Customer Reviews

After Bathing at Baxter's

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jefferson Airplane tried hard, on this 1967 utterly noncommercial followup to their phenomenally successful classic Surrealistic Pillow. Having made RCA millions of dollars with PILLOW, the Airplane took full advantage of their newly-minted blank check to create what may be the purest example of musical psychedelia to come out of the Sixties.

Listening to AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S is literally a trip. Bizarrely torqued lyrics are wedded to experimental recording techniques, sound montages, and off-center tempos and rhythms to provide the listener with an auditory hallucination. Everything goes, and so it went at BAXTER'S. It was all new, avant-garde to excess, and it largely failed to reach its fullest potential.

Most art does fail, but there's no question that BAXTER'S cross-pollinated with many other performers and musical styles. The influence of BAXTER'S can be heard in "Revolution 9" by The Beatles, and on many other recordings of the era. BAXTER'S may have sold relatively poorly compared to PILLOW, but it was heard by the Airplane's contemporaries, and it clearly served as a wellspring of inspiration. An aficionado's album, AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S is a ghost in the machine that remains haunting even today.

This album has been widely criticized, as well as the rest of the psychedelic style, for something called 'amateurish experimentation'. But it is in the lack of knowledge that one can experiment, & even today, this album sounds far more daring than most of the 'experimental' bands of today (and I am sixteen years, so I'm not just being nostalgic). Also, this band harbours much stronger songs than most of what is released today (or ever was).

The first cycle of songs are the three brilliant tracks that make up the chapter 'Streetmasse'.
It opens with the delightful acid-rock'n'roll gem of 'The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil', a great kicking rhytm with a brilliant killer riff. This leads into the almost jazzy experimentation of 'A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You, Shortly'. It is a form of joyous madness, wrapping the gleaming sounds in some uncanny veil.
'Young Girl Sunday Blues' is one of the best Airplane songs ever. Its strenght is further solidified with a wonderfully awkward & still druggily burning guitar solo, that falls into a gorgeous last verse. But overall, the song is gorgeous all the way, a mixture of melancholy, myth & rock'n'roll that sounds like everything from The Doors' 'Crystal Ship' to Led Zeppelin's 'Over The Hills And Far Away'.
It comes as a surprise then, that the following track, 'Martha', is, arguably, even stronger. Its verses are gorgeous, but the melancholy in the chorus, as Grace Slick's voice soars beneath the main vocal, is simply divine. This dreamy song also opens the second cycle of songs on the album, the one called 'The War Is Over'.
'Wild Thyme' is a delicious, purely Airplane rocker with great vocals, and a mood like an invocation of the wild, raging forces of nature.
Opening the third song cycle, 'Hymn To An Older Generation', comes the awkward & psychedelic/bizarre rocker, 'The Last Wall Of The Castle', a riveting piece of Alice In Wonderland-like madness.
'rejoyce' is also one of the most beautiful songs ever, that the Airplane recorded, though much of it is very very strange. But all of it is brilliant & what appears to be the chorus is as melancholic, gorgeous & divine as anything on the album.
The next song cycle, 'How Suite It Is', opens with the poppy, 'Surrealistic Pillow'-like classic Airplane rocker, 'Watch Her Ride', that just gets better & better, until it matches everything from 'She Has Funny Cars' to 'Volunteers'. It is then followed by 'Spare Chaynge', the, judged on the surface alone, strangest track on the record, one long jammed, instrumental journey through all the spaces around us & within us, which will set some people free & drive others insane. An acquired taste, I still find it fantastic.
The fifth & last cycle, 'Schizoforest Love Suite', opens with Slick's twisted, psychedelic 'Two Heads'. It is built on a great rhytm, while the music, as everything, is chaotic beauty. The last song on the record is 'Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon'. Both songs (if they are two, not one, it is indeed a bizzare medley) are great Airplane average speed rockers. But it is where they are entwined, & their vocals mix into a blurred cauldron, that they really achieve true greatness.

As far as I'm concerned, 'After Bathing At Baxter's' is a brilliant & daring move from Jefferson Airplane at a crucial moment of their career. And it may have robbed them of superstardom, leaving them as another great hippie band, instead of someone alongside Janis, The Doors or The Stones. But I think it was worth it. I think this music is worth much more...

I believe that a lot of people are often times forgetting the west-coast psychedelic era when they consider all of the successful and innovative genres of classic rock. Jefferson Airplane is nothing short of The Grateful Dead, being that they were musically virtuous, very poetic, and had this brilliant flow and collaboration that really was not topped by many other bands of the era.

Jefferson Airplane gave a unique picture of themselves to this world thanks to the female singer, Grace Slick (who has an incredible voice), and the lead guitar player, Jorma Kaukonen. They were both the innovative and creative minds behind Jefferson Airplane (at least, in my opinion) and it is unfortunate that they do not get more memorable press. Jefferson Airplane truly was a unique and out-of-this-world band, and I believe that this album more than any of their others demonstrates this claim.

After Bathing at Baxter's is a really soulful album and the instrumentals are very LSD-inducing. The drums are especially fitting for the music and it's good to see a drummer with some real funk. The group-singing, especially in the opening track, The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil, is very catching and emotional. Young Girl Sunday Blues, however, is the highlight of this track, in my opinion. The graceful singing performed by Slick is just majestic, and the emotion it portrays is fascinating. The strange 1 and a half minute long mix of different noises, "A Small Package of Value Will Come to You, Shortly" also shows the listener some very interesting innovation of recording methods, and I'm sure this track in particular inspired other producers of records, such as those responsible for the effects that are to be heard in groups like Pink Floyd and Utopia.

The album in general highlights on a few major themes, such as, but not limited to, female freedom, the Vietnam war, and society expectations. The overall picture painted by this album is a weird one - this is certainly not for the unforgiving mind. It is also not for the closed one, either. Some of the ideas may surprise you, but the album in general is just unique, trippy, and weird. This will certainly take time for it to grow on you, but once you are able to make sense of this work of art, you will have a much more extensive knowledge of a long-forgotten era in music history. Jefferson Airplane today is just one of those little-praised bands that people SHOULD be looking back at, but aren't. Maybe it was their LSD. Maybe it was their "out there" music style. Or maybe it was their controversial song themes. Or maybe more people weren't ready for complex song structures and 12 minute songs. Whatever the reason, this band is a pleasure to listen to. After Bathing at Baxter's is one of their best works, and it is apparent, after listening, what other great things have come out of this creation.

I used to throw this one on while I was executing psychedelic paintings (tempera paint on poster-board) during sophomore year ('68-'69) at the university.

The first, very long lead guitar note signals the beginning of an epic/epochal journey, which in a way is what this album set out to achieve. It was to be a transformation of the consciousness of our generation, perceived/conceived through what the Airplane offered us through their creativity, experience, and of course their music. It was the herald of a new dawn, a kind of strange bird trumpeting to us of its arrival, and secondarily announcing their new style/sound.

On "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil", you almost don't know what Balin and company are singing about, but somehow it makes perfect sense, in a most visionary sort of way. This is excellent, as they don't fall prey to trying to describe the situation too precisely [if you can say/see exactly what it is, you ain't there!] So what you get is the map of the energy currents your soul can follow in order to travel the paths they are marking. Jefferson Airplane are describing and charting the way into and through the region of numinous. (Who really cares whether or not if it's meant to be thought of as drug-induced? It works either way, I'd say).

Dylan never did it any better than this. When Mr. Zimmerman got into a similar mode ["Gates of Eden", "Desolation Row", "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest", et al.), he was busy creating new prophetic religious texts for the New/Now Generation. Bob created a series of alternate worlds staring at us, right in front of us. Or was he semi-transforming what we always see into what we always know, but don't always realize? Again, either way, it works.

Following "Pooneil", there is the relative short interlude of the happy psychedelic party, a sound-space through which meaningful and/or hilarious one-liners, musical passages/quotations and various conversations float, and which segues into the beautiful, very moving "Young Girl Sunday Blues".

Even more amazing is the beginning of the second suite, the song "Martha", during which we succumb to some of the most beautifully poetic lines imaginable, all which compassionately conspire to take us higher and deeper into and through the new vista. "Martha she speaks to me from a feather in the meadow . . . " This is the one song that starts with an acoustic guitar ostinado, which continues throughout. (A little ways in, it's heavily overlaid, in most a friendly manner, by offerings from the lead electric.)

These first couple of suites, Grace is given free rein to use her voice as an accompaniment instrument (Marty does most of the lead singing). Grace was sort of serving the function of a second lead guitar, of course timbrally different. I wonder if Yoko Ono learned how to sing listening to these pieces? Grace does a great job here. Then, later when she takes the lead on the two severely satirical pieces ["Last Wall of the Castle" and "Two Heads"] her voice assumes its usual, masterful [powerful] attitude. These two songs (and to some extent all of 'side two') more or less forecast what's to come next (album #4: 'Crown of Creation'), where satirical and apocalyptic energy/imagery kick in furiously.

Here on 'Baxters' there's not yet too much trouble in paradise . . . Middle America is witnessed as something outside of the new hippie way. Alienation has acted in its own way to create the [beautiful] alternate to what was referred to at the time as the Death Culture. But by splitting humanity/America into two camps, we were led in a way to the partial dissolution of this new vision, as most had our feet planted somewhat in both worlds. 'Crown of Creation' dives headfirst into this fray. Please stay tuned.

The 1996 remaster of this album--my second favorite of all time, after The Beatles' "Revolver"--was pretty good, with most of the relevant artwork, good liners and good sound quality, so it would seem the only reason to get this new edition is for the new liner notes (which are slightly more comprehensive) and the five bonus tracks. The bonus tracks *are* a delight, for they complete this masterpiece at last. The expansive, epic 11-minute live "Ballad Of You And Me And Pooneil" (with a longer feedback intro, incredible vocal gymnastics and greatly extended bass/guitar jamming) is the same as that found in the "Loves You" box from '92, but in much better sound quality; plus, it's nice to have it on the same disc as the rest of the album. The same goes for the mono "Martha" b-side, also originally reprinted on the box set--which is then followed by three completely unreleased gems, including an alternate "Two Heads" with a different vocal take, a gorgeous acoustic demo of "Things Are Better In The East" (the electric version having found its way onto the box set) and a nice instrumental run-through of the aforementioned "Young Girl Sunday Blues" as a hidden bonus at the very end (and, as the review below mentioned, with some great stereo effects; one can more fully appreciate the band's famed psychic sense of interplay without the vocals here). This is about as comprehensive a clearing of the vaults as there has ever been for this album, which has been done for all of the Airplane albums in the new remaster series (I plan on getting "Crown Of Creation" next, and will hopefully be able to now hear the oft-bootlegged "Saga Of Sidney Spacepig" outtake for the first time!).

However, this new version gets docked a star for its sound quality. Interestingly, the bonus cuts sound crisper than the album itself--the original master tapes seem to have deteriorated slightly since the '96 version, because I hear some very slight, but still noticeable, background hiss and static that was not there previously (this is most noticeable on the first "suite", but then goes away after "rejoyce"), and the volume levels have not been improved (I still have to turn my player way up to hear this one decently--and by "decently", I mean VERY LOUD, which is the only way this album should be heard!). I will abstain from a more detailed review of this wonderful, magical work--which combined elements of their previous classic "Surrealistic Pillow" with "Sgt.Pepper", The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Hendrix and Cream to create as close an approximation of the density and intensity of the acid experience as has ever been put on record, recorded smack in the middle of the Summer Of Love--as I already have a lengthy review of it for the old remaster. Suffice to say that the album is worth it for "rejoyce" alone, Grace Slick's finest hour and one of the greatest pop songs of all time. Because of the minor static problems, though, it would seem that one should actually retain their copy of that '96 version if one desires to hear the album in the best possible sound quality, but still pick up the latest one (which, to be fair, is being sold at a discount price in most outlets) for the liners and, especially, the 25 minutes or so of bonus tracks. Also recommended is the new remaster of "Pillow"--which, unlike "Baxter's", has been significantly improved in sound as well as the addition of bonus cuts--and Jeff Tamarkin's new and comprehensive bio of the group, "Got A Revolution!", which manages to vividly recount the heady atmosphere of the late 60s and 70s in which the band thrived.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh........ you know that this is going to be some musical journey with that distorted opening note. The Airplane had alot of fun with this one. Spending RCA's money and taking their time, partying - to the dismay and puzzlement of RCA Executives. What a laugh! Grace Slick just has to be behind most of this. But you better give Marty some credit because he STILL hasn't healed over the attention deficent. Ah so........
Baxter's was the all-time experiment and the Airplane really created the whole psychedelic vibe of the time. You start off with the Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil - tripping to the light fantastic. And then the Young Girl and Martha come dancing in (two hippie chicks for sure). Then comes Grace's James Joycean diatribes, "white shirt and tie, white shirt and tie, wedding ring, wedding ring..." Grace..... please don't stop! More more! Kantner comes forth with Watch Her Ride and then Jorma and Jack with their experimental Spare Chaynge. But what does it all mean exactly? What are they trying to tell us? Well, with the Airplane, for the longest time, it was a generational thing. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. I hate to be banal......but there you go people- time for morning maniac music! Besides, if there is any doubt listen to "Two Heads". Hmmm... what is Grace trying to say?
For the time, this album was the most creative psychedelic offering of the 60's. Keep in mind.... as the Beatles sought production precision with Sgt. Pepper- the Airplane took another "route" (do you like my play on words?), made it fuzzy, let the wine spill on the sound control board, and laughed and laughed while months went by without any true mixing. I can't blame them. I would have done the same thing. Baxter's is not the most accessible album they ever made, but it certainly is the most creative. It sold poorly - but most art usually does. Buy it and see what happens when no one is in control. Then again, is there any order to true chaos? I'd rather not think of such things. I'd rather be enjoying this classic. You should too. We will save existentialism for much later in the evening. Bye for now - earthlings..........

From Side One's opening feedback to Saturday Afternoon's sustained distortion at the end, this album is a journey, a 'trip', and invitation to experience, a beautiful nightmare.
All the elements of Psychedelia are on this album. Modal Durges, singing/chanting, dada-surrealism beyond the other San Francisco Bands, and the Beautiful voice of Grace Slick. Videos were not necessary in this period of rock music because closing your eyes and listening will in itself conjure the imagery. This music is that powerful. Especially powerful are
'Two Heads' - has there ever been a female vocalist who could express such rage, indignation, and determination (without screaming) as Grace does on this?
'Watch Her Ride' really introduces industrial. No chord on this contains a pure 3rd tone as 7+9ths rule on this.

Read the reviews below to get a sense of the emotional response this album evokes. It's not just a so-called psychedelic album, it's an album of great searching and yearning for an alternate path during times dark with the Vietnam war, the clunky Johnson administration (JKF was still a recent martyr, RFK not yet dead), and the very cold war (Nuclear annihilation anyone?). The baby boomers could not believe the cornucopia of new sounds and experiences available to them, as the radio got looser and everyone began to swap their monophonic record players for high end stereos. This album made no sense to people expecting a continuation of "Pillow", but true fans listened over and over to this record until the grooves were worn out. Something in this album, LSD influenced or not, resonated with a lot of music lovers, and it remains an iconoclastic "screw you" tip o' the hat to the music biz. The Airplane embodied the spirit of the antiestablishmentarianism of the times, a template of non-conformity during a very conformist time (next up, Richard Nixon). Grace Slick et al have become forgotten relics of a time of great passion and desire for a better reality, and god knows we could use a band as rebellious and expressive now. A great aural souvenir of a transitional time in Amerikan culture.

"After Bathing At Baxters" was Jefferson Airplane's third album and the one on which the band, following the enormous success of "Surrealistic Pillow" and two top 10 singles, break through the boundaries set by record industry expectations and the hands of RCA staff producer Rick Jarrard, conventional song structures and subject matter. The 'Plane had been bursting with life, longing, and creative energy from its inception - the group had always a volatile mix of strong, disparate
voices and personalities, and had already run into censorship from RCA with its very first single, recorded in 1965 ('Runnin' 'Round This World' used the word 'trips' in a context that had nothing to do with drugs), but two years on and working through the sheer flux and vitality of 1967 meant they would produce a work as reflective, kaliedoscopic, and charged as the times they were living.
Maybe "Baxters" felt dated when the Ramones cme out, or Prince, but this expanded and upgraded edition makes a case that it is an album for the ages, and despite occasional carping that the group had become self-indulgent, the only part of the record that may not hold up is the minute-and-a-half collage of sounds and voices that follows the soaring spectacular opener, "Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil." Excise that little spot of silliness and this is a near flawless album that truly shows the phenonomal growth of each band member as writer and the telepathy of the band as a whole. Perhaps the only surprise is the relativly subdued role of Marty Balin, who sings lead on the one song on which he receives co-writing credit, "Young Girl Sunday Blues". Balin had, of course, founded the band, writing or co-writing nearly all the material recorded during the 1965-66 sessions for "Takes Off" as well as much of "Pillow." Instead, we have the ascendency of Grace Slick (who contributes the astonishing 'rejoyce' and the just as astonishing 'Two Heads'), Paul Kantner, and Jorma Kaukonen, whose electric guitar playing is miles ahead of what he was doing a year earlier, and whose 'Last Wall Of The Castle' is a scorching rocker that is another highlight. Drummer Spencer Dryden, bassist Jack Casady, and Kaukonen all shine on the jazzy, exploratory, yet riveting 9-minute instrumental that is the centerpiece of the original albums second side. As with the other Airplane reissues (and why must BMG stop its reissue campaign at 1970, neglecting the last three Airplane albums, each of which contains much fine music?) series producer Bob Irwin includes a terrific 'bonus' section. The 11-minute "Pooneil" is as trippy as you might hope, alternates of "Martha" (in its single mix) and "Two Heads" are quite worthy, and Balin's solo acoustic version of "Things Are Better In The East" is lovely (too bad the full band version wasn't included on "Crown Of Creation"). The set ends with a funky instrumental take on "Sunday Blues."
"Baxters" captures the wonder and edge of '67, though the band would make arguably more mature albums ("Crown Of Creation," for example). This is one more gem that proves how important a group Jefferson Airplane were, and remain. And, finally, remastering engineer Bob Irwin gets the sound right. This "Baxters" is revelatory even if you already think you know the album, and beats all previous compact disc versions, hands down.

After producing Surrealistic Pillow, a great album which was overshadowed by "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit," the Airplane go back to the studio and record their Sergeant Pepper. Lyrically, this album finds the band at their most literary, with James Joyce as a primary inspiration (rejoyce). Thematically, this album foreshadows Abbey Road, with it's songs grouped into five suites. The band proves their mastery of the studio, often switching between stereo and mono for dizzying effect, especially on the intro to Marty Balin's classic, "Young Girl Sunday Blues." (The listener should enjoy this album on headphones at least once for maximum effect.) Jorma's voice finally takes center stage in "The Last Wall of The Castle," while "Spare Chaynge" is little more than a band jam, with fabulous interplay between Jorma and super bassist Jack Casady. No (real)singles here; this album is obviously meant to be heard after ingestion of certain substances, and is meant to be enjoyed as a whole. Enjoy this underappreciated gem to it's full measure, and know that after bathing at Baxter's, you will feel fresh and new.