|
| Sweeping Up the Spotlight: Jefferson Airplane Live at the Fillmore East 1969 | 
 enlarge
| Artist: Jefferson Airplane
Label: RCA
Category: Music
List Price: $11.98
Buy New: $7.93
You Save: $4.05 (34%)
New (37) Used (9) from $7.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 10418
Format: Live
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 81558
UPC: 828768155820
EAN: 0828768155820
ASIN: B000O76UVW
Release Date: May 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
|
| Tracks:
| • | Volunteers | | • | Good Shepherd | | • | Plastic Fantastic Lover | | • | Uncle Sam Blues | | • | 3/5 Of a Mile In 10 Seconds | | • | You Wear Your Dresses Too Short | | • | Come Back Baby | | • | Medley: Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon | | • | The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil | | • | White Rabbit | | • | Crown Of Creation | | • | The Other Side Of This Life |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Sweeping Up the Spotlight: Live at the Fillmore East 1969 features the definitive edition of Jefferson Airplane, icons of 1960s psychedelic rock and political agitation. Jack Casady and Spencer Dryden hold down the free-floating rhythms on bass and drums, Jorma Kaukonen launches feedback-laced guitar solos, and Paul Kantner adds rhythm guitar and backing vocals. Topping it all are the voices of Marty Balin and the '60s acid queen, Grace Slick. In concert, the Airplane were always more rough and ready than on their acid-hued vinyl. Outside the studio, they were ramshackle and punky, which is why they were sometimes referenced when talking about punk bands like X, who also had male and female lead singers. Despite having six albums under their belt, mostly consisting of original material, the Airplane's live set has a lot of mediocre blues and folk filler. Some of their more characteristic repertoire is sacrificed to workman-like renditions of "Uncle Sam Blues" and "Come Back Baby," albeit with some ripping Kaukonen guitar solos. Balin's raucous rant on "You Wear Your Dresses too Short" is embarrassing in its soul-singer aspirations. Assuming this was their set sequence, it takes a while for the Airplane to congeal on stage. They ride roughshod over much of their materiel, but pull it together two-thirds of the way through on one of their most complex tunes, "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil." With its shifting time signatures and overlapping vocal lines and harmonies, it's a challenge to pull off live, but they do, with soaring vocals from Balin and Slick and a long instrumental jam with a fractured guitar solo from Kaukonen and a feature slot for bassist Casady, the most innovative and powerful bassist from that era. That paves the way for a darker version of "White Rabbit," the mock celebration of "Crown of Creation," and their show closer, a hyped rendition of Fred Neil's ballad "The Other Side of This Life." As they always did, the Jefferson Airplane land high. --John Diliberto
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 I Was There! June 10, 2007
42 out of 42 found this review helpful
When I saw the November 28 & 29th dates on the back of the CD for this Fillmore East live show I realized I was in the audience for at least one of these nights. My friend Selena & I took the R train from Queens to 8th Street & walked the two blocks to the Fillmore. Somehow we had two extra tickets, which we elected to give away to two out of towners, who repaid our kindness with party favors. As a result, other than remembering the band infront of the moving blobs of light show color, my memory is a little hazy.
Considering this concert was recorded back in the days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the sound quality is outstanding. Also, this is NOT the Airplane at the end. This is them a couple of months after Woodstock, smack dab in the middle of their reign.
This will be considered sacrilege but I think I may like this live disc even better than Pointed Head. It is at least on par with it. Pointed Head is essence relaxed San Francisco jam music. This show is New York City battering ram. The Airplane is on fire. For once everybody in the band is on the same page - the vocalists are in tune, weaving in & out & inbetween one another. Everywhere there is a spare opening, Jorma sends out lightning bolts of guitar fire like a Norse god. Spencer Dryden was the band's secret weapon, even though shortly after this performance the band showed him the door. His inventive and authoritive backbeat kept the band on track during the guitar and vocal acrobatics. The Airplane suffered when they switched him out & went with the drummer-of-the-month club.
And then there is Jack. His bass-as-lead solo in the middle of Pooneil is jaw-droppingly brilliant. He just won't behave. I can still remember a free gig in Central Park where the vibrations from his bass rumbled up from the ground & thru my feet into my body. There never has been another bass player in rock that could touch him, probably never will. This concert lets him rock out and strut his stuff.
Nearly all the versions of classic Airplane songs are better represented here than previous incarnations - blasting off with the best version of Volunteers I've ever heard, thru a ripping version of Good Shepard that lays waste the acoustic version, a better organized Pooneil than usual, a sensuous & powerful White Rabbit, Crown of Creation on steroids, and core staple Other Side of This Life ripped & gutted by Jorma's blistering solos. Young & strong doesn't even begin to come close to describing the performances on this CD.
The only out and out cringer (and all live Airplane gigs always had a couple)is Marty Balin's excruciating vocals on You Wear Your Dresses Too Short. I wish somebody had turned his mic off. Great jam, embarrassing vocals.
If you love the Airplane, you need to own this. 40 years later, this CD documents that on a good night nobody could touch them. They tear the roof off.
"We were strong..." May 16, 2007
40 out of 43 found this review helpful
A wonderful, ESSENTIAL archive release with liner notes by...drum roll...JORMA! YES! First, let it be known that "Good Shepherd" and "Plastic Fantastic Lover" appeared on the expanded CD release of "Volunteers." However, that disc ALSO included "Somebody To Love," "Wooden Ships," and a different take of "Volunteers" from the November 28th & 29th concerts, all of which are NOT included on "Live 1969." Jorma states "The lineup on this disc is the classic one. Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Spencer Dryden, Jack Casady and myself were together in that year and we were strong." How true. When Spencer Dryden left (soon followed by Marty Balin), the heart of the band went with him. "Bark" and "Long John Silver" became "Hot Tuna plus Paul & Grace plus a bunch of other guys trying to fill the gaps." On this album, Jefferson Airplane was still DANGEROUS. They were like the "Skull & Roses" Grateful Dead, or the "Happy Trails" Quicksilver...a San Francisco band living up to every single word of press testifying to their greatness. If you're a fan, you already own the expanded version of "Volunteers." That means you know what awaits you here. It's another one of those rare times in which "5 stars" hardly seem like enough.
All the old fans have come to the same conclusion May 23, 2007
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
Hi Airplane people:
Those looking for another CD to build the Airplane collection will be very pleased with the "Sweeping Up The Spotlight" release. A couple of minor things should have been taken care of. The liner notes are way too short and there is no mention if the songs come from November 28th or 29th of 69.
Some of the tracks have different arrangements such as 3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds."
The sound quality is very strong. Hopefully sales will be good so the opportunity will exist for another one from the vaults to see the light of day.
Time to take off. Be well always,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"
Like Mike Said.....Blistering!!! May 17, 2007
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
Wow!! This is one HOT show!! The Airplane tend to get maligned at this point in r&r history, probably because nobody can wash the taste of Jefferson Starship out of their mouths. This release proves that the classic JA were one of the 2 or 3 top bands on the planet in the 60's. As soon as they lost Spencer and Marty, the fire went out. Play the opening Volunteers LOUD for your neighbors! And the sound quality blows the earlier Fillmore East release out of the water. Thank you for releasing this one, Legacy.......
 End of the ride May 31, 2007
15 out of 23 found this review helpful
I wonder if all the posters here are listening to the same cd as I am. This is the Airplane at the tail end of their power and it ain't pretty. Marty, Grace, and Paul are shouting at each other, at times trying (not bothering?)their damnedest to keep up with Jorma, who seems to feel that any space left open is a good spot to inject a solo. The unreleased songs, "Uncle Sam Blues", "Come Back Baby" and the truly awful "You Wear Your Dresses Too Short" are time fillers, nothing more. The band is playing at each other, not with each other and it's sad to hear. The version of "...You Me and Pooneil" is one of the worst I've heard.
Lest you think I'm a latecomer to the group, and I don't "get" them, I'll tell you I'm 53 and have been a rabid fan since the 60's. This is the Airplane without the joy, rage, muscle and inventiveness that made them one of the best bands of the era. They were all ready for something else at this point and it shows. Stick with "Bless It's Pointed Little Head" and remember them that way. It gets 1 star because I can't bear to give any album by the Airplane a zero. Trust me and avoid this one.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
