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Jefferson Airplane Covered a Byrds Tune

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 9:47 am
by firstbassman
Ran out of the house quickly today to run an errand and grabbed a bunch of CDs to listen to on the way. One of the CDs was an old concert * from the Airplane..

And lo and behold, one of the songs was Feel A Whole Lot Better. I had completely forgotten about that.

Here is a listen (available for only seven days of course):

http://download.yousendit.com/892534BD66428EF4

The quality was pretty bad but hey, JA had only been together for a few months at this time.

* January 15, 1966, Vancouver, Canada.

Image

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 5:39 pm
by jimk
That was interesting. I take it that the recording was made before Grace Slick joined JA.

JimK

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 5:19 am
by firstbassman
Oh, yes, by quite a while, Jim.
Grace's first show with the Airplane wasn't until ten months later (October of '66).

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:14 pm
by jimk
Yeah. I was certain the female vocal wasn't Grace's voice.

JimK

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:54 pm
by firstbassman
Yes, the first signer was Signe (Sig-nee) Anderson:

Image Image

Unfortunately Signe has had several health problems over the years and more recently severe financial problems too. It's a shame.

Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 1:25 pm
by 8mileshigher
Mark -- thanks for posting the link. Nice to have it for posterity even though it is a "rough" performance.
Regards - Rich F.

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2007 7:01 pm
by rick36
Another (un-released) Byrds track that the Airplane covered was "Triad" on the 1968 "Crown Of Creation" LP.
A little more polished - with Crosby on guitar.

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 7:37 am
by mcd220
I've always REALLY REALLY liked the "Takes off" album with Signe. Very folky, etc.

If Surrealistic Pillow" was'nt so amazing, I think more folks would remember this first album. Not you guys of course, just the mainstream obviously.

Christian


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Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:39 am
by firstbassman
Oh, absolutely, Chris.
This is going to turn into more of a JA thread than a Byrds thread but I remember the first time I heard Takes Off. I had borrowed it from the Donnell Library in NYC. I was floored. As you say, great folksy stuff.
I have always wondered what path the Airplane might have taken had Signe not left the band. Among JA fanatics I’m in the minority in not being a huge Grace Slick fan. Great voice but I grew tired of that drunken smart___ act a very long time ago.

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:54 pm
by mcd220
Great point. I'm in the middle concerning Grace as well. The good and the bad. Without question, hearing "White Rabbit" for the first time must have been really something.

I'm too young to recall, as I was only 6 in 1967, but yeah, fascinating stuff!! Image