...along with the rest of the drug-addled reprobates in Jefferson Airplane, in a live small club version of "White Rabbit."
Recorded (by somebody running the sound system) at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village on April 3, 1967.
I was actually in the audience, in case you were wondering.
I should also add that it absolutely boggles the mind that these guys are remembered now mostly as some kind of incense and patchouli oil soft rock crap rather than the avant-garde near punk attack noise mongerers they actually were.
Jeebus, what a great fucking band.
She was a trip, in more ways than one.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Cafe Au Go Go --- good times, good times.
I wonder if too many people remember the execrable Jefferson Starship incarnation from the '70 instead of the kick-ass Airplane from the '60s.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the production values on their '60s LPs had a bit of that Moody Blues "the band is on one mountaintop and the mikes are on another mountaintop several miles away" feeling, so you had to pay attention to hear just how hard they were rocking out.
And Grace Slick was definitely one of the hottest rock 'n roll babes of the '60s! Those sinuous vocals...
That's why you have to get the CD reissues that have the mono mixes. The stereos are all but unlistenable due to the cavernous echo at RCA's Studio B in Los Angeles where the first two LPs were recorded.
ReplyDeleteThe place was a fucking barn that was designed for recording orchestras, not rock bands.
And yes -- Starship was the most unlistenable sellout in the history of rock.
ReplyDeleteI'll take yer word for it on the RCA studio's acoustics, but my memory, such as it is, tells me that the stereo on "Baxter's" wasn't all that bad. I never thought "Surrealistic Pillow" even had a true stereo release... it sounded so bad on LP I always assumed it was rechanneled mono, like so many "stereo" LPs at the time.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, what an awesome effing band. Best live ...
Batxters was recorded in San Francisco, if memory serves.
ReplyDeleteWhen Goddesses walk the Earth!
ReplyDeleteallan R.
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ReplyDeleteI remember that Baxter's seemed pretty jarring on first listen, after the sometimes gentle Surrealistic Pillow, but it quickly became an all time favorite. Just blew the dust off of my well worn vinyl copy and (sorry SS) it has "Recorded at RCA Hollywood" scribbled inside the cover. I recall an interview with Jorma who, if memory serves, indicated that they were exiled to LA to complete the album and that they were on a much more flexible schedule after the success of Pillow. He attributed the extended jamming and occasional noodling to the fact that "nature abhors a vacuum."
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected.
ReplyDeleteI should add that one track on Baxters--Young Girl Sunday Blues--is partly live at a club (the instrumental track is off the board from a show at the Matrix.) Vocals were overdubbed in the studio later.