Kronomyth 12.3: JEFFERSON AIRPLANE LOVES YOUR MONEY. A three-disc boxed set recovered two decades after the Airplane crashed that’ll cost you thirty bucks and three hours of your life, but what else are you doing with your money and your life? I’ve only heard Disc Two because the set became unbundled within the South Shore library network and now the only chance I have of hearing the whole thing is to keep re-ordering Jefferson Airplane Loves You and hope the odds are in my favor (which is an intriguing prospect given my love of chance and happenstance, but maybe not so much for you in the short term). Given the third I’ve heard, I’d say this is well worth tracking down for the archival material (unreleased live tracks and buried treasures like the Grace Slick/Frank Zappa collaboration, “Would You Like A Snack?”) and the tasteful selection of hits. I can’t offer any insight into the alternate mixes, but I can tell you that the live material included on Disc Two sounds very good (no muddy soundboard recordings here). Of the stuff you haven’t heard before, it’s the blues (“Don’t Let Me Down” and a live version of “Uncle Sam Blues”) that stand out. On the opposite end of the color wheel, Marty Balin borrows an unfortunate line from the Edward G. Robinson film Barbary Coast, “I feel like a little white kitten reborn,” in what one can only hope was a desperate attempt to get laid. If you don’t love Jefferson Airplane before you buy this (and that would be a prerequisite for most of us), you’ll probably love them after, since this set captures what’s best about the band: the psychedelic experiments, the early rock juggernauts, the spirit of rebellion and the reincarnation of kittens.
The Songs
Disc 1
1. I Specialize In Love
2. Go To Her
3. Bringing me Down
4. Let Me In
5. Chauffeur Blues
6. Free Advice
7. Somebody To Love
8. Today / Embryonic Journey
9. White Rabbit
10. Come Back Baby
11. The Other Side of This Life
12. Runnin’ ‘Round This World (live)
13. She Has Funny Cars (live)
14. High Flyin’ Bird (live)
15. Tobacco Road (live)
16. Let’s Get Together (live)
17. White Rabbit (live)
18. Comin’ Back To Me (live)
19. Won’t You Try – Saturday Afternoon (live)
Disc 2
1. The Ballad of You And Me And Pooneil (Paul Kantner) 11:38
2. Things Are Better In The East (Marty Balin) 3:16
3. Watch Her Ride (Paul Kantner) 3:15
4. Two Heads (Grace Slick) 3:14
5. Martha (Paul Kantner) 3:26
6. Don’t Let Me Down (Marty Balin) 2:54
7. Crown of Creation (Paul Kantner) 2:53
8. Lather (Grace Slick) 2:57
9. In Time (Paul Kantner/Marty Balin) 4:14
10. House At Pooneil Corners (Paul Kantner/Marty Balin) 5:51
11. Ribump Ba Bap Dum Dum (Spencer Dryden/Bill Goodwin) 1:32
12. Would You Like A Snack? (Frank Zappa/Grace Slick) 2:38
13. 3/5 Mile In 10 Seconds (live at Fillmore West 10/68) (Marty Balin) 4:45
14. It’s No Secret (live at Fillmore West 10/68) (Marty Balin) 3:28
15. Plastic Fantastic Lover (live at Woodstock 8/17/69) (Marty Balin) 4:24
16. Uncle Sam Blues (live at Woodstock 8/17/69) (Traditional arr. By Jorma Kaukonen/Jack Casady) 5:27
17. Wooden Ships (David Crosby/Paul Kantner/Stephen Stills) 5:52
18. Volunteers (Marty Balin/Paul Kantner) 2:17
Disc 3
1. We Can Be Together
2. Turn My Life Down
3. Good Shepherd
4. Hey Frederick
5. Emergency
6. When The Earth Moves Again
7. Pretty As You Feel
8. Lawman
9. Feel So Good
10. Twilight Double Leader
11. Aerie (Gang of Eagles)
12. Trial by Fire (live)
13. Dress Rap (live)
14. You Wear Your Dresses Too Short (live)
The Players
Yeah, I’d love to know who played on the Zappa/Slick snack too, but I just have the one disc and no booklet. Here’s what I do know about Disc 2: Al Schmitt produced almost everything (Eric Blackstead is credited as producer for the live Woodstock version of “Plastic Fantastic Lover”) and various engineers are credited including Pat Ieraci, Mark Linett, Pat Martin, Richie Schmitt and Paul Williams.
The Plastic
Released as a digitally remastered 3CD boxed set on October 27, 1992 in the US (RCA, 61110-2).
