Jefferson Airplane
Takes Off

THE REVIEW

I would have liked to review the 4 masterpieces of the Jeffersons, but clearly, having arrived a bit late, all I can do is review their first work. Of course, it's an album that cannot compete with the LPs made with Slick and Dryden, but in my opinion, it still deserves reevaluation.

In this first album dated 1966, the Jeffersons are not yet in their classic lineup with Grace Slick on "vocals" and Dryden on drums. Instead, we have Signe Anderson and, believe it or not, Skip Spence on drums. The latter, originally a guitarist, left the group after the album's release to create the great Moby Grape, a famous Acid-Rock-Blues band from San Francisco.

Let's immediately say that Anderson, though inferior to Slick, performs excellently, endowed with a powerful and inspired voice, she gives us tracks with a strong blues flavor like "Blues For An Airplane" and "Chauffeur Blues".
Meanwhile, the sound machine of Kaukonen and Casady gives us a glimpse of the future sound of the Jeffersons in tracks like "It's No Secret" and "Let's Get Together" (but also listen to Casady's bass in "Chauffeur Blues") that would be revisited many times live by the group in a memorable version at Woodstock. The track that strikes me the most for its rhythm and the devastating effects of Kaukonen's guitar is "Let Me In", certainly the most inspired and innovative track on the record. There are also classics that were covered a bit by everyone at the time like "Tobacco Road" with Balin and Tolley pushing their registers to the maximum.

An album to be rediscovered, also because it was the one that somewhat started the whole movement. Let's not forget that on a national level, the Jeffersons were the first to secure a contract with a major record company, RCA. After them, all the greats followed, from the Grateful Dead to Quicksilver.