Anonymous | Tuesday, June 01, 2010 | 4:17 pm

great crown of creation stuff.....live! have been....... waiting most of my adult life to hear these tunes in concert

cwrohr03 | Friday, December 11, 2009 | 1:39 pm

Haha, thanks. To JoeD80: you're right, I was probably a tad harsh in saying they were commercial. Although a double-album would have been nice, to fit that version of 'Pooneil' on one side of the album would definitely be difficult. But I guess what I was saying is how the live version, to me, IS the Airplane; that methodical approach of heavy and soft, light and dark, etc. I think the Airplane had a great way of handling that, and I have read somewhere someone said that their egos got in the way. I don't know if I can agree so much; we are all egotistical. Certainly shit got exacerbated by the massive influx of substances and the furor of the historical context in which they formed. But they still worked with the foundations of San Francisco rock to give listeners of their perceptions of popular music. And they did a hell of a job!

lewisclark | Wednesday, November 25, 2009 | 1:54 am

Note to cwrohr03:

word!

JoeD80 | Sunday, November 01, 2009 | 4:05 pm

The reason they didn't use the 12-minute version on "After Bathing at Baxter's" is because you can only fit so much on vinyl. There are seven tracks on side 1. If they had used the 12-minute version they would have had to move tracks to side 2 and skip the 9 minute "Spare Chaynge." Single-wise there was an even shorter 3 minute version released, which was not the same as the 4-minute LP version.

cwrohr03 | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | 10:45 am

As Marty Balin once stated that the Jefferson Airplane was a "live band," his words are needless to say reinforced in this particular set. The recording is of the same weekend run included on the Bless its Pointed Little Head album, released in early 1969. However, by 1968, the Airplane was considered the top American rock group, particularly fueled with their 1967 release of Surrealistic Pillow. The sound, as evident in this concert and any other recording from mid-1967 through 1968, demonstrates a maturation process soaking in the acid wash. Their lyrics were meaningful and the instrumentation was similar to the sound of passing airplane, augmented with raga, folk, jazz, and psychedelic influences. It may be one's contention but certainly my own that Jefferson Airplane put on a live show that blows any studio efforts out of the water. But they were commercial, which is probably the reason for why they scrapped the 12 minute live version of Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil as the opening number to their 1967 album After Bathing at Baxter's. Instead, a four-and-a-half studio rush presents the song in a hard-rock comicality. The live version of this song can be heard on the bonus tracks of the 2003 reissue of Baxter's. The versions here are much more driven, mind-blowing, and face rushed; but their older live recordings invoke the calm attacks on their instruments and voices; a balance between male and female, sound and vision, art and form, that simply embodied the recognizance of a love mentality. The Airplane did present another world, a world in which bodies glittered and grooved in between ethnic beats and mushroom clouds. A coexistence in which love was abounding, abundant, and healthy. Above all, their music exemplifies the legacies produced by the 1960's in that dusky, dance-hall context. Undoubtedly, and with this set as my proof, the Jefferson Airplane is one of the greatest American bands of rock music.

david.swope | Friday, October 23, 2009 | 10:46 pm

a long time ago a friend turned me onto Airplane..... i have since graduated to Hot Tuna... I wish he was around to hear this...after all it was Pooneil that caught my ears. this live embodiment of notes and rhythms is beyond comment. i can see him in my head spinning and spinning ...... god bless you brother!

JoeD80 | Friday, October 16, 2009 | 2:09 pm

This set was one of the ones recorded for Bless Its Pointed Little Head. The Rock Me Baby track from here is the same one that was used on the album I think.

Anonymous | Monday, September 07, 2009 | 1:41 am

There's no shortage of live Airplane tapes out there but this one is the business - everbody's just soaring! The two Pooneils one ofter the other must be one of the best segments of live Airplane ever - amazing!

skyclad | Friday, September 04, 2009 | 5:35 pm

Another world back then......

Anonymous | Friday, September 04, 2009 | 2:13 pm

God on bass...nuff said.