplane's After Bathing at Baxter's album. A stunning 11-minute alternate version can be found on the group's Jefferson Airplane Loves You box set. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crown of Creation by Matthew Greenwald Like "She Has Funny Cars," the title song from Jefferson Airplane's excellent 1968 LP Crown of Creation is a snide and direct put-down of traditional American values as well as the hypocrisy. A powerful folk-inspired melody with some strident chord changes, the song also has a slight funk flavor, due to Jack Casady's great bass playing. The song slows to a crawl at the end, with some excellent lyrics about the power of change. Inspired by science fiction (especially Theodore Sturgeon's writings), the song fused Kantner's sci-fi and revolutionary thoughts perfectly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lather by Matthew Greenwald Several of the songs on Jefferson Airplane's 1968 album Crown of Creation are about change, and "Lather," the first song on this album, sets the tone. Inspired by Airplane drummer (and Slick's current lover) Spencer Dryden's impending 30th birthday, Grace Slick's lyric speaks about the loss of innocence and the confusion and reflection that goes with it. Musically, it's a bit of a departure for Slick, being a folk-inspired melody, with some excellent classical feeling as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Last Wall of the Castle by Matthew Greenwald Sounding not unlike a James Brown song on steroids, "The Last Wall of the Castle" is one of the Airplane's hardest-rocking songs. The words are sung in an almost too-fast-to-decipher flow, but the overt illustration of a generation changing at an alarming rate is apparent. Musically, it's a minor psychedelic masterpiece, and the incredibly fast tempo drives the melody over the goal line. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greasy Heart by Matthew Greenwald When Grace Slick writes a song, it is a very personal experience. So personal that the material is usually suited for only her voice. "Greasy Heart" is a good example. Written during the After Bathing at Baxter's period, and perhaps better suited to that album than Crown Of Creation, it is a perfect period piece that still comes alive today. The lyrics are a jumble of intelligent-sounding random thoughts and put-downs to a lover -- something that Slick was an expert at. It also makes social comments on everything from commercialism to drugs and sex. The music is classic Airplane, loud, fast, in and out, and all over the musical map. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Volunteers by Matthew Greenwald Although on the surface this song is one of the most revolutionary and reactionary Jefferson Airplane songs, "Volunteers" has some relatively innocent origins. Apparently, Marty Balin was awoke one morning by a loud garbage truck that was making its rounds outside the Airplane's communal house, bearing the title "Volunteers for America," and, thus, the title and hook were born. Musically, it is very similar to the lead track from the album of the same name, which was based on a bluegrass riff that was suggested to Paul Kantner by David Crosby. It's a heavy rocker, and one of the Airplane's finest -- and easily most underrated -- singles. The studio version (with Nicky Hopkins on piano) is definitive, but there is also an excellent live version on the Woodstock soundtrack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the Earth Moves Again by Matthew Greenwald An apocalyptic song that draws on history and politics, "When the Earth Moves Again" is one of Paul Kantner's finest efforts from the Airplane's Bark album. With a strident, three-chord melody that recalls "We Can Be Together" and other Kantner works, there is an earnest quality that permeates the music and lyrics. The only sad fact is that the Airplane's recording of this fine song is quite muddy and tends to not only bury the melody, but the message as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We Can Be Together by Matthew Greenwald The political climate of America in the late '60s was great fodder for a lot of musicians, but few groups handled it better than Jefferson Airplane. This song, the opener for the group's Volunteers album, was a virtual "state of the union" address for the counterculture of the late '60s. Graphically putting forth all of the impassioned positive thrust as well as the paranoia of the time, "We Can Be Together" defined the later Airplane state of mind. Musically, it's a basic, three-chord folk-rock anthem; but the bluegrass-inflected melody -- suggested by Kantner's friend, David Crosby -- places it in a different, and unusual, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wooden Ships by Joe Viglione Released by Jefferson Airplane on the Volunteers lp after Crosby, Stills & Nash put it on their self-titled 1969 debut, the collaboration between Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Paul Kantner got much attention through Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's rendition as the first track on side three of the Woodstock "music from the original soundtrack and more" set, with no co-writing credit for Paul Kantner on original copies of the disc or album jacket! The six minute and twenty-three second version on the 2400 Fulton Street double CD has the twenty seconds or so of waves against the boat sounds while the alternate mix from the "Quad" Volunteers album appears on the Jefferson Airplane Loves You box. The alternate mix is much cleaner, going right into the folk guitars, the original Al Schmitt production mixed to stereo by Paul Williams and Pat Martin. At 5:52 it is 31 seconds shorter than the original, recorded April 14-22, 1969 at Wally Heider's, San Francisco. There are sixteen musicians on this epic version including pianist Nicky Hopkins, Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar, David Crosby on "music" and "sailboat", Stephen Stills on hammond organ, and lots of vocals making for an eerie and totally cosmic trip into the future. Grace Slick's presence is key, and as latter day Jefferson Starship combinations bring the epic back to life it becomes clear that Jefferson Airplane/ Jefferson Starship could very well have followed The Grateful Dead into that jam band phenomenon which Phish picked up on so efficiently. "Wooden Ships" and songs like it were the ticket, and had the band stayed on this course rather than going into that arena rock 1980's sound with Mickey Thomas, they very well could be playing to tens of thousands every night. The studio rendition of this composition is amazing and as much fun as it is a good study in psychedelic folk-rock. The line "Go ride the music" which repeats at the end of "Wooden Ships" became the title of a television special. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Have You Seen The Saucer by Matthew Greenwald The final recording featuring the "classic" Jefferson Airplane lineup, "Have You Seen the Saucers?" was a great parting shot at the forces of conformity and the need for the hippie counterculture to escape. In this regard, it is a continuation of "Wooden Ships," a Crosby, Stills & Nash song that Paul Kantner contributed to, and the theme of space travel, ecology, and the '60s hippie dream are all included in the lyrics. Brilliantly performed and sung, the entire band shines, especially the harmonies of Slick, Kantner, and Balin, and the funky bridge that finds bassist Jack Cassidy and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen laying down some of the funkiest grooves that the band ever achieved. Aside from its single release, it was also included on the Early Flight rarities collection of 1971. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EAC LOG EXTRACT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008 EAC extraction logfile from 27. July 2009, 15:04 Jefferson Airplane / The best of Jefferson Airplane [1967-1974] Used drive : HL-DT-STDVD-RAM GSA-H55N Adapter: 0 ID: 0 Read mode : Secure Utilize accurate stream : Yes Defeat audio cache : Yes Make use of C2 pointers : No Read offset correction : 102 Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface Gap handling : Appended to previous track Used output format : User Defined Encoder Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s Quality : High Add ID3 tag : No Command line compressor : F:Archivos de programaExact Audio CopyFLACFLAC.EXE Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=%e" %s -o %d ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACCURIP REPORT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Verification date: 27/07/2009 16:05:05] [Disc ID: 002f4fdd-02ed71c1-1a10d515] Pregap length 00:00:32. Track [ CRC ] Status 01 [45781b18] (08/44) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 02 [a9dbc7ee] (08/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 03 [5f465732] (09/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 04 [7fff295c] (08/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 05 [fa59497a] (09/45) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 06 [095b9321] (09/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 07 [6bc03fef] (10/46) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 08 [ff29c698] (09/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 09 [eacefb3f] (09/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 10 [7f69b7e9] (09/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 11 [3fce1e1f] (09/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 12 [5df37e6e] (09/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 13 [ce7118a9] (08/41) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 14 [5ad7e523] (08/41) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 15 [8a67742d] (10/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 16 [59c42673] (09/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 17 [82c0375e] (08/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 18 [9854987a] (09/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 19 [72c06378] (08/40) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 20 [67ed3df2] (09/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 21 [4c1923c2] (09/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #3 Offsetted by -676: 01 [02906f20] (14/44) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 02 [9a54e53e] (14/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 03 [025ad286] (14/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 04 [a3957670] (14/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 05 [80a9ea6a] (14/45) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 06 [7f83b735] (14/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 07 [c5ebd05f] (14/46) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 08 [d239b828] (14/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 09 [ef42d993] (14/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 10 [a5266a19] (14/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 11 [d4ac54e7] (14/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 12 [67238d4e] (14/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #1 13 [d1e0d39d] (14/41) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #1 14 [ad1d4747] (14/41) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #1 15 [72966ef5] (14/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 16 [cd881af7] (14/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 17 [5da3e692] (14/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 18 [51911f62] (14/42) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 19 [af3769b8] (14/40) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #1 20 [a2c7378a] (14/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 21 [e1c72e82] (14/43) Accurately ripped as in pressing(s) #2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ (A REQUEST) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's usual to post comments only to complain about a torrent which doesn't work in your configuration. It's normal, after a few hours/days downloading and expecting a release, to feel deceived if it doesn't work properly, and expressing this is legitimate. I've often found one comment (negative) on a movie/CD downloaded by 2000+ people, and since that single negative feedback, people simply stop downloading and therefore, sharing. But a few times it was due not to the torrent itself, but to some issues on the downloader side (not updated codecs, misused tools...), and that's unfair for the person who took the time to share it for free. IF YOU FIND THIS RELEASE DESERVES TO BE RECOMMENDED TO OTHERS, HELP BY DROPPING A LINE AFTER YOU'VE CHECKED IT. This way, You'll help in keeping the torrent alive, almost as much as keeping it in your HDD until a 1:1 ratio is reached. Thanks ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

udp://tracker.openbittorrent.com:80
udp://open.demonii.com:1337
udp://tracker.coppersurfer.tk:6969
udp://exodus.desync.com:6969

grantfk (2009-07-29)

Great upload Repopo, your a legend. Don't think i've ever seen such comprehensive uploads. I've just looked at your history and it looks like I'm going to be busy for a few hours. If my computer melts its your fault though. Thanks a million.

sundazed (2009-07-29)

I nearly missed this as I thought I had all the Airplane stuff but then I noticed some tracks from '30 seconds over winterland', 'bark' and 'LJS' which I don't own. So thank you!

head1ess (2009-08-03)

thanks very much, repopo, great torrent

heliox000 (2009-08-09)

Thanks for the nice upload - will seed. Thanks for adding the biography too.

Mitch_Bainwol (2009-09-06)

Fantastic documentation job!

leannenude (2009-10-13)

Thanks for the upload!!

dlmax63 (2009-10-17)

Thanks for the up

mickvick (2009-12-05)

Love & Peace

smile-cry (2011-06-15)

Thank you. Very nice!

ThankYou_PB (2012-12-20)

Thanks dude, this is an outstanding write up & a great album.

techsmart (2013-06-08)

Is your great collection gone....I cant browse your stuff when I click on your name, says no results. Yet I found you under this torrent