102: Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow (1967)

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"We brought the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia with us to L.A. He made a comment in the studio one day: 'That's as surrealistic as a pillow.' Somebody said (maybe Marty), 'Hey, what a great name for the record: Surrealistic Pillow.'"

—Bill Thompson, the band’s road manager

The Jefferson Airplane's drugged-up, hyper-political jams are often dismissed as a relic of the late 1960s. But the band's talent was in abundance on their earnest debut album The Jefferson Airplane Takes Off; and when they added vocalist Grace Slick to their lineup and recorded their second album, 1967's Surrealistic Pillow, the whole world discovered what they were capable of.  In discussing that album, Ben, Amanda, and John make the case that the Airplane's musicianship, harmonies, and attitude all hold up today.

Miscellany

• Amanda got some of her Alice facts wrong. The croquet game is actually in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and it’s the Queen of Hearts, not the Red Queen, who has people decapitated (although that one is partly Grace Slick’s fault). Also, the name of the monster is the Jabberwock; “Jabberwocky” is the name of the poem. She regrets the errors.

• Annie Haslam, whom John mentioned as a comparison point for Grace Slick, was/is the lead vocalist for Renaissance, whom we covered in detail in episode 87 on Ashes Are Burning. 

• Our podcast conception of a “grout track” (a concept that comes up during the “Embryonic Journey” discussion) originates with Producer Mike during episode 67 on Bee Thousand by Guided by Voices. 

• LBJ was a well-known fan of Grace Slick's original band the Great Society. He was spotted attending several love-ins during the period when he was crafting his signature domestic agenda, draft-titled "A Series of Related Government Programs Primarily Intended to Achieve the Social and Fiscal Betterment of Americans Currently Subsisting Below the Poverty Line". 

• Per Wikipedia, the name of the band Hot Tuna "came from someone Jorma Kaukonen referred to as a 'witty wag' who called out 'hot tuna' after hearing the line 'What's that smell like fish, oh baby,' from the song 'Keep On Truckin'." This does not improve our opinion of the band's name. 

• After we recorded the episode, Amanda found this cover of “She Has Funny Cars” by The Second Coming, Dickey Betts’ pre-Allmans band. More evidence for the theory that “Little Martha” was influenced by “Embryonic Journey”? (Betts didn’t write “Little Martha” but he plays one of the guitars on it.) 

Other links 

• Jefferson Airplane's official website (jeffersonairplane.com)

• Behind the Music: Jefferson Airplane (VH1 via Vimeo)

• Somebody to Love?: A Rock-and-Roll Memoir by Grace Slick (Amazon affiliate link)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Surrealistic Pillow playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Ben Marlin (host)

• Amanda Rodgers (moderator)

• John McFerrin 

Surrealistic Pillow tracklist 

1. She Has Funny Cars

2. Somebody to Love

3. My Best Friend

4. Today

5. Comin’ Back to Me

6. ⅗ 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 

Other clips used 

Jefferson Airplane

• Introduction (live at Woodstock)

• We Built This City (Starship)

• Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (Starship)

• Sara (Starship)

• Volunteers

• We Can Be Together

• It’s No Secret

• The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil

• Miracles (Jefferson Starship)

• The Other Side of This Life (live at the Fillmore West) 

Others:

• Lyme & Cybelle - Follow Me

• The Mamas and the Papas - No Salt on Her Tail

• The Great Society - Somebody to Love

• Pink Floyd - Summer ‘68

• Led Zeppelin - Bron-Yr-Aur

• Allman Brothers Band - Little Martha

• King Crimson - The Talking Drum

• Simon and Garfunkel - A Simple Desultory Philippic

• Hot Tuna - Hesitation Blues

• The Moody Blues - The Other Side of Life

Band/album personnel

• Marty Balin – vocals, guitar, lead vocals (4, 5, 11), co-lead vocals (1, 3, 6)

• Jack Casady – bass guitar, fuzz bass, rhythm guitar

• Spencer Dryden – drums, percussion

• Paul Kantner – rhythm guitar, vocals, lead vocals (8), co-lead vocals (3, 7)

• Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar, lead vocals (9)

• Grace Slick – vocals, piano, organ, recorder, lead vocals (2, 10), co-lead vocals (1, 3, 6, 7)

• Jerry Garcia – "musical and spiritual advisor"; guitar (4, 5, 11)

• David Hassinger – engineer

• Rick Jarrard – production 

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• Jefferson Airplane - She Has Funny Cars (this episode only)

You can buy or stream Surrealistic Pillow and other albums by Jefferson Airplane at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.