Search - Jefferson Airplane :: Jefferson Airplane Loves You

Learning experience for this '80s kid

t-boogie | Brooklyn, NY United States | 03/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Growing up in the 80s, my exposure to this group was mostly in the forms of Jefferson Starship and Starship, producers of some of the cheesiest music ever to hit my eardrums. I totally loathed their soft-rock pop songs growing up. "Built this city on rock and roll" my ass!One day I'm watching VH-1 and on comes Behind the Music: Jefferson Airplane. I was shocked to hear about all the good acid rock they produced, and I was stunned to discover how many of the songs I loved they were responsible for. After watching that special and finding out how many of the original members hated Starship almost as much as I did, I decided to give this box set a try.I must say, it was a great purchase. Lots of great acid rock, straightahead blues, experimental music, and wonderful singing by Grace Slick and Marty Balin. The booklet gives a good history of the band and is a good read. A lot of the hits appear in live form though, so if you want to hear studio versions you'll have to get a "Best Of" or the original albums."

Look out for the Tour Buses!

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 09/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Back in Early 1967 when AM Radio {KYA & KFRC} Started adding "Somebody To Love" to their Playlists. The Whole San Francisco Scene {"Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair"},Exploded in force. Well, it did for the rest of The Planet, BUT the real "Summers of Love" were 65-66, when the Town still belonged to the Local Kid's, Hipsters and even some of The Beats, that were Still around. If you wanted to find out about the Music Happenings, you had to read Ralph's Column in The Chronicle (This is Pre-"Rolling Stone").



Well, Marty Balin had started a Band in 65 called: "The Jefferson Airplane", and his band was gaining popularity over Time, and by January 67, with Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady & Spencer Dryden the Time was Now & The Airplane was IT!



Over the course of Three Compact Discs, this Box Set tells the story of San Francisco's biggest Band of The Sixties. Starting in 1962 with the obscure Single: "I Specialize in Love" by Marty, thro to the Encore at the Final Winterland Show of: "You Wear your Dresses Too Short", in September 72, It was a long Ten Years & It was a Short Life Span.



The First CD covers The Folk-Rock of; "Takes Off" Thro to the Free-Form Freak-Out of: "Baxters". By the end of this first CD, The Band had taken Quite a Journey from Hometown Favorites to The Cosmic Messengers of The Mind-Altering Mushrooms. By Mid 1967, Times had changed and The Jefferson Airplane was a BIG reason for this Change. Songs like "Today","White Rabbit" and "Let's Get Together" set the Tone and Started a Movement where a lot of Music {Good & Bad} followed.



Disc No. 2...This is The "Cruising Altitude" Period, for The Band. The Airplane was Flying High, in more ways than One. The Music became more Experimental and Free-Form. The Great songs: "Lather", "Pooneil Corners", "Martha", "Crown of Creation" and "Plastic Fantastic Lover" are featured here and it's Quite a Flyte, most of this is Essential, some of it was indeed Strange, But, if you keep your Seat-Belt Fastened you will enjoy some Real,[Or, are they?} Colors.



Disc Three, The Final Years of The Airplane, had "Highs" {Woodstock} and "Lows" [Altamont}. The Loss of Marty Balin in The Early 70's changed things Greatly. Jorma & Jack, were bringing "Hot Tuna" to life and Papa John and his Amazing Fiddle were needed to Spark some Life back into Band. By September 1972 after two so-so Albums The Airplane was ready to close-up shop at Winterland.



The San Francisco Explosion of 1967 COULD have happened without The Jefferson Airplane, Maybe...But this is the Proof that it DID happen BECAUSE of The Jefferson Airplane. This is their Story, in Words & Music, and it's a great place to find out just what the Fuss was all about...FOUR STARS!!!"

Sixties Psychedelia & Songsmithery

Katherine McCarthy | Forest Hills, NY United States | 07/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are looking for a representative, portable overview of Jefferson Airplane, this collection ain't it. Buy the remastered "Essential Jefferson Airplane" collection instead or even the sonically inferior "2400 Fulton Street". If you already know the band well, this is for you. It's crammed full of sloppy excesses, historical snippets & rarities - like "I Specialize in Love," "Go To Her," "Runnin' Round This World," the elongated feedbacky live "Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil." I have their full catalog on vinyl, cassette, CDs. But when I want to settle in for an afternoon of San Francisco psychedelia, I choose this collection to relive the many times I saw them live in my youth. Back in the day, the Airplane stood alone - inventive improvisational jams that lasted just long enough (Kaukonen, Cassady, Dryden)and stellar other-worldly harmonies (Balin, Kantner, Slick.) Grace Slick was the original rrrriot grrrl. Women vocalists are all in her debt. No victimized "my man done left me" BS for her!"