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"Oh, those were the days of vinyl!" one might say when listening to this Jefferson Airplane collection. An assertion that contains no Luddite instinct towards the CD, but rather two facts that seem difficult to refute. On one hand, the fact that vinyl could only hold about forty minutes of music prevented artists from recording an hour or more, as happens today with digital media. With inevitable fillers and dull moments. Back in the day, only when there was something significant to say did they exceed sixty minutes. Thus, they produced those ten double albums, like "Electric Ladyland," "Exile...", "Blonde on Blonde," you know the list, which made rock history. The consequence is that collections of unreleased tracks on LP, like the Jefferson's one we're discussing here, truly had meaning and value because the tracks composing them could have easily appeared on the albums of the day without being out of place.
"Early Flight" was released in 1974, shortly after the end of the Jefferson as an airplane and before their reincarnation as a starship, and it is also historically significant as it is one of the first collections of unreleased tracks in American rock history.
The first trio of tracks comes from the December 1965 sessions of "Takes off," with Signe Anderson still on female vocals, later replaced by Grace Slick. The first of these pieces "High Flyin' Bird", sung by Marty Balin, is a masterpiece of absolute dimensions. The Jefferson, for unknown reasons, didn't include it on their debut album, but they loved it in the years to come and often played it live. A live version can indeed be heard at the legendary Monterey Pop Festival concert of 1967. There is an absolutely effective cover on an album, "No Polyester Please," by a group of their followers, "Illiterate Beach," which I recommend to all Jefferson fans.
Continuing in "Early Flight," we encounter three songs from the recording sessions of "Surrealistic Pillow," in November 1966. While "In The Morning", despite the participation of Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, is just a blues jam with themes that would appeal more to Hot Tuna, "J.P.P. McStep B. Blues" and "Go to her" are two other little gems. The first, written and performed by Skip Spence just days before leaving the band, is a pop delight that foreshadows the "Summer of Love". The second, a cross between the Airplane anthem "Somebody To Love" and "Love Her Madly" by the Doors, is said not to have been included in "Surrealistic..." because the Jeffersons were not happy with its studio rendition compared to the power they could impart to it live.
The last three tracks were recorded in 1970. "Up Or Down" penned by Paul Kantner, probably around the time of "Blow Against The Empire," reminds me a lot of certain things by Stephen Stills, who had played with the Jeffersons in "Volunteers" a few months earlier. Lastly, there are the two sides of a 45 rpm single, "Mexico" and "Have You Seen The Saucers", which are two classic Airplane pieces: the former contains an attack on Richard Nixon, the then President of the USA, and his attempt to block the entry of marijuana from Mexico, so much so that it was censored by many American radio stations.
In conclusion, a record to recover for all Jefferson Airplane lovers, a fitting complement to the four studio masterpieces they produced from 1966 to 1969.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 High Flyin' Bird (02:32)
There's a high flyin' bird, flying way up in the sky,
And I wonder if she looks down, as she goes on by?
Well, she's flying so freely in the sky.
Lord, look at me here,
I'm rooted like a tree here,
Got those sit-down,
can't cry Oh Lord, gonna die blues.
Now the sun it comes up and lights up the day,
And when he gets tired, Lord, he goes on down his way,
To the east and to the west,
He meets God every day.
Lord, look at me here,
I'm rooted like a tree here,
Got those sit-down, can't cry
Oh Lord, gonna die blues.
Now I had a woman
Lord, she lived down by the mine,
She ain't never seen the sun,
Oh Lord, never stopped crying.
Then one day my woman up and died,
Lord, she up and died now.
Oh Lord, she up and died now.
She wanted to die,
And the only way to fly is die, die, die.
There's a high flyin' bird, flying way up in the sky,
And I wonder if she looks down as she goes on by?
Well, she's flying so freely in the sky.
Lord, look at me here,
I'm rooted like a tree here,
Got those sit-down, can't cry,
Oh, Lord, gonna die blues.
02 Runnin' 'Round This World (02:22)
We've running round this world too much girl
Trying not to see but now were free of them
I understand what I understood before
But loving you has made me understand much more
Is it the music in your heart I love so much
Is it the rainbows of your smile I love to touch
There are red flowers in each kiss upon your lips
The times I've spent with you have been fantastic (Trips)
Well I've seen you in a thousand dreams,
Many many days
Without your love around
I'm gonna loose my way and you'll loose yours
You know what's happening you can't sleep or think now
Shadows they are lifted off off you
We can walk here love where we want to.
(Break)
Well I've seen you in a thousand dreams,
Many many days
Without your love around
I'm gonna loose my way and you'll loose yours
You know what's happening you can't sleep or think now
Shadows they are lifted off off you
We can walk here love where we want to
06 Go to Her (04:00)
Go to her
She waits
She lies
Beating for you
Go to her
She waits
She lies
Screaming for you
I never thought I'd see the day
When the shadow would move up and say
Go to her
She lay
Waiting for you
Go to her
She waits
She lies
Longing for you
Go to her
She waits
She lies
Only for you
There's something in my bed
So help me lord I'm afraid
Go to her
She lay
Waiting for you
I can still remember the day
When he first won my heart
On a hillside where we lay
He said we would never part
So help how was I to know
My leaving would hurt her so
Go to her
She lay
Waiting for you
Go to her
She lay
Waiting for you
Help how was I to know
My leaving would hurt her so
Go to her
She lay
Waiting for you
Go to her
She lay
Waiting for you
Help how was I to know
My leaving would hurt her so
Go to her
She lay
Waiting for you
Go to her
She lay
Waiting for you
Go to her
She waits
She lies
Beating for you
Go to her
She waits
She lies
Screaming for you
Go to her
She waits
She lies
All for you
Go to her
She lay
Dying for you
Go to her
She lay
Crying for you
Go to her
Go to her
08 Mexico (02:06)
by Grace Slick
Owsley and Charlie, twins of the trade,
Come to the Poet's Room
Talking about the problems of the leaf,
And yes, it'll be back soon
There used to be tons of gold and green
Comin' up here from Mexico
A donde esta la planta, mi amigo, del sol?
[The translation is: "Where is the plant, my friend, of the sun."]
But Mexico is under the thumb
Of a man we call Richard
And he's come to call himself king
But he's a small-headed man
And he doesn't know a thing
About how to deal for you
How to deal for you
There are millions of you now
I mean it's not as if you were alone
There are brothers everywhere
Just waiting for a toke on that gold
And God knows how far it can go
But thanks Uncle Charlie
For your Mexican smoke
You're a legend Owsley
For your righteous dope
There were a half a million people on the lawn
And we sang to the faces in the dark
How long must that damn race
Wait for the jailer's time to end?
How long must the Panther race
Wait for the iron bars to bend?
And no no no no no nobody waits
09 Have You Seen the Saucers (03:37)
have you seen the saucers?
have you seen the saucers?
do you know the people out there
who aren't happy with the way that we care
for the Earth Mother.
have you seen the saucers.
Tranquility Base
there goes the neighborhood
american garbage dumped in space and no room left for brotherhood
have you seen our saucers?
see our lights in your western skies, California?
The rainbow skies
The government tells you another missle is flying
have you any idea why they're lying to you?
to your faces
did they tell you?
have you seen our saucers?
your mother needs you, now she's getting old
her face was pretty, but you let her go
have you seen our saucers?
star children on the back road to salvation
children of the forest, child of the woodstock nation
have a care for the needs of your planet
catch the dawn that once was there
first-born atomic generation
open the door, don't you know what it's for
come and join us on the other side of the sun
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