Customer Reviews

Live at the Fillmore East

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4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been a fan of the Airplane since "Somebody to Love" was on the radio. There aren't many live recordings available, and none of the ones I've heard cover any of the songs on "After Bathing at Baxter's", which remains my favorite album.

This album was recorded while material for "Crown of Creation" was still being written. They play "Greasy Heart", which Grace says she wrote only three weeks ago. They have at least three tracks from "Baxter's" (which had been published just a few months earlier). As such, the band is at the peak of their writing. "Bless It's Pointed Little Head" has far fewer tracks, but some outstanding performances; they were playing better that night than when this one was recorded.

The recording quality is very good, performance ranges fair to very good at various times. At times their vocal arrangements don't hang together -- but they are attempting amazing things, such as a four-part harmony involving complicated chords and controlled dissonance. I'm amazed at what they attempt in this concert; sometimes it comes off quite well too.

If you don't know the Airplane, this isn't the first album you should buy. But if you've been a fan all these years, and especially if you like their psychedelic and revolutionary phases, you're in for a treat!

In May of 1968, when Jefferson Airplane performed the four concerts that have yielded this 'Live At the Fillmore East' release, I was all of 14 years old, and one of my favorite listens was the underground FM radio station in Detroit, WABX. Aside from playing the cutting edge psychedelic music of the era, it was a trip in itself to take in the spaced-out DJ's this station let loose on the airwaves. It wasn't unusual, for instance, to hear a couple minutes of dead silence while the chemically altered spinmeister tried to decide what to play next, or to accomodate the station identification regulation with a quick "...ABX". This Airplane disc made me harken back to those days, what with the obviously random, spontaneous, and unrehearsed between-songs banter offered up by singers Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, and Marty Balin. They meander through conversations about when songs were written, to a discourse on a recent bust of the Grateful Dead in New Jersey, to a Slick monologue on a chocolate cookie that had been handed to her. And yes, there are a couple minutes of dead silence to be had. Surrounding the nostalgia, however, is a host of great psychedelia.

Aside from Grace herself, the slickest moment on 'Live At the Fillmore East' is the opening minute, featuring a deafening recording of a Boeing 707 taking off. As the wail of the jet engines subsides, we hear "Thank you for coming..." echoing about the Fillmore, and the opening, feedback-drenched strains of 'The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil'. It's a great opener, with its fat, fuzz-tone guitar leads from Jorma Kaukonen, and a several minute pounding bass bridge solo courtesy of Jack Casady. It's one of four tracks that break the seven minute barrier, in addition to the stealth rocker 'Star Track' (an homage to James T. Kirk?), featuring a great wah-pedal lead from Kaukonen, the instrumental 'Thing', which slowly builds in tempo, intensity, and complexity into a flat-out rocker with many guitar variations on its theme, and a cover of Donovan Leitch's 'Fat Angel', a typical Donovan flower-powered ("Fly trans-love airways, get you there on time...") yet funky compostion. The only other cover is Fred Neil's 'The Other Side of This Life', which along with 'It's No Secret' and 'Watch Her Ride' are rather generic rockers, undistinguished but doing no harm here either. For me, the standout tracks are those drawn from my favorite JA disc, 'Surrealistic Pillow', and those featuring Grace Slick, the finest female vocalist from the psychedelic genre. Her talents are front and center on 'Greasy Heart', 'White Rabbit', and 'Somebody To Love', and the performances are fresh, vibrant, and intense. Add to this list of highlights a worthy electric rendition of the acoustic beauty, 'Today' from 'Surrealistic Pillow', and you have the core of one outstanding, even historic performance. The only weak tracks on the disc are 'Wild Tyme', whose lyrics are embarassingly dated, and 'Won't You Try/Saturday Afternoon' which comes off sluggish and pressured.

Given that the year was 1968, these recordings are of astounding quality. It's truly a wonder than such a fine document of the Airplane's live persona remained buried for three full decades. Brilliant graphics and several pages of interesting liner notes from Jeff Tamarkin make for a complete, informative package (lyrics would be too much to ask from a live disc, since you so seldom are blessed with them even from studio productions). If you're a fan of early Jefferson Airplane studio discs, you should find this production both entertaining and enlightening. It's truly one of the better live testaments from the psychedelic era.

The Jefferson Airplane hit their live peak in 1968 on every front: set list, playing ability, and willingness to take risks. Thus, these shows taken from their debut nights at the Fillmore East in May of that year are most welcome, and make a fine companion disc to the "Bless Its Pointed Little Head" live album which was recorded six or so months later. The set list for this CD includes many tracks never released before in live form, including several from the ferocious "After Bathing At Baxter's" released only a few months earlier, and a few previews from the upcoming "Crown Of Creation" (an extended "Star Track" and a soulful take on "Greasy Heart"). Although some of the vocal performances go flat in places (the band usually played so loud that it was hard for Balin and Slick to even know what was going on), the Kaukonen/Casady/Dryden instrumental team is on fire, coming up with a rendition of the jazz-ragaish "Fat Angel" that is actually superior to the "Pointed Head" version, a surprisingly funky (for early '68) reading of "The Other Side Of This Life" and the definitive "Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil", which features an edge-of-your-seat Casady solo and double the time length of the studio version, without being quite as meandering as the '67 Monterey and "Loves You" versions. The de rigeur psych jam "Thing" misses the wonderful Slick vocal improvisation which made it the powerful closing number "Bear Melt" on "Pointed Head", but does manage to show the Airplane daring to go boldly where no rock group had gone before. What strikes one most about "Fillmore East" is how edgy, powerful and diverse the Airplane could be, even at the expense of a few mistakes here or there; the sound quality is incredibly good for a show of this kind and thus would not only make a good addition to a fan's collection, but even a good intro to the group in general.

I saw Jefferson Airplane a bunch of times during the band's heyday, including twice at the Fillmore East, and can attest to the authenticity of this compilation. The music was raw-edged and LOUD. With the light-show doing to your retinas what the music was doing to your eardrums, it was easy to forgive (or not to notice altogether) off-notes and excesses. But take away the visual distractions and play it at less ear-splitting volume and the flaws become all too conspicuous. I like this disc because it transports me to a now-distant time and place that I recall with great fondness. Unless you're a hardcore Airplane fan, however, I'd steer clear of it in favor of Bless Its Pointed Little Head, a truly great live album of the same vintage.

Maybe it's the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love. Maybe it's the Iraqi war and it's uncomfortable deja vu with Vietnam, or George W. Bush's enhanced impersonation of Richard M. Nixon. But lately I've been on a Jefferson Airplane bender. I've been a diehard fan since I was 14, and nothing makes me happier than the recent surplus of live concerts from JA. Since I went to every Airplane performance at the Fillmore East, I'm sure I was at one of the shows recorded for this disc. It really takes me back to a special time and place in my life.

I bought Live At The Fillmore East concert after buying Sweeping Up the Spotlight, the newest concert release. This CD doesn't compare to SUTS soundwise. Live At the Fillmore East should be digitally remastered. The band is playing some amazing music here. But sometimes the vocals are way up front, and the musicians sound like a 9 Volt transistor AM radio. Jorma suffers the most. His guitar occasionally sounds tinny and low. Spencer Dryden's drums are also off in the distance. It seems to phase in and out. It takes a little getting used to. Best played really, really loud!

Sweeping Up the Spotlight does a much better job putting everything in balance, letting Jorma, Jack, Spencer, and even Paul Kantner's under-appreciated rhythm guitar skills, shine. But overall, the sound for Live at the Fillmore East isn't bad, and gets better as the songs play on. Grace keeps asking if a mic is working. Maybe that explains the phase in/phase out quality.

What makes this concert really unique and special is that it captures the Airplane at a really creative and transitional point in their career. The period right after After Bathing at Baxter's and on the threshold of Crown of Creation. 1968. Live versions of Greasy Heart, and Star Track, are worth the price of admission. Also, there are some live Baxter cuts that I hadn't heard before - Watch Her Ride is a highlight. I always loved the studio version, but the live version is played with passion and energy. Very good version of Won't You Try / Saturday Afternoon. Pooneil, a core staple live, is focused and strong, as usual a star piece for Jack Casady to take the bass to heights never seen before or after. He should be required listening for any musician thinking of playing this instrument in a rock band.

Thing, the jam that grew up to be Bear Melt, misses the lyrics and vocals from Grace, but is a lovely space for the band to stretch out and play. You get the feeling from this concert that it was a work in progress, that you get to hear in completion on Pointed Head.

Having the vocals way up front is a blessing, for the most part, and occasionally a curse. As always, sometimes Marty, Paul and Grace stumble all over each other. There are some monumentally flat and off key moments. So what. That was the Airplane live. Marty Balin relies a little too heavily on his upper range for my taste. On a couple of occasions he yelps like a puppy. But he does a beautiful job sweetly singing Today. Not in love with the funked out Other Side of This Life. Wild Tyme is pretty much a mess. Very ragged.

This is definitely Paul Kantner's time to shine. He was the primary writer and singer on most of the stand out cuts, especially Fat Angel, which is as good, maybe better than Pointed Head's version.

But Grace Slick, in particular, is doing some amazing singing. She's in full throttle wailing mode. Her solo turns are off the hook! She demolishes the studio version of Greasy Heart, making this one the definitive version for me. White Rabbit and Somebody to Love are strong and focused. It's possibly her strongest live performance. She's taking risks, and for the most part, they work.

As mentioned before, this is the transitional point from Marty's version of the Airplane to Paul's version. Marty is still very much engaged with the band. As time would move on, he would become more distant, and finally, gone. It's a fun show, on a good night. I even like the goofy audience chatter. Feels like being there again.Sweeping Up the Spotlight: Jefferson Airplane Live at the Fillmore East 1969Bless Its Pointed Little Head

This album is disappointing for a band of this caliber. The production values are sub-par and vary per track as to whether or not you can actually hear Jorma's lead guitar. The band also sounds a little loose and unfocused on some of the tracks as well. Go to "Bless It's Little Pointed Head" or the live stuff on the box set "Jefferson Airplane Loves You" if you want to hear what this band could really do live. Frankly, I am surprised the band (assuming they had any control over it) allowed this to be released. For die hard fans only.

Often when we are exposed to something from our youth we wonder just what it was that we saw in something.

This music is the music of my youth-- indeed the JA was my favorite band and I saw EVERY concert that they ever did at the Fillmore East, so I was at every performance on this CD! (I would return home to make curfew after the early show and after my parents went to bed I would sneak out and take the IRT subway back down to the Village for the late show.)

With this CD I find out how utterly right I was about this band. The musicianship, the diversity of styles and musical structures, the creativity and the sheer passion are all here. They were as good as I remember!

I put this CD on in my car and soar down the road.

All three of the Jefferson Airplane's live Cds are great, if flawed albums. I personally like this one the best because of it's almost punk like intensity. Despite a few bad notes instrumentally and vocally (remember that at this time monitors were either really bad or more often non existant) this performance literally jumps out of your speakers. The roar of the Jefferson Airplane indeed! Like many bands of this time period they were prone to the occasionally bad night (their performance at the Sacramento Pop Festival in 1968 was godawful) but this wasn't one of them. If you love the Jefferson Airplane by all means get this one. If you liked the Jefferson Starship better Fillmore East probaby wouldn't be one of your favorites.

As with any die-hard Airplane fan, I eagerly awaited the release of a live recording from what is surely this band's prime, musically and artistically. While the song selection is generous, as is the CD running time, this shows Jefferson Airplane in a less than pristine form in comparison to the energized and focussed band captured on the "Bless Its Pointed Little Head" live album cut around the same time. The recording quality is better than what might be expected from a "lost recording" and the inclusion of between-the-song banter gives a good approximation of a vintage Airplane concert experience. In this regard, it is not unlike the recent Sony release "Live at the Fillmore, February 1969" by the Airplane's LA rivals, The Byrds. Both recordings feature their respective bands warts and all, sometimes inspired and sometimes missing the mark vocally or instrumentally. Still, there are some pleasures to be savoured here: the astonishing interplay between bassist Jack Casady and drummer Spencer Dryden, live versions of unfairly neglected Airplane gems such as "Watch Her Ride" and "Greasy Heart", and interesting reworkings of classic Airplane cuts such as "She Has Funny Cars" and "Today", on which Marty Balin gives a much more expansive vocal reading then on the famous studio version. Of course, as with all sixties' bands, there is the trippy, overlong guitar noodling, represented here by "Thing". Like "Bear Melt" from "Bless Its Pointed Little Head", this indulgence will be duly skipped on repeated listens. Also, Grace Slick's strident vocal overkill and Jorma Kaukonen's repetitive guitar licks will wear thin after awhile. Still, for Airplane fans this a must-own CD, capably packaged and mastered. For neophytes, get the must- have "Bless Its Pointed Little Head", also remastered.

I've been a fan of the Airplane since "Somebody to Love" was on the radio. There aren't many live recordings available, and none of the ones I'd heard (before this one) cover any of the songs on "After Bathing at Baxter's", which remains my favorite album.

This album was recorded while material for "Crown of Creation" was still being written. They play "Greasy Heart", which Grace says she wrote only three weeks ago. They have at least three tracks from "Baxter's" (which had been published just a few months earlier). As such, the band is at the peak of their writing. "Bless It's Pointed Little Head" has far fewer tracks, but some outstanding performances; they were playing better that night than when this one was recorded.

The recording quality is very good, performance ranges fair to very good at various times. At times their vocal arrangements don't hang together -- but they are attempting amazing things, such as a four-part harmony involving complicated chords and controlled dissonance. I'm amazed at what they attempt in this concert; sometimes it comes off quite well too.

If you don't know the Airplane, this isn't the first album you should buy. But if you've been a fan all these years, and especially if you like their psychedelic and revolutionary phases, you're in for a treat!