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Jefferson
Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary
60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the
first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
Jefferson Airplane's days were almost up by 1972, and everyone in the band no doubt knew it. In support of their final studio album Long John Silver, they went on one last tour (their first concerts in over a year). By then the band lineup consisted of Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Papa John Creach, Jack Casady and Johnny Barbata. For this last tour they also enlisted their friend David Freiburg (of Quicksilver Messenger Service) to serve as an extra voice, mostly singing Marty Balin's old parts. Recordings of these concerts were put together into a live album, and Thirty Seconds Over Winterland was released in 1973.
By the time it was released, Kaukonen and Casady had left to focus on their other group, Hot Tuna. Kantner, Slick and Freiburg released an album as a trio that same year (Baron Von Tolbooth & The Chrome Nun), and Slick's solo debut came out in 1974. Before long the three of them (along with Papa John Creach, Johnny Barbata and new members) would form a new band which they named Jefferson Starship. The Jefferson saga thus went on, but the original band, one of the most important pyschedelic rock groups of the 60s, was finished.
Long John Silver (1972) <|> Early Flight (1974)
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Jefferson Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary 60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
After the release of 1971's Bark, more divisions and distractions continued to slow Jefferson Airplane down. Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady's Hot Tuna group released their first studio album (now as a full electric band), Paul Kantner and Grace Slick recorded an album together (1971's Sunfighter), and Joey Covington attempted to begin a solo career. And all the time the band's escalating drug use (and Slick's alcoholism) threatened to derail them at any moment.
Nevertheless they stuck together long enough to record a final studio album, 1972's Long John Silver. It was a good collection of songs, with a strong unified sound throughout. It was their first album recorded entirely with violinist Papa John Creach as a member (he had joined during the making of Bark), and he made his presence felt throughout with his electric fiddle proving to be a perfect companion for Kaukonen's guitar. Joey Covington only played drums on two songs, as he left the band during the recording process. On "Trial By Fire" the drum seat was taken by Sammy Piazza of Hot Tuna (written and sung by Kaukonen, the song was pretty much a Hot Tuna number), and for the rest of the album drums were handled by Johnny Barbata (who had recently worked with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young).
The album got to #20 on the charts. However it marked the end of an era for the band, as their dissolution was soon approaching.
Bark (1971) <|> Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (1973)
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Jefferson Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary 60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
By the end of the 60s, Jefferson Airplane's heyday as one of the most prominent musical groups of the counter-culture was coming to a close. They had played all three rock music festivals of the decade - Monterey, Woodstock and Altamont, though it was at the latter that Marty Balin was knocked unconscious by a Hell's Angel, and the debacle of the Altamont Free Concert has since come to represent the death of the 60s. A disillusioned Spencer Dryden was then dismissed from the group, to be replaced on the drums by Joey Convington (Dryden re-surfaced a couple of years later with the New Riders Of The Purple Sage). Meanwhile various members were being distracted by side projects, with Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady working on their blues group Hot Tuna, and Paul Kantner releasing a science fiction themed solo album (credited to Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship, and featuring numerous musician friends).
Though they kept touring, the band released no albums in 1970. However they did release the fantastic single "Have You Seen The Saucers" b/w "Mexico", perhaps the last great Airplane songs. These would later be included on the compilation album Early Flight. However shortly after this Marty Balin (the original founder of the group) departed, as he'd had enough of the non-stop drug use of the rest of the band.
When it finally came to recording a new album, the Airplane consisted of Grace Slick (vocals/piano), Paul Kantner (vocals/rhythm guitar), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar/vocals), Jack Casady (bass) and Joey Covington (drums). Despite the growing tensions and distractions among the band, they succeeded in putting together a perfectly fine album, even if it didn't quite rate as highly as their classic 60s releases. Bark was perhaps a bit uneven, but some of its highlights were truly fantastic, most notably the dark, bluesy jam "Pretty As You Feel" (featuring an uncredited appearance from Carlos Santana) and Kaukonen's folky "Third Week In The Chelsea" (about the thoughts he was having about leaving the band). Bark also notably featured the electric violin of Papa John Creach, who was playing with Hot Tuna at the time. He joined the Airplane as a full member shortly after the album's release.
Volunteers (1969) <|> Long John Silver (1972)
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Jefferson Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary 60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
Jeff
erson Airplane's fifth studio album proved to be one of their best. It was recorded at Wally Heider's state-of-the-art 16-track studio in San Francisco, and featured lots of musical guests including Jerry Garcia (on pedal steel), Stephen Stills (organ), Joey Covington (percussion) and English session pianist Nicky Hopkins (who was making his presence known in San Francisco at the time, as he also became a member of Quicksilver Messenger Service for a couple of years). All-girl San Francisco rock group Ace Of Cups sang backing vocals on a couple of songs, and the Airplane's road manager Bill Laudner even got to sing lead on "Song For All Seasons".
Musically, many of the songs were notably long and complex, including the classic "Wooden Ships", written by Paul Kantner in collaboration with Stephen Stills and David Crosby (their version appeared on Crosby, Stills & Nashs' debut album the same year). Elsewhere there were more acoustic textures, and a couple of brief excursions into country-rock. Hopkins piano was particularly prominent, and singer Grace Slick played a lot of piano throughout as well. Still, Jorma Kaukonen's electric guitar and Jack Casady's bass retained their position as the band's signature instrumental ingredients. In terms of lyrical themes, Volunteers focused on many subjects popular at time - anti-war, pro-anarchism, nature, community and the ecology. It can be seen as a classic album of the late-60s counter-culture, and the title song endures as its perfect two-minute distillation.
Ultimately it turned out to mark the end of an era for the band. It was their last with founding member Marty Balin, who had originally put the group together back in 1965. His contributions had decreased over the years, and here he only sang lead on two songs, and just got one co-writing credit. It was also their last album with drummer Spencer Dryden (he left for the New Riders Of The Purple Sage), who would be replaced by Joey Covington. Significantly, the band didn't record another album until 1971. In the mean-time the members were all distracted by side projects, most significantly Kaukonen and Casady's Hot Tuna blues project, and Paul Kantner's Blows Against The Empire solo album.
Bless Its Pointed Little Head (1969) <|> Bark (1971)
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Jefferson Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary 60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
The Airplane's fifth album was a live one, recorded in 1968 and released in 1969. As was to be expected, it highlighted the heavy rock end of their sound, and showed how the roles of the six members were balanced perfectly in concert, with focus on both the fantastic vocal interplay of Grace Slick and Marty Balin and the loose, improvisational style of the instruments. They were part of the San Francisco jam band scene after all, and though their jamming never went as far as that of The Grateful Dead, Bless Its Pointed Little Head showcased their jamming talents in a way their studio albums had never quite done.
Alongside four songs from their earlier albums, it introduced some notable covers - the blues standard "Rock Me Baby" (which foreshadowed the direction Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady would go in with their Hot Tuna side project), Fred Neil's "The Other Side Of This Life" and Donovan's "Fat Angel" (which the Scottish singer-songwriter had actually name-checked the band in).
Crown Of Creation (1968) <|> Volunteers (1969)
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Jefferson Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary 60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
Crown Of Creation was Jefferson Airplane's third album with their most famous lineup - Grace Slick (vocals/piano), Marty Balin (vocals), Paul Kantner (rhythm guitar/vocals), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar/vocals), Jack Casady (bass) and Spencer Dryden (drums). It was also their second album after adopting their distinctive psychedelic rock sound. By this time their brief run of success on the singles chart was over, but they were still regarded as among the most important bands of the San Francisco rock scene, with a huge fanbase across America and beyond. In a way, after a whirlwind few years of lineup changes, chart successes, media hype and stylistic evolution, this was the point by which they had settled down.
Stylistically, it was their most wide-ranging album to date, with moments of both heavy rock and mellower folk-styled material. The songs themselves were all complex and sophisticated in their arrangements, and for that reason less commercial (with no real radio-ready hits), which is probably why the album is generally among their lesser-known ones. The songwriting was all roughly split evenly between Slick, Kantner, Balin and Kaukonen, with all four of them getting to sing lead vocals, both individually and together. The one song from an outside source was "Triad", by David Crosby. He had originally recorded this song with The Byrds, but his bandmates refused to release it due to its risqué subject matter, so he passed it on to his friends in the more artistically daring Airplane. It turned out to be perfectly made for them, and was sung by Grace Slick.
None of the singles released got far into the Top 100, but the album itself reached a successful #6. However, today Crown Of Creation is often seen to be in the shadow of certain albums that came before and after it. But it could be argued that it's the one record that shows the full scope of the band's sound and creativity the best, and is definitely one of their strongest albums.
After Bathing At Baxter's (1967) <|> Bless Its Pointed Little Head (1969)
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Jefferson Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary 60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
After the massive success of Surrealistic Pillow, Jefferson Airplane's sound evolved for their third album. Sonically, it took on a harder, more psychedelic edge, and they became a much heavier group. Jorma Kaukonen's razor-sharp guitar and Jack Casady's growling bass came more to the forefront, and they abandoned the idea of short, concise, radio-friendly songs, starting to experiment more. The resultant album, After Bathing At Baxter's, established them as one of the leading acid rock bands.
The dynamics within the group also began to change. Original band founder and lead singer Marty Balin saw his role diminish, as on Baxter's he only wrote one song ("Young Girl Sunday Blues", in collaboration with Paul Kantner), and this was the only one he sang lead on. Though his voice joined in with and strengthened the group vocals throughout the rest of the album, he was definately no longer the lead singer. Other members of the band were beginning to write songs and sing, most notably rhythm guitarist Paul Kantner, who wrote five of the eleven songs by himself, and was quickly rising to become the dominant creative force. Kaukonen also sang his lead debut on his own "Last Wall Of The Castle".
There were a few strange songs on Baxter's which stood out from the others: the brief moment of insanity that iss the audio collage of "A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You, Shortly", the 9-minute free-frorm guitar/bass/drums jam that is "Spare Chaynge", and Grace Slick's bizarre, abstract "rejoyce". With the exception of the folky "Martha", all the other songs were in the band's new heavy style.
As well as marking the start of a new sound, Baxter's also marked the end of the band's brief run of commercial success. None of the singles made it into the Top 40, and they never would again. The album itself did reach #17 though.
Surrealistic Pillow (1967) <|> Crown Of Creation (1967)
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Jefferson Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary 60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
After one album with the band, both Skip Spence and Signe Andersen left Jefferson Airplane (the former went on to form Moby Grape). They were replaced respectively by drummer Spencer Dryden and singer Grace Slick (formerly of The Great Society), leading to the band's best-known line-up: Marty Balin (vocals), Grace Slick (vocals), Paul Kantner (rhythm guitar/vocals), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar), Jack Casady (bass) and Spencer Dryden (drums). Dryden was a much better drummer than Spence, having a background in jazz, and as well as her distinctive, powerful voice, Slick gave the band a new focal point on stage and helped forge them a new artistic direction.
The resultant album from these line-up changes - Surrealistic Pillow - proved to be a national hit, introducing the band to a huge new fan base. It was the first album from the San Francisco scene to achieve commercial success, and thus the Airplane became the scene's best-known group. It was musically quite diverse, mixing hard-driving psychedelic rock with tender folk-rock ballads, and technically more complex and imaginative than it's predecessor. Slick's and Balin's voices blended together to create something truly special which came to be one of the defining aspects of the Jefferson Airplane sound, along with Kaukonen's lead guitar and Casady's powerful, driving bass sound. Apparently Jerry Garcia contributed guitar to a few tracks - he was listed on the album credits as 'musical and spiritual adviser'. One song which stood out stylistically from the rest was Kaukonen's solo instrumental "Embryonic Journey", which showed his folk roots and dazzling acoustic guitar skills.
The songwriting was mostly shared by Balin and Kantner, though there are a few notable exceptions: "My Best Friend" by old bandmate Skip Spence, "How Do You Feel" by the mysterious Tom Mastin (apparently a friend of the band), and two songs Slick brought with her from The Great Society - "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit". These last two proved to be the group's first (and only) hit singles, and remain today their best-known songs.
Surrealistic Pillow reached #3 on the album charts.
Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966) <|> After Bathing At Baxter's (1967)
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Jefferson Airplane were one of the best-known bands of San Francisco’s legendary 60s psychedelic rock scene. They were pioneers of the genre and the first band from the area to achieve mainstream commercial success.
Jefferson Airplane was formed in 1965 in San Francisco by singer Marty Balin, who recruited musicians to explore the new folk-rock sounds that were then revolutionising the pop world. There were a few lineup changes as they found their feet, but by 1966 they were signed to RCA Victor and had settled on the lineup of Balin (lead vocals), Signe Anderson (vocals), Paul Kantner (guitar & vocals), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar), Jack Casady (bass) and Skip Spence (drums). Their debut album Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was released that summer.
Stylistically, the album took the jangly folk-rock of other West Coast bands like The Byrds into darker, harder-edged territories. Most of the songs were written by Balin, either by himself or as collaborations with Kantner, Spence and in one case Kaukonen. It also contained three covers, one being “Let’s Get Together”, written by fellow San Francisco folkie Dino Valenti (also the song where they sound their most Byrds-like, complete with jangling 12-string guitar). This was the band’s only album with Skip Spence, before he left to form Moby Grape, where he played guitar (he was never really a drummer, being persuaded by Balin to pick up the sticks and join the band). The dominant voice throughout was that of Balin, with Kantner and Anderson adding harmonies and singing lead on one or two songs each (they all shared lead vocal duties on “Let’s Get Together”). Also notable even at this early stage in the band’s career was Casady’s innovative and powerful bass playing, which drove most of the songs.
|> Surrealistic Pillow (1967)
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