Being one of the unfortunate bastards that missed out on Jefferson Airplane because I was not born yet, my knowledge of Grace Slick was sadly derived from my early childhood exposure to Starship. It was a shock to me when I found out that a few people in this band Starship used to be cool and were actually able to write these incredible songs like “White Rabbit”, and “Volunteers”. Who new it was possible to write such amazing music and then somehow be able to churn out such garbage as “We Built This City”. It just refuses to make sense and makes me think that perhaps Grace Slick was abducted by aliens in the 1980’s and replaced with a commercial whore robot that would do anything for money. That’s what gets me through the night.
Setlist: The Very Best Of Jefferson Airplane Live is a great beginners handbook to what is possible when talented people get together and happen to have access to electricity. The set list itself is something to drool over with stand out songs like “White Rabbit”, “She Has Funny Cars”, and the classic “Somebody To Love”. The album is all previous released material with the exception of “White Rabbit” which was recorded at the Fillmore in San Francisco on February 6, 1967 and “It’s No Secret” which is also from the Fillmore but from November 26 of the previous year.
From the opening of “Somebody To Love” you can see that Jefferson Airplane is in their element when they are in front of an audience. The song takes on a whole different feel than the studio recording. They sound live and alive as Grace’s voice winds around Marty Balin’s while the music churns along with the loose sound that defined the sixties. “White Rabbit” is and always will be a master work to me. It was ranked #478 on Rolling Stones list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time though in my opinion is should have been much higher. The song, which was written by Slick in her pre-Jefferson Airplane days, is inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass and was one of the first songs to sneak drug references past the censors. The live version we have in this collection is a reminder of the power of Grace Slick’s voice as it builds slowly throughout the song until reaching a near fever pitch by the time you reach the line “Remember/ What the Door Mouse Said/ Feed Your Head” .
Setlist: The Very Best of Jefferson Airplane Live is a great intro to the live side of what is known as the classic line up of: Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, Jack Casady, Spencer Dryden, and Grace Slick. The one downfall of the album is that being a very best of compilation doesn’t allow it to achieve any flow of a true concert album. That minor criticism aside, it’s an excellent snapshot into the Jefferson airplane in their prime.
Key Tracks-White Rabbit, It’s No Secret, Volunteers
Doug Morrissey MuzikReviews.com Staff
June 29, 2010
