Customer Reviews

Jefferson Airplane: Fly Jefferson Airplane

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Fly Jefferson Airplane" is a musical documentary recommended easily to fans of the beloved San Francisco acid-rock group. Vintage performance footage of their best-known songs are presented in surprisingly-clean footage with good sound fidelity and in their entirety--rare for most "nostalgia" videos. The performances span the classic "hits" of the 1966-1970 era: "It's No Secret", "White Rabbit", "Somebody To Love", "Plastic Fantastic Lover" as well as lesser-known gems "Martha" and the two "Pooneil" songs.

If one is looking for "dirty dish", there is no sniping here. The former band members reflect nostalgically, warmly and philosophically on their collective achievements instead of the often-documented acrimony and in-fighting. They have, it seems, grown up. They are all, Marty Balin points out with some satisfaction, STILL ALIVE. Perhaps no other major rock group of the era can boast such a claim. It is, initially, shocking to see these sexagenarians and reconcile them with the young and vital performers we see in the music clips.

As a documentary, it plays it safe: it avoids a critical perspective on the music, the albums, the band members or live performances. It is, in some ways akin to a souvenir of "The Summer of Love". It does, however, go into enough interesting detail (through interviews with all the band member interspersed throughout) to give the uninitiated or casual fan a reasonably-broad and informative look at the group's history and accomplishments. Bonus features include more interviews and a photo gallery.

I guess I developed my appreciation for the Jefferson Airplane during my college years (1977-1981). I'm no child of the sixties, but my uncle went to Woodstock, and like many college students I learned of the magical powers of certain hallucinogenic substances. There is some ineffable quality in Jefferson Airplane's music that lends itself well to the psychedelic experience, and anyone who knows where I'm coming from ought to get this DVD. Apparently produced under the auspices of Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, this disc captures some of the magic of the San Francisco music scene, circa 1965-1972, and the pivotal role Jefferson Airplane played therein. That the members of the band are still alive and still relatively LUCID is nothing short of amazing, but if you are looking for dish, you won't find much here; there's nothing in the interviews that hints of the acrimony that sometimes flared during the band's heyday. But the musical performances: WOW! Where did they dig up some of these films? And how did they preserve them so well? Particularly fascinating for me is the performance of "It's No Secret," featuring the band's FIRST female vocalist, Signe Anderson. Her presence is altogether different from that of her successor, Grace Slick, but there's something about the quality of her voice that always intrigued me. The performance is a heady mixture of exultant vocals, jubilant dancing in the audience, and of course those very trippy liquid light shows that Ms. Anderson's first husband was apparently responsible for. I don't think you can overestimate the archival value of "Fly Jefferson Airplane." So break out the stash, slap this disc on the DVD player, and take a little TRIP back in time ....

Like I said, this DVD was much better than I was expecting it to be. The sound and video are very clean, and a few songs have been re-engineered into 5.1 DD. The songs are presented in their entirety without interruption or voiceover.

The interviews, interspersed between the songs, show the band members (Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Cassidy, Spencer Dryden, manager Bill Thompson, and later drummer Joey Covington) fondly, insightfully, and humorously recalling what made Jefferson Airplane tick. Don't miss the bonus material, which includes additional interviews with discussions about their genesis, Bill Graham, light shows, Woodstock, and Altamont. Plus, there's an interview with <gasp> Maurice, who provides the only hint that there was often friction between the band members.

This is a fantastic DVD with great performances and commentary from the original artists.
I don't think anyone who likes Jefferson Airplane will be disappointed with this DVD.

Here's a list of the performances:

It's no secret (Filmore Auditorium, 1966)
High Flyin' Bird (Monterey Pop Festival, 1967)
Somebody to Love (Monterey Pop Festival, 1967)
White Rabbit (Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 1967)
Crown of Creation (Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 1968)
Lather (Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 1968)
Martha (Perry Como Special, 1968)
House at Pooneil Corners (Rooftop Concert, New York, 1968)
We Can Be Together (1969)
Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil (A Night at the Family Dog, 1970)
Plastic Fantastic Lover (Go Ride the Music, 1970)
Volunteers (Go Ride the Music, 1970)
Embryonic Journey (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction, 1996)

The great thing about the new DVD technology is you get to see things in a way you have never seen before. The last time I saw any of these promo clips or performances was in the 1960's. The performances are complete and can be seen separately from the documentary which is a good thing. Video and sound quality are very good considering the limitations in recording at that time. For many of us, it is better to remember the band how they looked in their prime. I have not been able to bring myself to watch the documentary part and see the group and how they look today. I don't need to be reminded how old I really am. The unfortunate thing about waiting so long to release this vintage material is that most of Jefferson Airplanes fanbase "including myself" are around 60 years old. I'm a grandparent now and I wish that other groups of that era would release DVD's of their material before my generation is to old or sadly "to senile" to care.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of video and audio it was very high quality. The DVD covers the years form 1965 to 1970 with the exception of the performance at the 1996 Rock and Roll ceremony in New York City in which Jorma Kaukonan plays a wonderful version of Embryonic journey.

This is not so much a documentary of the band's personal lives but more the bands reflections of the music, what went into the songs and the time period of the mid to late sixties in the San Francisco music scene.

There are several great live videos of the band playing their hits in full length. It's no secret 1966 Fillmore auditorium (with Signe Anderson). The video is over-dubbed with the studio recording of It's no secret, Somebody to love and Flying high at the 1967 Monterey pops festival, White rabbit, Lather and Crown of creation performed on the Smothers brothers comedy hour, Martha from a Perry Como special (this is not a live performance but a video of the band that appears to be filmed in Golden Gate park just clowning around), House at Pooniel corners performed from the roof of a building in Manhattan in 1968 (the video also shows the New York city police department arriving to break up the show), The ballad of you and me and pooniel performed at "a night of the family dog" in 1970, We can be together performed at Woodstock (I believe that this was also over-dubbed with the studio version), Plastic fantastic lover, a powerful and moving version of Volunteers from the Go ride the music video.

The DVD also includes interviews with Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonan, Spencer Dryden (rest in peace), Marty Balin, Bill Thompson (band manager) and Joey Covington (replaced Spencer Dryden in 1970) There is only a little mentioned about Signe Anderson and nothing mentioned about Skip Spence (the bands first drummer who later was the guitarist for Moby Grape)until you get into the bonus features which is made up of more interviews and still shots taken by Jim Marshall.

Being a big fan of the original Airplane, with Signe Anderson, I was hoping for more early footage. I remember seeing the Airplane on the John Bartholomew Tucker show, and this footage is missing from the DVD. Must be other early filmed performances, but I don't know. The only footage on this DVD with Signe is at the Fillmore in 1966, which is unfortunately pretty grainy. The sound quality was good, though. Then the performances jump to The Monterey Pop Festival, with Grace Slick. I attended this performance, so I was glad to see it included. If you're a fan of their later music, you
will be happy with this DVD. The interviews are quite good.

It interestingly starts off with a rare 1966 performance in which the absence of Grace clearly effects the band's presence.

I was actually expecting a more documentary setting, but it turned out to be a lot of excellent live performances interspersed with relatively good humored interviews with the band--all of them looking fairly decent in their post-rock star days, which is nice.

This set-up is fine, because it avoids getting to "curruption" within the band and just focuses on the music. In other words, it's not about the drugs, who hated who, who left the band and why. Any music lover would appreciate these stunning--at times amusing--performances.

It is a shame that the Airplane dosen't get the respect it deserves.
They were really one of the best American bands in an era of great American bands.
I happened upon the DVD and I am so glad I picked it up. The performance clips are fantastic, the interviews lively and informative, the spirit of the band comes through and that wonderful time when Music could change the world is represented in all the magic these special musicians gave us.
Do yourself a favor Fly Jefferson Airplane.

A beautiful DVD. NOT a burn, like most band DVDs I've seen. It very accurately captures the soul and essence of the band. If you loved the Airplane, you'll love this DVD!

If I could ask one favor, I would ask that someone do one like this on Quicksilver, Country Joe & the Fish, the Youngbloods, H.P. Lovecraft, and anyone else there's film or recordings of!

Please - before the film and master tapes all rot and disintegrate!