In August of 1966 the Jefferson Airplane released their debut album,
Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, a truly wonderful record which could easily be overlooked by the casual listener (I know I did for quite a while). Sure, the original Airplane lineup did not include
Grace Slick, but don't be fooled, this album RULES. The entire set is basically a highlight for me with a driving energy throughout, or as the back of the sleeve describes 'a jet age sound'. Marty Balin's distinct lead vocals steal the show along with some killer guitar work from Jorma Kaukonen.
'Let Me In' which features a cool lead vocal from Paul Kantner will be my personal mention, but aside from the closing track
'I Like It' (which works fine as a closing track) everything on here is single material. The record is usually labeled with having more of a folk rock leaning than their subsequent offerings which should be in no way deterring to it's essential status.
Sundazed reissued the original uncensored MONO edition back in 2005 which I highly recommend. They also offer some nice words and history
on their page.
Coming
together in the fervent folk scene of San Francisco, Marty Balin
(vocals), Signe Toly Anderson (vocals), Paul Kantner (guitar) and Jorma
Kaukonen (guitar) played their first shows as the Jefferson Airplane in
1965. As their performance chops developed, they continued to fine tune
the band, adding Jack Casady (bass) and Skip Spence (drums). This
lineup quickly built a loyal following around town, aided in no small
part by San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason’s glowing
reviews of their live sets. By December of that year, they had signed to
RCA Records for a then-huge $25,000 advance and began recording their
debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.
Because the group had not performed outside of their hometown, RCA
pressed a relatively modest 15,000 copies in mono to launch the album in
September 1966. Such was their popularity in the Bay area that 10,000
albums were sold in San Francisco alone, requiring the label to repress
in larger quantities. However, the label executives had already
expressed displeasure with some of the album’s song lyrics. Balin and
Kantner’s “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” contained the line “the nights
I’ve spent with you have been fantastic trips” which the label belated
interpreted as a drug reference. Furthermore, they bristled at the lines
“you shut your door, you know where” and “don’t tell me you want money”
in “Let Me In” and also took issue with the lyric “flowers that sway as
you lay under me” from “Run Around.” Asserting its clout, RCA deleted
“Runnin’ ‘Round This World” and had the group record alternate lyric
lines for “Let Me In” and “Run Around” for subsequent pressings of the
album. As any collector would rightly assume, this made original mono
editions with “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” and the uncensored versions of
“Let Me In” and “Run Around” highly sought-after artifacts.
Setting aside the controversy, the album is a brilliant folk rock
document, largely written by the group members themselves. Well-chosen
covers include John D. Loudermilk’s “Tobacco Road” and Dino Valenti’s
“Let’s Get Together,” recorded years before it became a hit for the
Younbgbloods under the title “Get Together.” Balin and Anderson’s
vocals blend seamlessly and Kaukonen, Kantner and Casady acquit
themselves admirably. Only Skip Spence, who was really a
singer-guitarist and not a drummer, needed backup in the studio. That
assistance came from session drummer Spencer Dryden, who would soon join
the group upon Spence’s departure. Of course, Spence subsequently
formed Moby Grape, giving his departure a truly happy ending. Anderson
also announced that she was leaving the group after giving birth to her
first daughter in May 1966. Luckily, the band had only to look to their
frequent opening act, The Great Society, for a new female vocalist but
that is a story for another album. The next one, in fact.
After years of being a high-dollar, hard-to-find collectable, Sundazed
comes to the consumer’s rescue with this exact reissue of the ORIGINAL, UNCENSORED MONO EDITION of Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.
Sourced from the RCA analog mono masters, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and
packaged in a faithful recreation of the album artwork, you can now own
the inaugural flight of this legendary band for the first time in
nearly four decades!
- See more at:
http://www.sundazed.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=742#sthash.mlibNgPa.dpuf
Coming
together in the fervent folk scene of San Francisco, Marty Balin
(vocals), Signe Toly Anderson (vocals), Paul Kantner (guitar) and Jorma
Kaukonen (guitar) played their first shows as the Jefferson Airplane in
1965. As their performance chops developed, they continued to fine tune
the band, adding Jack Casady (bass) and Skip Spence (drums). This
lineup quickly built a loyal following around town, aided in no small
part by San Francisco Chronicle jazz critic Ralph J. Gleason’s glowing
reviews of their live sets. By December of that year, they had signed to
RCA Records for a then-huge $25,000 advance and began recording their
debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.
Because the group had not performed outside of their hometown, RCA
pressed a relatively modest 15,000 copies in mono to launch the album in
September 1966. Such was their popularity in the Bay area that 10,000
albums were sold in San Francisco alone, requiring the label to repress
in larger quantities. However, the label executives had already
expressed displeasure with some of the album’s song lyrics. Balin and
Kantner’s “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” contained the line “the nights
I’ve spent with you have been fantastic trips” which the label belated
interpreted as a drug reference. Furthermore, they bristled at the lines
“you shut your door, you know where” and “don’t tell me you want money”
in “Let Me In” and also took issue with the lyric “flowers that sway as
you lay under me” from “Run Around.” Asserting its clout, RCA deleted
“Runnin’ ‘Round This World” and had the group record alternate lyric
lines for “Let Me In” and “Run Around” for subsequent pressings of the
album. As any collector would rightly assume, this made original mono
editions with “Runnin’ ‘Round This World” and the uncensored versions of
“Let Me In” and “Run Around” highly sought-after artifacts.
Setting aside the controversy, the album is a brilliant folk rock
document, largely written by the group members themselves. Well-chosen
covers include John D. Loudermilk’s “Tobacco Road” and Dino Valenti’s
“Let’s Get Together,” recorded years before it became a hit for the
Younbgbloods under the title “Get Together.” Balin and Anderson’s
vocals blend seamlessly and Kaukonen, Kantner and Casady acquit
themselves admirably. Only Skip Spence, who was really a
singer-guitarist and not a drummer, needed backup in the studio. That
assistance came from session drummer Spencer Dryden, who would soon join
the group upon Spence’s departure. Of course, Spence subsequently
formed Moby Grape, giving his departure a truly happy ending. Anderson
also announced that she was leaving the group after giving birth to her
first daughter in May 1966. Luckily, the band had only to look to their
frequent opening act, The Great Society, for a new female vocalist but
that is a story for another album. The next one, in fact.
After years of being a high-dollar, hard-to-find collectable, Sundazed
comes to the consumer’s rescue with this exact reissue of the ORIGINAL, UNCENSORED MONO EDITION of Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.
Sourced from the RCA analog mono masters, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and
packaged in a faithful recreation of the album artwork, you can now own
the inaugural flight of this legendary band for the first time in
nearly four decades!
- See more at:
http://www.sundazed.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=742#sthash.mlibNgPa.dpuf
