Disco de Jefferson Airplane: “After Bathing at Baxter's”

Jefferson Airplane tried hard, on this 1967 utterly noncommercial followup to their phenomenally successful classic

. Having made RCA millions of dollars with PILLOW, the Airplane took full advantage of their newly-minted blank check to create what may be the purest example of musical psychedelia to come out of the Sixties.

Listening to AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S is literally a trip. Bizarrely torqued lyrics are wedded to experimental recording techniques, sound montages, and off-center tempos and rhythms to provide the listener with an auditory hallucination. Everything goes, and so it went at BAXTER'S. It was all new, avant-garde to excess, and it largely failed to reach its fullest potential.

Most art does fail, but there's no question that BAXTER'S cross-pollinated with many other performers and musical styles. The influence of BAXTER'S can be heard in "Revolution 9" by The Beatles, and on many other recordings of the era. BAXTER'S may have sold relatively poorly compared to PILLOW, but it was heard by the Airplane's contemporaries, and it clearly served as a wellspring of inspiration. An aficionado's album, AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S is a ghost in the machine that remains haunting even today.

I used to throw this one on while I was executing psychedelic paintings (tempera paint on poster-board) during sophomore year ('68-'69) at the university.

The first, very long lead guitar note signals the beginning of an epic/epochal journey, which in a way is what this album set out to achieve. It was to be a transformation of the consciousness of our generation, perceived/conceived through what the Airplane offered us through their creativity, experience, and of course their music. It was the herald of a new dawn, a kind of strange bird trumpeting to us of its arrival, and secondarily announcing their new style/sound.

On "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil", you almost don't know what Balin and company are singing about, but somehow it makes perfect sense, in a most visionary sort of way. This is excellent, as they don't fall prey to trying to describe the situation too precisely [if you can say/see exactly what it is, you ain't there!] So what you get is the map of the energy currents your soul can follow in order to travel the paths they are marking. Jefferson Airplane are describing and charting the way into and through the region of numinous. (Who really cares whether or not if it's meant to be thought of as drug-induced? It works either way, I'd say).

Dylan never did it any better than this. When Mr. Zimmerman got into a similar mode ["Gates of Eden", "Desolation Row", "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest", et al.), he was busy creating new prophetic religious texts for the New/Now Generation. Bob created a series of alternate worlds staring at us, right in front of us. Or was he semi-transforming what we always see into what we always know, but don't always realize? Again, either way, it works.

Following "Pooneil", there is the relative short interlude of the happy psychedelic party, a sound-space through which meaningful and/or hilarious one-liners, musical passages/quotations and various conversations float, and which segues into the beautiful, very moving "Young Girl Sunday Blues".

Even more amazing is the beginning of the second suite, the song "Martha", during which we succumb to some of the most beautifully poetic lines imaginable, all which compassionately conspire to take us higher and deeper into and through the new vista. "Martha she speaks to me from a feather in the meadow . . . " This is the one song that starts with an acoustic guitar ostinado, which continues throughout. (A little ways in, it's heavily overlaid, in most a friendly manner, by offerings from the lead electric.)

These first couple of suites, Grace is given free rein to use her voice as an accompaniment instrument (Marty does most of the lead singing). Grace was sort of serving the function of a second lead guitar, of course timbrally different. I wonder if Yoko Ono learned how to sing listening to these pieces? Grace does a great job here. Then, later when she takes the lead on the two severely satirical pieces ["Last Wall of the Castle" and "Two Heads"] her voice assumes its usual, masterful [powerful] attitude. These two songs (and to some extent all of 'side two') more or less forecast what's to come next (album #4: 'Crown of Creation'), where satirical and apocalyptic energy/imagery kick in furiously.

Here on 'Baxters' there's not yet too much trouble in paradise . . . Middle America is witnessed as something outside of the new hippie way. Alienation has acted in its own way to create the [beautiful] alternate to what was referred to at the time as the Death Culture. But by splitting humanity/America into two camps, we were led in a way to the partial dissolution of this new vision, as most had our feet planted somewhat in both worlds. 'Crown of Creation' dives headfirst into this fray. Please stay tuned.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh........ you know that this is going to be some musical journey with that distorted opening note. The Airplane had alot of fun with this one. Spending RCA's money and taking their time, partying - to the dismay and puzzlement of RCA Executives. What a laugh! Grace Slick just has to be behind most of this. But you better give Marty some credit because he STILL hasn't healed over the attention deficent. Ah so........

Baxter's was the all-time experiment and the Airplane really created the whole psychedelic vibe of the time. You start off with the Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil - tripping to the light fantastic. And then the Young Girl and Martha come dancing in (two hippie chicks for sure). Then comes Grace's James Joycean diatribes, "white shirt and tie, white shirt and tie, wedding ring, wedding ring..." Grace..... please don't stop! More more! Kantner comes forth with Watch Her Ride and then Jorma and Jack with their experimental Spare Chaynge. But what does it all mean exactly? What are they trying to tell us? Well, with the Airplane, for the longest time, it was a generational thing. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. I hate to be banal......but there you go people- time for morning maniac music! Besides, if there is any doubt listen to "Two Heads". Hmmm... what is Grace trying to say?

For the time, this album was the most creative psychedelic offering of the 60's. Keep in mind.... as the Beatles sought production precision with Sgt. Pepper- the Airplane took another "route" (do you like my play on words?), made it fuzzy, let the wine spill on the sound control board, and laughed and laughed while months went by without any true mixing. I can't blame them. I would have done the same thing. Baxter's is not the most accessible album they ever made, but it certainly is the most creative. It sold poorly - but most art usually does. Buy it and see what happens when no one is in control. Then again, is there any order to true chaos? I'd rather not think of such things. I'd rather be enjoying this classic. You should too. We will save existentialism for much later in the evening. Bye for now - earthlings..........

I was about 12 or 13 when this came out and had only heard Surrealistic Pillow at the time which was great but I really didn't get into them until several years later while in college. I had the original album of After Bathing At Baxter's and my only complaint is that the recording was muddy compared to my other JA album Crown of Creation. I love them both dearly but decided I like Baxter's a tad more because it was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I often wondered if the Beatles were inspired to run their songs together on side A (I Think) of Abbey Road because of this album. This album sure isn't for everyone but for those hardcore acid rock trippin' fans like me it was about as good as it gets. I'm a guy who also loves groups with more than one good singer and songwriter and the variety of the songs by these guys was truly amazing and I never get bored for a minute by them. One of my biggest regrets musically is that I never got to see them live :(.

STREETMASSE is a fine way to begin this as it finally moves into the Young Girl Sunday Blues tune by Balin. The lyrics 'My days are made up of yesterdays and tomorrows ' was fitting for me since I've rarely been in the present. THE WAR IS OVER starts out with the pretty and airy Kantner tune Martha 'she does as she pleases and waits there for me' song which really touched me. Then it moves into the classic Wylde Time (also by Kantner) which really let's Jorma Kaukonen show off his unique guitar skills. HYMN TO AN OLDER GENERATION is where things really get interesting starting with a rare Jorma song that's very spacey : The Last Wall of the Castle with the 'understanding is a virtue that's hard to come by' lyrical hook and then goes into the incredible Slick anti-war song rejoyce which is strange, magical, funny and controvesial all at the same time somehow. The lyrics 'Molly's gone to blazes - Boylan's crotch amazes...any woman whose husband sleeps with his head all buried down at the foot of his bed' still cracks me up. Then the very controversial 'War's good business so give your son and I'd rather have my country die for me' comes in at the end. I bet the moral majority just loved that line HA ! Side 2 begins with HOW SUITE IT IS. Another airy Kanter song Watch Her Ride is then followed by the Spare Chaynge featuring Jorma on a solo that builds up for the final 2 tracks on SHIZOFORREST LOVE SUITE that starts with another strange Slick song Two Heads alternating between hard and soft lyrics which I didn't really understand lol but still liked and then finally it goes into what is truly one of the great rock drug songs of all time Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon which they did at every concert I think. I won't discuss the bonus tracks since I don't have that version of the CD.

That was long but it's a very complex album with so many flavors it's hard to describe it all plus I'm no Hemmingway either. I have some young college guys that rent next door that have a band and are super interested in older rock history so I let them borrow this cd and they were completely blown away by it which was pretty cool and didn't make me feel like such an old fart.

"After Bathing At Baxter's" is a different kind of recording. A psychedelic masterpiece that should be listened to as a symphony of five movements that were produced during a turbulent time for the band and the world, 1967. It was probably the first rock and roll recording made by a successful band with only the idea of creative self expression and not how many copies it would sell.

I have owned this recording in one format or another since it was first released in December of 1967. And over the last forty two years I have gained an understanding of the ingeniousness displayed on this record. But almost from the beginning I found a preference for one particular song, "Spare Chaynge." The pounding of Jack Casady's bass and the wailing of Jorma Kaukonen's guitar were something that made some sense even then and has grown over time to a realization of why this one song has been dubbed by the band's manager Bill Thompson as "some of the greatest playing of any bass and lead guitar combo of ANY rock and roll band." I urge you to listen to "After Bathing At Baxter's" and feel the magic that no drug could ever produce.