Jefferson Airplane - Jefferson Airplane: The Woodstock Experience
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Free Music Notes for Jefferson Airplane: The Woodstock Experience
Free Music Review: Worth the Price For House @ Pooneil Corners Alone
Hit: 5 Stars
"Morning maniac music" is best played really, really loud. The Airplane is rocking with wild abandon, loose as a goose, and I mean that in a good way.
"The Other Side of This Life" gets the set off to a ripping start. It may be "the regular guys and Nicky Hopkins" but you'll have to have ears like a dog to hear Nicky tickling the ivories. He's there but the Airplane are going full tilt. Listen like thieves for his keyboard wizardry, especially here.
"Somebody to Love" is propelled by Spencer Dryden's drumming, a nice change up from basically the same arrangement as BLIPH. In fact, several of the best known songs like "3/5th Of Mile..." and "Plastic Fantastic Lover" are BLIPH-refitted but at Ramones-like speed. The first three songs are an adreneline rush. Maybe the sight of a half million people can do that to a band?
Things slow down for "Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon". It may seem like a naive throwback to the acid-drenched days of the summer of love but at Woodstock it seemed like the culmination of everything everybody believed would be the future. We know now that it was really the end, but nobody knew it at the time.
It's a natural segway into "Eskimo Blue Day," Grace's still spot-on ecological cautionary tale. One of her best songs, and a riveting vocal performance.
"Wooden Ships" is stretched out to points unfathomable clocking in at 21 minutes. Poor C,S,N. Did they ever do this song? After the Airplane's version it should've been retired from their act. The 'Plane are pulling out the stops - musically, vocally, improvising, inspired. Go ride the music indeed.
"Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil" stretches out extra long, but that's just a set up for the showstopper of "House of Pooneil Corners". Rarely performed. Barely remembered. But as the encore, it thunders with a sustained bludgeoning sludgy ominous riff worthy of Black Sabbath. It bubbles with a terrorizing vision of the end of the world. Marty and Grace own this song. Their performances will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. This song, alone, justifies the price of the purchase. Crank this sucker up to 11. Unbelievable!
It wasn't just critics who lambasted the Airplane at Woodstock. Grace remembers it poorly as well. (Maybe it was because she was slung over from the night before drinkin' & dancin' with Janis?) Her memory is playing tricks on her. She, in particular, is amazing. Easily the best live singing she's ever done. And the band, before the splintering and in-fighting, was Godzilla at Woodstock.
PS - So you get the studio version of "Volunteers" too. So what? Why are people making a big deal about that? Did it occur to anybody that many people who didn't experience this group the first time out may not know any other songs other than "Somebody to Love" or "White Rabbit" (which, fyi, also tears up the stage live at Woodstock.)
Enjoy!
Free Music Review: The Airplane at their best
Hit: 5 Stars
Most people are familiar with the Airplane tracks on the original Woodstock One and Two albums, plus others may have heard the renditions of "Somebody to love" and "White Rabbit" on the 2001 DVD "Woodstock the Music", but to hear the whole set is another experience altogether. This is the Airplane at their peak with Nicky Hopkins thrown in for good measure and contributing some worthwhile keyboard work as he always did, whoever he was playing with. I especially enjoyed his organ on "House at Pooneil Corners" which of course is absent from the only other two (unreleased)live versions of that song that I've heard. Frankly, the best parts of this performance are far and away the most inspiring music that was played at Woodstock for my money - and no I haven't forgotten Hendrix played. The staggering extended version of "Wooden Ships" and the two "Pooneils" will totally blow you away. I have many versions of "The Ballad of you Me and Pooneil" in my collection but this one has already become my favourite. It is an absolute travesty that most of this music was omitted from the the movie and soundtrack. The Airplane were the first band to sign up to play the festival and it wasn't until they made a commitment to be there that the rest started to come to the party. They epitomized what the whole spirit of the event was all about and they should have been front and center of the movie and soundtrack not relegated to a couple of minutes of "Volunteers". I can't believe someone has sat on this tape for 40 years, but better late than never! The sound quality was actually much better than I expected - very clear with all instruments and vocals nicely balanced.
I was also happy to have the remastered version of "Volunteers" as well. Prior to the arrival of this 2xcd set I still only had my original (now somewhat crackly) vinyl copy from '69 plus a few tracks of the nice quad mix on the "Jefferson Airplane Loves" you boxed set from '92. Great to have a fresh clean copy, though I doubt I'll ever part with that vinyl original.
I've no hesitation in giving this five stars. Order your copy now and when it arrives be sure to play only the "Volunteers" album part in the car. The live concert needs the biggest sound system you can find - crank it up to eleven and take the trip.
Free Music Review: A must have
Hit: 5 Stars
Whatever past opinions of this performance, for my ears this is the JA at their peak. The performance is unbelievable from start to finish. For any JA lover this is a must own and for anyone wondering about them this release justifies their reputation. They are firing on all cylinders. It is a little sloppy here and there(Eskimo Blue Day for example) but for me this just makes it more authentic; and the key words are here and there. Given the delay in performing (they came on in the wee hours of the morning) maybe they could not time their, ahem, vitamins right? Overall a very rock solid performance.
The mix is pretty good. Paul is a little down in it and at times Nicki is lost (mostly have to try hard to find him). Spencer is up front in the mix and maybe that is why his drumming here just sounds awesome - really solid, nicely manic. Jack, Grace, Marty all mixed fine. Jorma is on fire throughout, and his guitar just explodes from the speakers.
As for the tracks, a fairly standard set with a few surprises. Grace's now classic intro (morning maniac music, the regular guys...) kicks it off. The group really nails the 1st 3 songs (other side of life (Nicki very clear on this one), somebody to love, 3/5 mile) at breakneck speed; intense opening. Somebody to Love is pretty much reworked and Spencer even takes a solo in it. I always liked Eskimo Blue Day, very good here though a bit sloppy; OK by me. First peak is a titanic 23 minute Wooden Ships. Second peak a killer You-Me-Pooneil stretched to 15 minutes, and as noted in other reviews around the 9 minute mark they launch into Hijack. Very cool. Finale of House at Pooneil Corners another nice surprise, and a perfect closer.
I agree with many others, not sure of the value of the original studio discs as I own any of them I care about. So I get an extra Volunteers; this has always been my favorite release of theirs anyway. The Woodstock performance is worth every penny of the price and then some. If like me you are fairly picky of what you buy from classic bands, as so much stuff is being re-released, do buy this! You will be very glad you did.
ps - if the tapes exist, my wish list to expand this series: Canned Heat, Ten Years After, Country Joe and the Fish, Joe Cocker, The Who.
Free Music Review: GO RIDE THE MUSIC
Hit: 5 Stars
I have several live Airplane CD's, and this one is by far the best. I don't know why this performance didn't have a bigger part in the movie as it's unreal how strong the band was on that burnt out morning at Woodstock. Considering how they had all been up all night tripping and partying, they're totally at the top of their game. Grace and Marty's vocals just soar and even Paul's vocal's shine. Harmonies seem to be a thing of the past, but at the moment the interaction between the two primary singers, Marty and Grace, is sublime.
But it's the 'playing' by everyone that makes me smile every time I listen to these CD, and I do listen at least once a day to one of them. Starting with the Fred Neil classic 'Other Side of This Life' which usually closed their shows, the Airplane let's you know that they understood the significance of the festival, and play like zealots on a mission. I never heard Spencer play so hard or so well as he did that day. His fills and driving rhythm propelled the Airplane that day to new heights.
But it all memorable because of Jorma and Jacks unbelievable interaction of thundering bass and searing guitar with Paul's rhythm guitar weaving in and out. For my money, at that time, and maybe ever since, Jack Casady's bass work defies description to truly explain how great and innovative he was, and continues to be. And Jorma, I don't even know where to begin, but I feel he was the best all around guitar player of the whole San Francisco scene. Better than the legends Of Garcia, Santana, and the most overlooked player of the period John Cipollina, at playing everything from beautiful, thoughtful acoustic work, to fiery, psychedelic, melt your mind playing, to electric blues influenced by seeing Cream live. Just listen to Wood Ships, here a 21 minute jam, to see his range and talent.
The Airplane never sounded better than here. If you never saw them, you missed something special. But this CD, of remarkable quality [makes you wonder what else is sitting in cans somewhere waiting to see the light of day] from 40 years ago, come awful close to capturing the rush and feel of the Airplane. Buy this CD and 'Go ride the music"...indeed.
Free Music Review: Five Start for Four Songs
Hit: 5 Stars
Jesus--they played like this at dawn?? On acid??? (after Eskimo Blue Day Grace says "Sorry about those of ya got the green, we got a whole lot of orange...and it was fine...still is fine...everybody's...vibrating...") What an amazing document. You really should at least plunk down the $.99 for the 22 minute version of Wooden Ships ($.99! 22 minutes!)--at times it makes it feel like your head is going to explode. In a good way. It's all set and setting, as Dr. Leary used to say. The Airplane were supposedly really into the whole idea of Woodstock--I've read they were the first band to sign on--and once they got past the weirdness of playing at dawn it seems like the idea appealed to them. After all, by this point they were big rock stars and were no doubt more than a little jaded. Doing something new and crazy seemed to bring out somethng extra in them. Well, that and the LSD.
The 15 minute You and Me and Pooneil is amazing too--even if you have other versions this one is worth having. And as far as I know these are the only commercially available live versions of Eskimo Blue Day and House at Pooneil Corners, two psychedelic classics. Those four songs--nearly an hour's worth of music--for the low low price of only $3.96.
As far as the rest...generally the lysergic frenzy doesn't serve the shorter songs as well as it does the longer ones. Things get pretty sloppy but it sounds like they're having fun. But there are a LOT of versions of Other Side, 3/5ths of a Mile, Somebody to Love, White Rabbit, Plastic Fantastic, even Won't You Try (which you can't buy separately anyway) out there--I'm not sure these are necessarily vital. Volunteers is historic I guess. The Hot Tuna stuff (Uncle Sam Blues and Come Back Baby) is fine if you like that sort of thing. I don't dislike it, but that whole white blues guy schtick seems kind of tired and unimaginative compared to the awesome beasts that are Wooden Ships and Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil.