Customer Reviews

Bless It Pointed Little Head

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"Bless Its Pointed Little Head" is the first official live album released during the Jefferson Airplane's lifetime, to be followed four years later by the bloated "Thirty Seconds Over Winterland". By their nature, live albums by rock artists are a decidedly patchy affair: poor performances, awful sound, indulgent instrumental solos, reliance on over-familiar song selection, or as with live albums from the 1970s (The Eagles' first live album comes to mind), post-live overdubs are used to make the band sound better than it really played. Well, that's not the case here. This is the Airplane at its creative and musical peak. It is also very well recorded and remastered here for CD. "Bless Its Pointed Little Head" features full frontal musical assaults in the form of revamped Airplane classics: "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds" (the most impressive and retooled cut here) sounds like heavy metal jazz, "Plastic Fantastic Lover" with a funky, rappin' Marty Balin singing as if his life depended on it, "It's No Secret", and Fred Neil's "Other Side of This Life". They are literally breathtaking performances by a band on fire. Interesting reworkings of Grace Slick's "Somebody To Love" captures the magical vocal duelling of Slick and Balin as they both fight to claim the song, and Paul Kantner's thank-you to Donovan Leitch in the form of a cover of his Airplane tribute "Fat Angel" (a.ka. "Ride Jefferson Airplane") has strong mood and great bass-playing by Jack Casady. In fact, the rhythm section of Casady and drummer Spencer Dryden is marvellous, turning the familiar songs upside down and breathing new life into them. The only weak spots are ones common to most 1960s rock artists, particularly from San Francisco: a predilection for "blues" workouts and other improvised weirdness. The worst offenders here are the interminable "Bear Melt" which feebly concludes such a powerful live experience, and Kaukonen's very white stab at the blues in "Rock Me Baby". Still, these are minor carps as the rest of the album is really wonderful. It also serves as a reminder as to how important Marty Balin was to the Airplane's sound. He is at his most impassioned and actually makes Slick work to hold our attention. Buy this album immediately if you ever liked Jefferson Airplane. Although RCA has recently released a "lost" live recording from the same time period and location called "Live at the Fillmore East", don't be seduced by the greater number of tracks. It is generally lukewarm Airplane.

The Airplane were not a "good vibes" band like the Dead. By the time this very live LP was issued they had long transcended their folkie beginnings. They were also capable of rocking as hard as any Sixties band from Detroit, as one quickly learns by the completion of "3/5's Of A Mile In 10 Seconds" & "Somebody To Love." They also raise the energy level on "It's No Secret" & "Plastic Fantastic Lover," but can still make the hookah bubble on Donovan's "Fat Angel." Gracie & Paulie rarely sounded more together while flying free, with Marty working up a sweat rather than just batting his eyelashes at the hippie girls in the front row. Jorma & Jack have become mutually telepathic, while Spencer Dryden plays the drums to wake up the dead, pun intended.

Bob Rixon, WFMU

"Bless Its Pointed Little Head" is certainly one of the better live albums of the Fillmore Era, where nearly any band who could released an album taped there. I feel that time has not damaged this performance much, and it stands pretty close to the top of the pile, along with the Allman's "At Fillmore East" and Miles Davis's "At Fillmore".
Even if this album were otherwise a washout, it still would be worth hearing for the performance of Jack Casady, whose rumbling, aggressive playing drives this band at a furious pace. His sound is classic, his signature voice shines through and carries nearly every song, and boy does he carry alot. The singers compete for supremacy, drummer Spencer Dryden can't seem to hold onto a single idea for more than five seconds, and there are plenty of mistakes; Jefferson Airplane obviously took alot of chances onstage, and they didn't always pay off. But there are quite a few payoffs here, most notably "Other Side", "3/5's of a Mile", and the Airplane paying homage to Donovan paying homage to the Airplane on "Fat Angel".
A few other observations:
"Bear Melt" was completely improvised on the spot, and never really found completed form. I do feel this song is somewhat flawed, as Dryden again tries too hard with too little on his palate. It's one of those songs that was a good idea that never took off.
"Rock Me Baby" gives a perfect introduction to what was becoming Hot Tuna, and though this is blues at its whitest, it does have a desperate energy that I like.
There is much to enjoy here, warts and all (and with no studio overdubbing or "fixing"). Jack Casady was obviously the best instrumentalist the Airplane ever had, and his bass prowess is well documented here, as well as the rest of the album giving a good, solid representation of the sound of that time.

For a short while in the late 1960s it seemed like The Jefferson Airplane could do no wrong; the triumph of "Surrealistic Pillow" was followed by "Baxter's" and "Crown" and the group became legendary for its live shows. "Bless Its Pointed Little Head" captures them at the peak of their playing abilities--in only a few months they were able to transform songs like "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds" and "Plastic Fantastic Lover" into charged warhorses, capable of taking audiences on an adrenaline (or other chemical) rush not so unlike that of the punk bands a few years later; however, no punk band could offer up the lush psychedelic dreamscape of "Fat Angel" or "Bear Melt", the latter which features Slick delivering an improvised vocal which ends with the haunting "...or you could...listen to a hundred different reasons why you can't go..."

I've listened to this album for over 30 years, and it still holds up for its extremely high energy rhythms, intensely driving and unique bass lines, and aggressive guitars and vocals. They turn rather nice pop songs into proto punk and electric blues wailing that is so satisfyingly over the top! Grace and Marty's vocals are torrid and passionately intertwined unlike any other live rock performance.This is the way a band should kick it out of the complacency zone and play like it really matters. If you're in a band, take some notes on performance attitude and style from some true originals. This is Jack's masterpiece.

This review is short but sweet; if you are going to call yourself a complete Airplane fan you must have this album. There is no question they created their own dynamic sound in the studio. But this album shows the creativity of Airplane when they are playing live! This album is all about explosive live rock. Strap yourself in for this one, even the songs you think you know will show a brand new side!

If you ever wondered what the Airplane was like live, at their peak, this album is it. The mixing is great, the songs are great (3/5 of a Mile in Ten Seconds is outstanding!) This album captures the urgency and atmosphere of the era. A must for any fan of music of the Bay area and era.

This is one powerful mother of an album right from the enlightened use of the King Kong clip to start it off through the segue into 3/5ths of a Mile in Ten Seconds which moves the band into top gear from which it never stops throughout the entire duration of the album.

To borrow a phrase, this band rocks. The songs here are truly inspired with Somebody to Love and Plastic Fantastic Lover being given such a powerful interpretation that the originals seemed to have been written by someone with less passion.

Donovan Leitch, ostensibly a British folk singer, has never sounded better than when others play his material. From Jeff Beck through the Allman Brothers to the Airplane, each of these artists have provided superb interpretations especially here with Fat Angel. This song at once both moody and inspirational at the same time is lifted onto an entirely different plane from the original and it seems intuitively correct that the author would enthusiastically approve of the change.

Rock Me Baby, Other Side of This Life and It's No Secret continue the high energy levels and the last two tracks maintain the momentum. You are almost left breathless as the Airplane juggernaught thunders by and the dancers call out for more.

Where, oh where are the master tapes for the shows that these tracks were recorded from. We could do with the whole lot if they are out there.

This album certainly took me to the other side of this life and I think it is this album which shows what a heavyweight Bay Area Band the Airplane really were, truly deserving their place in the panthenon of the greats along with the Dead and Quicksilver.

Fantastic. Play VERY LOUD.

This is a great live CD. Simply great. It is in a class with Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Animal and the Who's Live At Leeds, both real gems. The Airplane was pretty uneven on stage, but every song on this CD works well. They play with exceptional passion and ability. The vocals are strong and the guitar work is fluid and elegant. In particular, Jack Casady's bass never sounded more powerful or better. He really drives the band through their classic numbers and listening to his bass runs alone are worth the price of the CD. If you like the Airplane in particular, or 60's San Francisco bands in general, this is a CD that you will listen to often.

This abum comes higly recommended! Even at their worst the Jefferson Airplane were better than just about any one else. This album, one of three live releases, falls in the middle and is better than 30 Seconds but not quite as good as the Fillmore East. Some people say that this album is a bit flat but I think it's more because of the recoring quality and not because of any lacking on their part. I'm not always in the mood to hear Bear Melt or Rock Me Baby, which are great by the way, but require a little more listener attention to appreciate than the other more accessable songs. I saw the Airplane 18 times beginning with the original band up to the 1989 reunion and with one exception (their performance at the Sacramento Pop Festival stunk) they were never less than staggering. All this rambling leads up to one thing: BUY THIS ALBUM!!!!!!!!! You'll thank yourself.