Amazon.com: Surrealistic Pillow: Jefferson Airplane: Music

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Blonde on Blonde

~ Bob Dylan

4.7 out of 5 stars (339) $9.98

American Beauty

~ Grateful Dead

4.7 out of 5 stars (181) $10.99

Strange Days

~ The Doors

4.7 out of 5 stars (106)

Crown of Creation

~ Jefferson Airplane

4.6 out of 5 stars (25) $38.98

What's Going On

~ Marvin Gaye

4.7 out of 5 stars (190) $6.97

› Explore similar items

Listen to Samples

To hear a song sample, click on "Listen" by that sample. Visit our audio help page for more information.


1. She Has Funny Cars
2. Somebody to Love
3. My Best Friend
4. Today
5. Comin' Back to Me
6. 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds
7. D.C.B.A. -25
8. How Do You Feel
9. Embryonic Journey
10. White Rabbit
11. Plastic Fantastic Lover

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
When she joined the Jefferson Airplane in 1966 as replacement for original vocalist Signe Anderson, Grace Slick brought with her two songs she'd performed in her previous band, the Great Society: "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit." Featured on this classic 1967 album, they became Top 10 hits, and helped establish both the San Francisco and the emerging counterculture they celebrated. With Jorma Kaukonen's sinewy guitar, Jack Casady's probing bass, and Spencer Dryden's inventive drumming swirling around Slick and co-vocalists Marty Balin and Paul Kantner on songs like "She Has Funny Cars" and "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds," Surrealistic Pillow virtually defined the communal spirit of Summer of Love hippiedom. --Billy Altman

Product Description
Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) pressing of this album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2009. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

classic rock(5)

jorma(2)

1960s psychedelic rock(1)

1960s rock(1)

folk rock(1)

grace slick(1)

jefferson airplane(1)

psychedelic(1)

san francisco sound(1)

Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search

No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Customer Reviews

43 Reviews

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (43 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN PSYCHEDELIA, May 19, 2000

By	Michael D. Zungolo (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's tragic that all the casual listener knows of Jefferson Airplane today are those Classic Rock mastodons "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit". At their 1967-69 peak the Airplane vied with the Byrds as the greatest American band, and for good reason. They had three outstanding singer-songwriters in Marty Balin, Grace Slick and Paul Kantner, and three superb instrumentalists in guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, bassist Jack Casady (amazing!) and drummer Spencer Dryden. Although the incredibly dense, improvisational, psychedelic masterpiece AFTER BATHING AT BAXTERS is my personal favorite, SURREALISTIC PILLOW is the album with the best songs--even the lesser-known ones like Kantner's "How Do You Feel" and "DCBA-25" and Kaukonen's "Funny Cars" (sung by Marty) ring out with the freshness of the times. But this is predominantly Marty Balin's record. The man's voice, one of the most exquisite in rock, is at its best here, and his songwriting--the anthem of hippie defiance "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds", the magnificent love songs "Today" and "Comin' Back to Me" and the eerily prophetic boy-and-his-machine pean "Plastic Fantastic Lover"--was unparalleled in the Summer of Love. Too bad he would become so totally eclipsed by Grace, who had plenty of charisma and wrote many clever, nasty little ditties ("Lather", "Greasy Heart", "Rejoyce") on subsequent albums. Here, of course, we have "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit". I probably wouldn't miss "Somebody to Love" if I never heard it again (the Great Society's version was better), but the vocal on "White Rabbit", building up to the thunderous "feed your head", still amazes after thirty billion hearings.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back In The Daze #1, February 9, 2000

By	PC Fields (Santa Cruz, USA) - See all my reviews

Having grown up in the Bay Area during the sixties and seventies, I'd like to share my impressions with Amazon buyers and browsers of the aural artifacts of the scene, we'll call it "Back In the Daze." And there's no better place to start than with this essential recording. While the majority of the first wave of Bay Area bands didn't translate well to the studio, the Airplane was a glowing - and I do mean "glowing" - exception. This is a perfect rock album from start to finish. However, and it's a BIG however, don't buy it. This release is one of RCA's nefarious, generic, "Digitally Remastered" CD's. In other words, the term, "digitally remastered," when discs first started appearing in the eighties, was bandied about in a slipshod fashion. One could argue that all CD's are "digitally remastered," but today, we do know better...right? Compare this with almost any other recent RCA Jefferson Airplane release, and you'll know you've been had. Especially at full price! And to address another contributor's comments, "Pillow" was available on an RCA gold disc, with both stereo and mono versions, and while the sound is infinitely better than the present issue, the remastered versions of the other Airplane releases set the standard. The mono portion still counts among one of my favorite discs. For those who aren't quite so jaded, pick out your favorite songs on "Pillow," and search around Amazon's Airplane listings for a recent compilation that'll suit you. Perhaps you'll find yourself enjoying the other material, as there's much more - with better sound - to enjoy by this classic band.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Album Desperately In Need Of Remastering, September 24, 2000

By	Michael Topper (Pacific Palisades, California United States) - See all my reviews

Although they had released a highly competent folk-rock debut before it ("Takes Off"), "Surrealistic Pillow" sounds like the true arrival of The Jefferson Airplane, thanks largely to the addition of Grace Slick and the increasing dexterity of guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady. The San Francisco sound comes alive on "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit", two explosive acid rock anthems which came to define the era. Slick's knife-edge vocals are hard to ignore, and her lyric on "White Rabbit" is as clever and ominous as it was thirty-four years ago; even after all the drug-related burnouts and deaths, the song avoids sounding dated because it does not celebrate drug use so much as express a generation's frustration at their parents' hypocrisy. Coupled with the essential human truth expounded on so urgently in "Somebody To Love", it awakened millions to the possibility that something new and better could arise. The other rockers, "She Has Funny Cars" and "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds", also feature bohemian/hippie lyrics coupled with stuttering rhythms, bouncy guitar leads and ping-pong vocal harmonies. However, the album is also known for its quieter, romantic side, where Marty Balin takes center stage for tracks like "Today" and "Comin' Back To Me", meditative prayers on love that find him reaching an early peak of expression and yearning; listen closely with eyes shut and you'll understand. Kaukonen contributes to the mood with his gentle, cathartic solo acoustic guitar showpiece "Embryonic Journey". The final track, "Plastic Fantastic Lover", is a hilarious, cynical love song to a car which was later funkified in concert (see "Bless Its Pointed Little Head"). Indeed, most of these songs became standards in the Airplane's concert setlist; the exceptions were "DCBA-25", which harkened back to the folk-rock of the first album, and "How Do You Feel", which sounded a little like The Mamas And The Papas' mild folk-pop. These lesser moments aside, another reason why this otherwise-seminal album only gets four stars is the quality of the CD, which has to be one of the worst ever; released in the 80s, it sounds metallic and boomy, and made a good case for the format's lack of warmth back then. It is in desperate need of remixing or remastering, which has been done with all the other Airplane albums but curiously enough, not the one which defined their sound (an expensive gold CD exists combining the mono and stereo versions and is supposed to sound better). It is somewhat fitting, and perhaps not surprising, that technology has not been kind to an album which was so fiercely cynical toward technology. This was the Jefferson Airplane, and San Francisco, in 1966 (the year of its writing and recording, although it was released in 1967 and came to symbolize that year as well): the thrill of discovery, the gentle hope and optimism, the cynical look at the straight world--it's all here, and it's waiting for you.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 43 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The breakout cassette
Surrealistic Pillow is thirty-three minutes and forty seconds long and released in February 1967. Surrealistic Pillow reached #3 U.S. Billboard 200 Album Chart and went Gold. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Michael Patrick Boyd

5.0 out of 5 stars A Work of Art
Surrealistic Pillow, is of course, one of the best albums ever. While, yes, it is somewhat inspired by nasty drugs, by now (40 years later), it remains as a cultural icon, time... Read more

Published on June 5, 2007 by BellevueWA

3.0 out of 5 stars Bueno, pero lejos de ser un cl�sico
En casi todas las listas de los mejores discos de los 60's Surrealistic Pillow aparece al lado de Sgt. Read more

Published on August 6, 2003 by jaimeurrutia

5.0 out of 5 stars One masterpiece made for the Summer Of Love...
It's an album that gave a generation some amazing music to listen to. It's an amazing album, with those 2 big hits from the Airplane; "Somebody To Love", and "White Rabbit", which... Read more

Published on June 19, 2003 by Mike

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Tunes But The Psychedlic Tone Could Vary A Little
Don't get me wrong. There are some very strong tracks on this release. The Grace Slick sung Somebody To Love and White Rabbitt are excellent mesmerizing tunes with some awesome... Read more

Published on December 2, 2001 by G. J Wiener

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Material...So-So Sound
"Surrealistic Pillow" is one of the 1960's albums that never seems to grow tired. With each listening, there seems to be a verse or a sound that resonates with current... Read more

Published on October 21, 2001 by Gregg Hillier

5.0 out of 5 stars Easily one of rock's best albums. This is a must have!
One of the best albums of the era (or of any era, for that matter), SURREALISTIC PILLOW starts off with a bang (well, as much of a bang as a folk-rock album can), and goes... Read more

Published on October 10, 2001 by Mike London

4.0 out of 5 stars True classic is more than just a white rabbit
This album would be just another good album if you just look at its two big hits "Somebody to Love" and White Rabbit". Read more

Published on September 26, 2001 by His Beat Goes On...

5.0 out of 5 stars SURREAL, AND MUCH MORE!!
1967 was a seminal year for rock and roll music - with the release of The Doors's debut album, Sgt. Pepper's by The Beatles, and Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow. Read more

Published on May 31, 2001 by Azra Mandzuka

5.0 out of 5 stars A Psychedelic Classic
One of the three most influential albums released in 1967. The others being Sgt. Peppers and The Doors. This is the first Airplane album with Grace Slick on board. Read more

Published on May 23, 2001 by Benjamin C. Leonard

› See all 43 customer reviews...

Look for Similar Items by Category

Music You Should Hear™: Artists' Picks

Want to know what Norah Jones, Sting, and Il Divo are listening to? Find out in Music You Should Hear™, where these and other artists tell you about the music they love.

Music Deals Find over 3,500 CDs under $10--some as low as $5.99--in our Music Deals Store.

Greats from the Greatest Explore our Music Essentials Store and find music from over 500 essential artists and composers, watch videos, and vote for the most essential artist.

For more about music, check out ChordStrike, a minor blog for major music lovers™.

	50% buy the item featured on this page: Surrealistic Pillow 4.6 out of 5 stars (43)
	39% buy Surrealistic Pillow 4.6 out of 5 stars (58) $7.98
	4% buy Blonde on Blonde 4.7 out of 5 stars (339) $9.98
	4% buy River of Time 4.8 out of 5 stars (12) $13.99

Surrealistic Pillow

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product Details

Listen to Samples

Editorial Reviews

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

Customer Reviews

Customer Discussions

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

SoundUnwound Says...

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

So You'd Like to...

Listmania!

Look for Similar Items by Category

Music You Should Hear™: Artists' Picks

Feedback

Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History