Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow

'Surrealistic Pillow' the second album by Jefferson Airplane was released in mono and stereo in April 1967. It was recorded at RCA Victor's Studio B at 6363 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood over thirteen days from late October to mid November 1966.
Drummer Skip Spence had left the band in the summer of 1966 as had original vocalist Signe Anderson. They were replaced by Spencer Dryden and Grace Slick.
Slick had previously been in a band The Great Society with her husband Jerry and when she left she took with her her own song 'White Rabbit' and also 'Somebody To Love' written by Jerry's brother Darby Slick. Both appeared on this album and were issued as singles.

Jerry Garcia was credited on the album cover as 'musical and spiritual advisor' and he also added guitar to several tracks though this fact was refuted by producer Rick Jarrard. According to road manager Bill Thompson, Garcia was definitely there and even came up with the name for the album when he commented 'That's as surrealistic as a pillow'.




She Has Funny Cars
Written by vocalist Marty Balin and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, this song deals with the materialistic society in the US. The song recorded on 31 October 1966 provides the first example of the wonderful blend between the voices of Balin and Slick. It also features Jack Casady playing a bass with a 'fuzzy' sound similar to that employed by Paul McCartney on 'Think For Yourself' from 'Rubber Soul'.

Somebody To Love
Darby Slick's song was rather different when played at a much slower pace by The Great Society. With it's rockier arrangement, Jefferson Airplane took the song to a new level and thanks to regular features in movies and TV shows, it has become arguably the best known song by the Airplane. The track was recorded on 3 November 1966.

My Best Friend
Although Alexander 'Skip' Spence had left the band to form Moby Grape by the time this album was recorded, the band decided to include this jaunty love song written by their former drummer. It was also the first single released from the album.

Today
A beautiful ballad written by Marty Balin and Paul Kantner and sung by the former. According to Balin, Tony Bennett was recording in the next studio and Balin decided to try to write a song for Bennett to record. They never met and the song was destined to be covered by the lesser known Tom Scott. The gorgeous repetitive guitar part was played by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead.

Comin' Back To Me
A lovely song composed by Balin while under the influence of marijuana provided by Paul Butterfield of the Butterfield Blues Band. The recorder part is played by Grace Slick. It was recorded on 1 November 1966.

3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds
Another Marty Balin composition starts side two of the vinyl album. I feel that Balin was always more adept at writing beautiful ballads but a rock song was required to kick off side two and this fits the bill.

DCBA-25
Paul Kantner takes solo writing credits for this song which he later revealed is named after the chord sequence that accompanies the melody. The number 25 refers to LSD-25. The track was recorded on 15 November 1966.

How Do You Feel
Vocally and musically this song draws comparisons with the work of The Mamas & The Papas another US folk/rock group who gained popularity in the mid 1960's. The song is credited to Tom Mastin who had played with Michael Brewer as Mastin & Brewer. It features nice three part harmony vocals from Slick, Balin and Kantner and more recorder from Slick.

Embryonic Journey
This short instrumental was the first piece ever written by guitarist Jorma Kaukonen as far back as 1962. A fingerpicking workout, he never intended for it to appear on the album but it did so on the insistence of producer Rick Jarrard.

White Rabbit
When performed with The Great Society, this song was a totally different beast. At over six minutes in length, it was part Ravel's 'Bolero', part Miles Davis 'Sketches of Spain' and part 'Alice in Wonderland'. Featuring lengthy guitar solos and even Grace Slick playing oboe, it was a live favourite of the time.
Jefferson Airplane cut the song down to less than three minutes focusing on the drug imagery of the lyrics.
Slick herself was never totally happy with it but the public disagreed and it became a hit single as well as going on to define the drug fuelled mid to late 1960's.

Plastic Fantastic Lover
Recorded on the same 3 November session as 'White Rabbit', this Marty Balin song is a rant against one of America's favourite obsessions, the TV.

The fusion of folk and rock utilised on this album was totally unique at the time and the album influenced not only other US bands and artists but also others from farther afield - most notably a young group of folk musicians in England who called themselves Fairport Convention.

The Doors - The Doors

1967 began with the January 4th release of the eponymous album by The Doors.

The band had formed in Los Angeles two years earlier and famously took their name from the Aldous Huxley book, 'The Doors of Perception'.  As the resident house band at the famous Whisky a Go Go, they were spotted by Elektra Records president, Jac Holzman and immediately signed to the label.

The sound of The Doors was instantly identifiable thanks to the unique guitar playing of Robby Krieger and the keyboard playing of Ray Manzarek. Add to that the poetic lyrics and sonorous voice of the charismatic but controversial Jim Morrison and the result was a winning combination.

Recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood in August 1966, the album was released in rather different stereo and mono mixes. The mono version was soon deleted and has remained unreleased until 2010 when it was re-released on vinyl only. This mix remains unavailable on CD yet strangely is available as a digital download from certain media outlets. Because of the differences, it is certainly worthwhile having both stereo and mono versions.

Thanks to the sequencing of the tracks, the record is a classic example of how a vinyl album should be constructed with a very strong opening track and two absolute classics ending each side.

Break On Through (To The Other Side)
Beginning with a series of rim shots on John Densmore's snare drum, the bass soon takes up the rhythm which is ironic itself as The Doors never employed a permanent bass player. On this first album most of the bass parts were played by Manzarek on the keyboards.
On the repeated phrase 'She gets high', the final word was edited out of the recording because of the implied drug references. This has been reinstated in later CD releases but remains absent from the mono version.
A great opening song, this immediately introduces the distinctive sound of The Doors.

Soul Kitchen
This song was Morrison's tribute to Olivia's, a soul food restaurant in Venice Beach, Los Angeles. The bass on the track is played by session player, Larry Knechtel.

The Crystal Ship
This parting love song to a former girlfriend of Morrison features some beautiful piano from Manzarek embellishing Morrison's psychedelic imagery.

It has been suggested that the title may have been influenced by an oil rig off the coast of Santa Barbara which glittered like a crystal ship at night, or alternatively may have come from a story in a book of Celtic mythology, 'The Book of the Dun Cow'. Then again, it may have been just about the drug methedrine.

Twentieth Century Fox
Both Ray Manzarek and John Densmore have claimed in their autobiographies that the subject of this song was Manzarek's girlfriend of the time.

Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
This song by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill dates from 1927 and was used in the 1930 opera 'The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'. Morrison changes the original English words 'Show me the way to the next pretty boy' to the more natural (for him) 'Show me the way to the next little girl'. Producer Paul Rothchild adds backing vocals to this track.

This leads into the final song on side one, the instantly recognisable:-

Light My Fire
The song was mainly written by guitarist Robby Krieger though Ray Manzarek created the distinctive keyboard opening part. When released as a single in April 1967, the seven minute track was cut to just under three minutes by editing out the superb organ and guitar solos. This is something of a travesty though it did gain the song a great deal of airplay which increased sales of the album, so not such a bad thing after all.

Back Door Man
This blues by Willie Dixon kicks off side two of the album in a much rockier arrangement than the original.

I Looked At You
End Of The Night
Take It As It Comes
Essentially these were three short filler songs before the main event of side two.

The End
The creepy but sexy opening guitar phrases lead into Morrison intoning 'This is the end, beautiful friend.' Beginning life as little more than another goodbye song to the girlfriend subject of 'The Crystal Ship', this number evolved over time and during several live performances until the band arrived at the finished product stretching to a little under twelve minutes. Unlike, 'Light My Fire', this number was never going to be cut down to make a radio friendly single. There is little friendly about this song particularly when midway through, Morrison takes the song into the famous (or infamous) spoken 'Oedipus' section beginning with the line 'The killer awoke before dawn'.

Throughout, the drone like keyboards and intricate guitar lines add to the mood though the wonderful drum and cymbal work of Densmore should not be overlooked. The song was recorded live in the studio with the second take being the released version.