JEFFERSON AIRPLANE & STARSHIP
THE AMAZING JOURNEY
I will always remember the first time I learned that 1985's hit single "We Built This City" had been made by a band that was no stranger to the Jefferson Airplane. How surprising, that song hadn't anything to do with such a hippy band! By this time, Jefferson Airplane had known so many changes it shouldn't come as a surprise their sound had so drastically changed. First, the departure of Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy, who were the blues identity of the original band, to start Hot Tuna, made not only the band change its name to Jefferson Starship (a more futuristic name) but also their music take an unexpected turn.
Mind, Jefferson Starship were still a rock band but with much more pop elements than before. Still, the folk sound remained with the adjunction of a violonist but the psychedelic sound had completely vanished. Maybe that's the reason why Jefferson Starship didn't have that good of a reputation, they had become one among so many others... Maybe dropping their psychedelic sound didn't help. Fans lost interest and their prestige dropped as people could not recognize that particular sound of theirs..
Anyhow, the music was still good, different indeed, but good nonetheless. Up to the early 80s, Jefferson Starship remained fairly close to what Airplane was even if changes were easily noticeable. Most of all, Grace Slick's inconsistency in choice, she left and returned to the band several times, was unsettling and didn't help keep a strong fan-base.
By the mid 80s, Jefferson Starship seemed to have nothing really new to record and changed name again becoming the pop band known as Starship. That band was the one who made the hit single I told you about at the beginning of this article. Surprisingly, nowadays, like Yes with Owner of the Lonely Heart, Jefferson Airplane/Starship is more remembered because of that song than their 60s/70s classics such as White Rabbit or Somebody To Love, both milestones of the original Woodstock festival.
This compilation was, hence, made for those who know the Airplane yet missed the rest or those who know Starship yet have no idea what a major band Airplane was in the late 60s.
Just feed your head!
Mind, Jefferson Starship were still a rock band but with much more pop elements than before. Still, the folk sound remained with the adjunction of a violonist but the psychedelic sound had completely vanished. Maybe that's the reason why Jefferson Starship didn't have that good of a reputation, they had become one among so many others... Maybe dropping their psychedelic sound didn't help. Fans lost interest and their prestige dropped as people could not recognize that particular sound of theirs..
Anyhow, the music was still good, different indeed, but good nonetheless. Up to the early 80s, Jefferson Starship remained fairly close to what Airplane was even if changes were easily noticeable. Most of all, Grace Slick's inconsistency in choice, she left and returned to the band several times, was unsettling and didn't help keep a strong fan-base.
By the mid 80s, Jefferson Starship seemed to have nothing really new to record and changed name again becoming the pop band known as Starship. That band was the one who made the hit single I told you about at the beginning of this article. Surprisingly, nowadays, like Yes with Owner of the Lonely Heart, Jefferson Airplane/Starship is more remembered because of that song than their 60s/70s classics such as White Rabbit or Somebody To Love, both milestones of the original Woodstock festival.
This compilation was, hence, made for those who know the Airplane yet missed the rest or those who know Starship yet have no idea what a major band Airplane was in the late 60s.
Just feed your head!
My top will be different the ones have made before, I didn't want it to look like:
1. mostly any Jefferson Airplane album
2. mostly any Jefferson Starship album
3. Starship albums
so, I chose to make two separate Tops :
My Jefferson Airplane TOP3
1. Surrealistic Pillow (1967)
2. Crow Of Creation (1968)
3. Volunteers (1969)
My Jefferson Starship/Starshp TOP3
1. Dragon Fly (1974)
2. Modern Times (1981)
3. Red Octopus (1975)
(This compilation is the work of Ayah, let him be thanked)
4 comments:
Hi Ayah,
You've got about 2/3 of a great comp here. I think the problem lies, not with you and your effort, but in trying to justify the latter day material by its inclusion.
CD1 is pretty flawless, although I would have had "Wooden Ships" on there (Airplane's version is superior to the pretty-but-listless version of CSNY. And it's as much their song as it is CSNY's).
CD2 is where you get in trouble around track 7 or 8. First, missing the song "Miracles" is a major flaw. "Miracles" is (almost) a classic Airplane-style song with the vocals swirling around each other. That was the always the real strength of the band to begin with.
Marty, Grace and sometimes Paul would create a new voice when they sang together, much like the way the vocals Stevie, Lindsey and Christine of Fleetwood Mac intertwine.
Grace Slick is one of the top five female voices in Rock and Roll. Also, she was truly a liberated woman way ahead of her time back then, she was never an object, she objectified. A great painter too. Her lack of involvement in JA>JS was the death-nail to the process. She got bored with it all and hung up her Rock n' Roll shoes (or in her case, her bare feet).
Starship (without the Jefferson attached) was a completely different group and it's embarrassing to the legacy of the original band members. Mickey was just a Steve Perry wannabe.
I am just a great fan of Jefferson Airplane and I feel their place in music history is not realized. It's mostly their own fault but I just want THAT band to get some respect and not get accessed on what they became later.
Merci!
A great compilition. Maybe a silly question, but what´s the name of the font used on the back cover?
Ayah did the artwork and is not present at the moment... He'll get back at you as soon as possible.
Stay tuned.
Hi guys.
First of all, I will be looking for the name of the font I used.
Second, just for an answer to Vaughn :
I have long been wondering if I had to put both Airplane and Starship on the same baistophe, but the transition between the two bands was much more evident than I had ever expected.
Wooden Ships is sure a great song but features on a too good album and had to be dropped. Second (and it is my own opinion), I prefer CSN's version, and last, You'll soon find a wonderful 21 minutes version of Jefferson Airplane on an upcoming baistophe.
For the CD2, I must recall the what is baistophe's philosophy : only making a compilations that we feel to be the better one. Sure, I haven't put Miracles in that baistophe, maybe because I'm not really a big fan of it, as I had to explain when someone complained while not finding "the pusher" in Steppenwolf compilation. That's only because I don't feel like listening that song. Nobody's perfect.
For the Starship inclusion into that baistophe, I do agree that the band is artistically at the antipodes of JA and JS, what I explained at the beginning of my post. But Starship is really the same band led by Paul Kantner making something completely different, just like many other band (like Yes) did at the same time.
But feel free to make your own tracklist, we'll be happy to compare.
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