20 faves #5: jefferson airplane, surrealistic pillow

5th of 20, roughly by chronology.

Personally, this album reminds me of the Summer of Love more than any other album. This is probably because during that Summer, my 14-year-old self spent every waking hour making out with my girlfriend while listening to Surrealistic Pillow. For this reason, I liked the two Marty Balin songs at the end of Side One more than I do now.

 

Comments

[steve]

My summer of love was in Cincinnati. I actually remember purchasing this album (in mono, of course) at a music store near my bus stop on the way home from school. Still holds up really well, in its tentative we're-really-still-folkies-but-let's-try-more-amplification-on-some-of-this way. These are all good songs.

[steve]

And Grace Slick was something of a major upgrade....

[steve]

She is a painfully bad painter, though. That she actually gets shows and sales while George Bush languishes in obscurity is criminal.

[Steven Rubio]

The folk music roots are so clear, now, but at the time, I think I missed them. Or rather, this is the last time I might have noticed, for starting with After Bathing at Baxter's, I began paying more attention to Jack Casady. Soon I was playing bass myself, and modeling my playing, as best I could, after Jack. I listened to Bless Its Pointed Little Head over and over.

[steve]

I can see why. The bass is mixed so high on that album. I'm not wild about most live Airplane, but his playing is pretty great.

[Steven Rubio]

I spent the better part of a year trying to get this down:

https://youtu.be/LaqBDLrlLgA