We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
1971 was a long time gone from the early success of the Jefferson Airplane. The albums Surrealistic Pillow and Bathing at Baxters had made the band stars but their last LP Volunteers in 1969 didn’t do as well. The band was in transition as well as they recorded their next record ‘Bark”. Founding member Marty Balin had left as had drummer Spencer Dryden. The band also brought in Papa John Creach, an older jazz-oriented electric violinist to augment their sound.
The album got mixed reviews with some critics enjoying the diversity of the songs while others said it was garbage and a band on the way down the tubes. I don’t find it that bad although there are some egregious lapses in judgement. “Never Argue With a German If You’re Tired” which is sung in German is one of those lapses. Not quite sure what they were thinking.
Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casaday (who were fronting an excellent side project, Hot Tuna, at the same time) play great on this record. Kaukonen especially shines on his own composition “Feels So Good”. Paul Kantner gives us one of his sci-fi fantasies in “War Movie” and Carlos Santana joins the band on the tune “Pretty As You Feel”.
And then there is Grace Slick. I think Slick is woefully underated as a rock vocalist. And she delivers a couple of good ones here…”Crazy Miranda” (That’s her on piano as well) and “Law Man” which is also driven by some great bass and drum work from Casady and new drummer Joey Covington.
The album also includes a loose, instrumental jam in “Wild Turkey” in which Kaukonen and Creach play off each other very well.
The Airplane would never again be the counter-culture icons of the late 60’s and would, of course, move into main-stream rock as the Starship going forward into the 70’s. Balin would even return for their hit LP “Red Octopus” in 1975.
Enjoy the voice of Slick and the guitar of Kaukonen if nothing else.
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