Jefferson Airplane Album: “Fly Jefferson Airplane”

I guess I developed my appreciation for the Jefferson Airplane during my college years (1977-1981). I'm no child of the sixties, but my uncle went to Woodstock, and like many college students I learned of the magical powers of certain hallucinogenic substances. There is some ineffable quality in Jefferson Airplane's music that lends itself well to the psychedelic experience, and anyone who knows where I'm coming from ought to get this DVD. Apparently produced under the auspices of Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, this disc captures some of the magic of the San Francisco music scene, circa 1965-1972, and the pivotal role Jefferson Airplane played therein. That the members of the band are still alive and still relatively LUCID is nothing short of amazing, but if you are looking for dish, you won't find much here; there's nothing in the interviews that hints of the acrimony that sometimes flared during the band's heyday. But the musical performances: WOW! Where did they dig up some of these films? And how did they preserve them so well? Particularly fascinating for me is the performance of "It's No Secret," featuring the band's FIRST female vocalist, Signe Anderson. Her presence is altogether different from that of her successor, Grace Slick, but there's something about the quality of her voice that always intrigued me. The performance is a heady mixture of exultant vocals, jubilant dancing in the audience, and of course those very trippy liquid light shows that Ms. Anderson's first husband was apparently responsible for. I don't think you can overestimate the archival value of "Fly Jefferson Airplane." So break out the stash, slap this disc on the DVD player, and take a little TRIP back in time ....

This is a fantastic DVD with great performances and commentary from the original artists.

I don't think anyone who likes Jefferson Airplane will be disappointed with this DVD.

Here's a list of the performances:

It's no secret (Filmore Auditorium, 1966)

High Flyin' Bird (Monterey Pop Festival, 1967)

Somebody to Love (Monterey Pop Festival, 1967)

White Rabbit (Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 1967)

Crown of Creation (Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 1968)

Lather (Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 1968)

Martha (Perry Como Special, 1968)

House at Pooneil Corners (Rooftop Concert, New York, 1968)

We Can Be Together (1969)

Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil (A Night at the Family Dog, 1970)

Plastic Fantastic Lover (Go Ride the Music, 1970)

Volunteers (Go Ride the Music, 1970)

Embryonic Journey (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction, 1996)

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of video and audio it was very high quality. The DVD covers the years form 1965 to 1970 with the exception of the performance at the 1996 Rock and Roll ceremony in New York City in which Jorma Kaukonan plays a wonderful version of Embryonic journey.

This is not so much a documentary of the band's personal lives but more the bands reflections of the music, what went into the songs and the time period of the mid to late sixties in the San Francisco music scene.

There are several great live videos of the band playing their hits in full length. It's no secret 1966 Fillmore auditorium (with Signe Anderson). The video is over-dubbed with the studio recording of It's no secret, Somebody to love and Flying high at the 1967 Monterey pops festival, White rabbit, Lather and Crown of creation performed on the Smothers brothers comedy hour, Martha from a Perry Como special (this is not a live performance but a video of the band that appears to be filmed in Golden Gate park just clowning around), House at Pooniel corners performed from the roof of a building in Manhattan in 1968 (the video also shows the New York city police department arriving to break up the show), The ballad of you and me and pooniel performed at "a night of the family dog" in 1970, We can be together performed at Woodstock (I believe that this was also over-dubbed with the studio version), Plastic fantastic lover, a powerful and moving version of Volunteers from the Go ride the music video.

The DVD also includes interviews with Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonan, Spencer Dryden (rest in peace), Marty Balin, Bill Thompson (band manager) and Joey Covington (replaced Spencer Dryden in 1970) There is only a little mentioned about Signe Anderson and nothing mentioned about Skip Spence (the bands first drummer who later was the guitarist for Moby Grape)until you get into the bonus features which is made up of more interviews and still shots taken by Jim Marshall.

It interestingly starts off with a rare 1966 performance in which the absence of Grace clearly effects the band's presence.

I was actually expecting a more documentary setting, but it turned out to be a lot of excellent live performances interspersed with relatively good humored interviews with the band--all of them looking fairly decent in their post-rock star days, which is nice.

This set-up is fine, because it avoids getting to "curruption" within the band and just focuses on the music. In other words, it's not about the drugs, who hated who, who left the band and why. Any music lover would appreciate these stunning--at times amusing--performances.

A beautiful DVD. NOT a burn, like most band DVDs I've seen. It very accurately captures the soul and essence of the band. If you loved the Airplane, you'll love this DVD!

If I could ask one favor, I would ask that someone do one like this on Quicksilver, Country Joe & the Fish, the Youngbloods, H.P. Lovecraft, and anyone else there's film or recordings of!

Please - before the film and master tapes all rot and disintegrate!