Surrealistic Pillow [Import]

Description

Jefferson Airplane’sfirst album with vocalistGrace Slickand drummerSpencer Dryden, 1967’sSurrealistic Pillowbowed as the first psychedelic-rock breakout from the potent San Francisco scene, climbing to No.3 and boasting two Top 10 singles. By bringing the then-unpolluted counterculture to the attention of the mainstream, the landmark recording eradicated boundaries and opened up creative vistas for a parade of likeminded artists that followed.

Allegedly given its name byJerry Garcia, who remarked that the music was as surrealistic as a pillow, the Airplane’s sophomore effort remains renowned for its inimitable combination of collective symmetry, concise melodic frameworks, and razor-edged assertiveness. Reflecting the atmosphere of the period, the sextet spread the songwriting duties among all the members. Slick andMarty Balinshare lead vocal duties.Jorma KaukonenandPaul Kantnercome into their own as guitarists. The family affair even extended to Garcia, who plays on several tracks and by nearly all accounts, served as the record’s arranger and spiritual guide. Never again would the Airplane convey so much in such a straightforward fashion.

Surrealistic Pillowfolds acid-rock experimentalism into folk-derived constructs with a blend of mysteriousness, assuredness, darkness, beauty, and romanticism that mirrored the very traits Slick possessed. Her authoritative, clarion-call voice leaps out from the explosive, fractal-pulsating smash “Somebody to Love” like a truthful challenge that cannot be ignored. Similarly, Slick’s measured deliveries andAlice In Wonderland-inspired lyrics give the bolero-based “White Rabbit” its hallucinogenic power while simultaneously bringing drug references into mainstream culture.

1. She Has Funny Cars
2. Somebody to Love
3. My Best Friend
4. Today
5. Comin’ Back to Me
6. 3/5 of a Mile In 10 Seconds
7. D.C.B.A.-25
8. How Do You Feel
9. Embryonic Journey
10. White Rabbit
11. Plastic Fantastic Lover