Jefferson Airplane Takes Off [2003 Bonus Tracks]

Performer: Jefferson Airplane
Engineer: Dave Hassinger
Producer: Matthew Katz; Tommy Oliver; Bob Irwin (Reissue)
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: This reissue of TAKES OFF contains the complete album in both mono and stereo. In order to preserve the integrity of each complete album, there is a 10 second gap between the two versions. This CD issue restores the original last song on TAKES OFF, "Runnin' 'Round This World", deleted shortly after the original release of this album in 1966. Jefferson Airplane: Marty Balin, Signe Toly Anderson (vocals); Paul Kantner (guitar, vocals); Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen (guitar); Jack Casady (bass); Alex "Skip" Spence (drums). Recorded at RCA Victor's Music Center Of The World, Hollywood, California . Includes liner notes by Jeff Tamarkin and Ralph J. Gleason. This newly remastered 2003 deluxe edition contains bonus tracks. Jefferson Airplane: Marty Balin, Signe Toly Anderson (vocals); Paul Kantner (guitar, vocals); Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen (guitar); Jack Casady (bass); Alex "Skip" Spence (drums). Originally released on RCA Victor (3584). Includes liner notes by Jeff Tamarkin. Liner Note Authors: Jeff Tamarkin; Ralph J. Gleason. Recording information: RCA Victor's Music Center Of the World, Hollywood, CA (12/16/1965-07/21/1966). Photographer: Michelle Vignes. Unknown Contributor Roles: Marty Balin; Jack Casady; Signe Anderson; Jorma Kaukonen; Paul Kantner; Skip Spence. The debut Jefferson Airplane album was dominated by singer Marty Balin, who wrote or co-wrote all the original material and sang most of the lead vocals in his heartbreaking tenor with Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson providing harmonies and backup. (Anderson's lead vocal on "Chauffeur Blues" indicated she was at least the equal of her successor, Grace Slick, as a belter.) The music consisted mostly of folk-rock love songs, the most memorable of which were "It's No Secret" and "Come up the Years." (There was also a striking version of Dino Valente's "Get Together" recorded years before the Youngbloods' hit version.) Jorma Kaukonen already displayed a talent for mixing country, folk, and blues riffs in a rock context, and Jack Casady already had a distinctive bass sound. But the Airplane of Balin-Kantner-Kaukonen-Anderson-Casady-Spence is to be distinguished from the Balin-Kantner-Kaukonen-Casady-Slick-Dryden version of the band that would emerge on record five months later chiefly by Balin's dominance. Later, Grace Slick would become the group's vocal and visual focal point. On Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, the Airplane was Balin's group. (Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was released as RCA 3584 on August 15, 1966. It was reissued as RCA 66797 on January 30, 1996, as a CD that contained both the stereo and mono versions, and that added back the track "Runnin' 'Round This World," which had been deleted from all but initial copies due to the sexual and perceived drug references of the line "The nights I've spent with you have been fantastic trips." But the included version still eliminated the word "trips.") ~ William Ruhlmann There is a reason why the Jefferson Airplane was the first nationally renowned proponent of San Francisco rock. As much as they bucked establishment values, the sextet offered a musical mixture of California folk-rock and white blues that was nevertheless easier to digest than the sounds of their contemporaries. TAKES OFF, their debut recording, made before Grace Slick joined the band, goes to great lengths to establish them as the obvious next step on a pop staircase of the Beatles, Byrds, and Rolling Stones. Signe Anderson and Marty Balin's distinctive, folky harmonies give TAKES OFF a lived-in warmth and a loved-in counterculture vibe that defined the times. Covers of John D. Loudermilk's infamous "Tobacco Road" and The Youngbloods' '60s anthem "Let's Get Together" may have symbolized their community's alienation from their parents' values, but the Airplane versions were less calls to arms than sympathetic pats on the back. However, Jorma Kaukonen's boppy R&B guitar leads and Jack Casady's free but steady bass lend the Airplane's debut some heavy rock muscle. There is a reason why the Jefferson Airplane was the first nationally renowned proponent of San Francisco rock. As much as they bucked establishment values, the sextet offered a musical mixture of California folk-rock and white blues that was nevertheless easier to digest than the sounds of their contemporaries. TAKES OFF, their debut recording, made before Grace Slick joined the band, goes to great lengths to establish them as the obvious next step on a pop staircase of the Beatles, Byrds, and Rolling Stones. Signe Anderson and Marty Balin's distinctive, folky harmonies give TAKES OFF a lived-in warmth and a loved-in counterculture vibe that defined the times. Covers of John D. Loudermilk's infamous "Tobacco Road" and The Youngbloods' '60s anthem "Let's Get Together" may have symbolized their community's alienation from their parents' values, but the Airplane versions were less calls to arms than sympathetic pats on the back. However, Jorma Kaukonen's boppy R&B guitar leads and Jack Casady's free but steady bass lend the Airplane's debut some heavy rock muscle. The debut Jefferson Airplane album was dominated by singer Marty Balin, who wrote or co-wrote all the original material and sang most of the lead vocals in his heartbreaking tenor with Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson providing harmonies and backup. (Anderson's lead vocal on "Chauffeur Blues" indicated she was at least the equal of her successor, Grace Slick, as a belter.) The music consisted mostly of folk-rock love songs, the most memorable of which were "It's No Secret" and "Come Up the Years." (There was also a striking version of Dino Valente's "Get Together" recorded years before the Youngbloods' hit version.) Jorma Kaukonen already displayed a talent for mixing country, folk, and blues riffs in a rock context and Jack Casady already had a distinctive bass sound. But the Airplane of Balin, Kantner, Kaukonen, Anderson, Casady, and Spence is to be distinguished from the Balin, Kantner, Kaukonen, Casady, Slick, and Dryden version of the band that would emerge on record five months later chiefly by Balin's dominance. Later, Grace Slick would become the group's vocal and visual focal point. On Takes Off, the Airplane was Balin's group. The 2003 reissue of Takes Off includes eight bonus tracks: uncensored versions of "Let Me In" and "Run Around," an early version of "Go to Her," previously unreleased alternate versions of "Chauffeur Blues" and "And I Like It," as well as tracks "Runnin' 'Round This World," "High Flying Bird," and "It's Alright."~ William Ruhlmann

One of the quintessential San Francisco psychedelic bands, the Jefferson Airplane brought together interests in acoustic blues, folk, and rock music. Add political topicality and modal improvisations, and you have an inspired, mind-bending sound that could have only sprung forth from the late '60s. In their initial, most beloved phase, they were powered by the powerful dual lead vocals of Grace Slick and Marty Balin and the serpentine guitar of Jorma Kaukonen. They went through a traumatic series of personnel and name changes over the decades (they ventured into commercial AOR in the late '70s and early '80s) but their early work retains its seminal power.

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