Jorma is a very under-rated electric guitarist, and his playing still sounds fresh and innovative. Jorma's electric playing with Jack Cassidy on Bass were groundbreaking in the psychedelic rock movement. And Jorma and Cassidy were also hugely important as acoustic musicians, helping develop the "American roots" movement (associated with Dylan and The Band). Jorma and Cassidy's band "Hot Tuna" is also a big legacy. I like to see Airplane getting renewed attention. They were a really great band with amazing instrumentation, and three amazing Vocalists/Song Writers.
I cracked up when my old bassist remarked on how it was nice for Madonna to dedicate a song to an old Black blues fiddler. He was a funny guy. May still be. 😊❤
The lyrics for "Wooden Ships" were influenced by science fiction, the Vietnam War, and the nuclear arms race. Interestingly, while David Crosby had recorded a demo of a melody without lyrics in March 1968, the lyrics were written later in the year by Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Paul Kantner (singer and rhythm guitarist for the Jefferson Airplane), while they were aboard Crosby’s schooner, the Mayan, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. According to Crosby, "I’d been kicked out of the Byrds, and I found a boat and bought it in Ft. Lauderdale…Stephen…and Paul Kantner came down to see me…I had this set of (chord) changes that I’d been playing for a long time, that I really, really loved. We were sitting around the main cabin of the boat…and we started playing that set of changes and we wrote that song together…It was a very organic process." Paul Kantner also stated, "David would take us on his boat here and there…I knew how fond David was of the ocean. It was his song, really to start with. So I just put “Wooden ships on the water, very free and easy,” which charmed David to no end. Most of (the song) was my lyric…and David’s music. Stephen Stills wrote one verse, the nasty verse about watching you die, which is sort of fitting for Stephen." Kantner initially didn’t get songwriting credit because the Jefferson Airplane were in a dispute with their manager over song rights. But according to Cosby “Of course we evened things up with him with a whole mess of cash when the record went huge.” Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) recorded their version of Wooden Ships on February 20, 1969, for their debut album. Kantner’s Jefferson Airplane followed suit on April 14 & 22, 1969, for their album, Volunteers. Both bands performed “Wooden Ships” at Woodstock. CSN performed theirs at night, and unfortunately there’s no serviceable video available. The Jefferson Airplane mustered onstage at 8:00 AM on Sunday, the last day of the festival, and delivered a stunning 21-minute extended version of the song, unreleased until the 2009 Woodstock Experience box set. Well worth a listen! 🤩
This is easily my favorite version of this song. Jorma (soft J) is on lead guitar. This is the classic Jefferson airplane line-up. The Airplane put out two more studio and a live LP but rarely hit this peak again as a group. Marty (co-founder of JA w/Paul) left the group after this LP and later came and went with Jefferson Starship. Jorma, Jack and Joey soon drifted off into Hot Tuna. Paul and Grace evolved into Jefferson Starship.
This has always been my favorite version of this song! It does put you in a different head space than the CSN version, but Paul who was the artistic soul behind the band was always a Sci-Fi head. He put out an album, Blows Against the Empire, as Jefferson Starship. A Sci-Fi Epic, and the first rock album ever nominated for a Hugo award.
L33 u are an old soul with great taste in music & art. These songs are art in its highest forms. Your platform helps preserve this. It helps defend our faith in these classics. So you sir I give the title Defender of the faith.
Always Puzzled me how airplane/ starship are overlooked in comparison with other bands. Grace Slick has to be one of the two greatest female rock voices ever. Even at their worst they are superb. And Awakening from Freedom at point zero has a guitar solo that stands up there with freebird, comfortably numb, Ulsan’s of swing.
Every member of the band made an important contribution to this recording. Plus Nicky Hopkins...this version of the song captured the sense of ultimate tragedy, more so than CSNY.
Underappreciated 'san francisco sound' greatness: "It's a Beautiful Day" 1969 and the songs 'Hot Summer Day', 'Wasted Union Blues'...then you'll be ready for 'Time Is'.
Please listen to Jeff. Airplane's *** "Rejoyce" *** (studio version). Grace's stunning voice on full display. It's such a great track that gets overlooked too much.
How many bands could even conceive of doing a song like Rejoyce? Only the Airplane was that thoughtful, literate, and intelligent. Thank you for mentioning it. The whole Baxter's album, a masterpiece, has been disregarded and forgotten
Absolutely amazing track. Based on James Joyce's experimental stream-of-consciousness novel Ulysses. An elaborate multi-section arrangement, but it is over before you know it. I learned after several listenings what an emotional punch it's got. There is a recording by a high school orchestra on youtube. They make a valiant effort, but it makes you realize how exceptional is the Grace Slick/JA performance.
@@johnhopkins4767 It really is amazing in retrospect that a "rock band" could produce a piece of music that is so complex and sophisticated. In 1967 no less. And then have it ignored
As much as I like the CSN version of this and as much as I think Stephen Stills is the most underrated guitarist in rock, I have always liked this version much better. It is much more emotional than CSN both vocally and instrumentally. Jorma (pronounced Yorma) absolutely kills the lead guitar. It's some of the best, most soaring guitar work ever. It still gives me the chills.
Totally on board with your reaction to this. I, too, am a huge Crosby Stills and Nash fan and I might have to concede Jefferson Airplane’s version might have an edge over CNS version, can’t believe I’m even typing this.
I saw Jefferson Airplane in concert in 1969 and 1970. At the 1970 concert I was right against the stage. Grace Slick and the rest were about five feet away. Jack Casady was my favorite bass player at the time. This song came out later. One of my favorite bands
I always assumed that the "Wooden Ships" and "Silver People" was about the Conquistadors landing in the Americas, destroying and enslaving the native peoples. But the song also seems to work as a post-apocalyptic vision of our modern world, if destroyed by nuclear war and other man-made disasters. Both recordings of this song are great, but I most like the Airplane version. While the CSN version is beautiful, the Airplane version puts real pain into the vocals, which combines so well with Jorma's wailing guitar. I think Airplane tells the "apocalyptic" story much more viscerally.
i agree with this 100% you can feel the pain and loneliness so much more in this version. The CSN version is a beautiful, surreal experience but this is an abstract yet visceral (to borrow your description) trip through the end of the world and what happens after. i can see the conquistador interpretation as well now that you mention it. i wonder how the berries and such go into that one... such a good track!
@@L33Reacts The blue berries can be referenced to the color of the pills given to people exposed to radiation. It's been 6 or 7 weeks now, haven't gotten sick once.
@@jeffmartin1026 Hi L33 and Jeff, I always assumed, (even in a modern context), that they were hungry and eating wild berries. Some wild berries are poisonous, so it was reassuring that he hadn't gotten sick once. CSN sings "huckleberries" if I remember correctly, although the berries being iodine pills is an interesting idea. One line suggests a "modern" interpretation "I can see from your coat my friend that you're from the other side, can you tell me please, who won?". This suggests a standardized military uniform, which Conquistadors didn't wear.
@@jraben1065 I always saw the "silver people on the shoreline" as people in radiation suits. They are on the boat and leaving as there is nothing they can do for those on the shore. Do they not have room for them, or are they already contaminated - who knows? In any way it is a reflection, to me, of the nuclear threat of the times.
@@jeffmartin1026 Hi Jeff, its fun to discuss this with you. I re-checked some sources, and Crosby did say he was imagining an apocalyptic future with radiation and protective silver suits. But I would point out, Crosby also wrote these lyrics while on his sailboat named "Mayan". Since I made the connection with Conquistadors vs Native Peoples, I wonder if science fiction writing Crosby had the "imperialist" Spanish vs Mayans in the back of his mind? In a psychedelic time, many song lyrics contained multiple perspectives, shifting themes, and duality.
I get tired of reactors covering "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" to the exclusion of all their other material. Yes they're good songs (especially sequenced with the rest of "Surrealistic Pillow"). But I seldom listen to them on their own, especially "White Rabbit", because you can only listen to anthems so many times. It would be a little like listening to the Beatles "She Loves You" and "Help", and then moving on. I still listen to JA classic line-up albums (Pillow, Baxter's, Crown, Volunteers) as much as I listen to Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, etc. In some ways I feel the Airplane albums are more emotionally focused. They certainly had a darker take on things - dark songs for a dark time. Example? "Lather". Though inspired by Spencer, the titular character is a developmentally disabled young man. His activities are compared to those of his "normal" friends who are now "successful". DO NOT view the TV show video until you are familiar with the audio-only track. Audio production rivaling Sgt. Pepper evokes a sense of the chaotic internal experience of such a person.
You would think that people interested in re-discovering the great music from the 60's and 70's would be excited to hear a band that was a headliner at 3 of the biggest concerts in rock history. But you're right. They almost all stop at those 2 songs.
True. The Airplane deserves much more exploration. They are too often ignored, I feel, or just not given enough attention past 'Somebody to Love' and 'White Rabbit'. It's amazing how many of their tracks are not played on classic rock stations. There's a whole treasure trove of Jefferson Airplane music just waiting to be re-discovered! ✈️🎶🎵🎼
Yes I've also always preferred the Airplane Version. Odd situation, with the song being co-written by Paul Kantner and David Crosby, that you can really consider both band's version "the original." They were all friends and played together. Crosby plays on this version even. At the end of this version you can hear an extra chorus call and response asking "Who write the music?"..."I write" clearly is David Crosby's voice. To complicate matters even more....some band members swear that Jerry Garcia plays a pedal steel guitar on this song....while others say they don't recall any such thing. If he does, I think it's that section where you asked Drummer, is that Paul or Jorma? Jorma (pronounced Yorma) is one of the all time great guitarists, and doesn't get his due. Check out his song on this album "Eskimo Blue Day." He plays that fuzzy electric guitar and a very crisp acoustic guitar ("Water Song" would be a good place to start). Or the loveliest duet you'll ever hear with him and Grace. "Third Week in the Chelsea."
Regarding "Wooden Ships", I believe the refrain at the end is "Go ride the music". I checked two different lyrics websites. It is also how I hear it myself. "Eskimo Blue Day", besides using intense guitar dissonance to set the emotional tone, is also one of the Airplane's most philosophically profound (as well as profane) set of lyrics. (My comments reference the studio cut from "Volunteers", which I would strongly recommend at least at first.) I spent time in the old growth Northwest during the fight over logging some of the remaining pre-European era stands. When you spend time in those contexts - listening to the birds, grokking the effect of moonlight on the human eye, experiencing the relative quiet and different sense of time - and then you look up "how long have the redwoods been around?" with the result showing "240 million years (20 million in California)" - when you have these experiences, Grace and Paul's song starts to shift around in your mind. The universe was NOT made for humans. Yes we are here, and we are very clever, indeed. But we are not the POINT of the universe.
Love this version over all. The others are great but Grace seals this one. Big Airplane fan, saw them live at the Fillmore east. True speak on Dreams. shared that end of world it looked kind of like the movie, The Road.
Funny that you used the word "surreal" to describe their sound... They had an album entitled, "Surrealistic Pillow". Hope you'll explore more of the old Jefferson Airplane, some of their writing and musicianship is utterly sublime, and might give you the same feeling you got from this song, Lee.. Recommend, "Crown of Creation" for another psychedelic treat from them.
Yeah you gotta stop just listening to top 40 garbage rock radio....they never play the good stuff just the overplayed short crap...too many requesters just ask for White Rabbit
Both versions are incredible. Marty Balin has an incredible range and an original member who later rejoined the Jefferson Starship after a few years on hiatus!Lee you might want to react to the title song to this album called volunteers!
Heh the Starship version really frustrated Balin. He rejoined the band at about the same time as Slick did, wrote the biggest hit that either version of the band had ( Miracles) and yea it far outsold Sombody to Love, and all the critics and writers ignored him joining and gushed about how Slick was back.
This is such a good song that any exceptional group will do it and do it well. With that being said, there is no better version than Crosby stills and Nash. I still remember the first time. I heard it shortly after the album came out and I remember where I was and what I was doing. And it's one of those things that etches itself into your memory bank without trying. God, I miss those days of my life. They were great years.
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN First off, there's something seriously wrong with you. Since when are you the person that decides, What's good or not? And if no one agrees with you they're simply wrong, I would love to see you Write your dumb comment directly to Lee instead of to me. Because from what I've seen Lee likes all music. Even the simple music of the early 60s, which was, let's face it, basically pop. But you in your infinite wisdom have decided what's good and what isn't. I'm 76 years old yo yo, and I haven't been to less than a 100 concerts since 1968 when I started going to concerts. Don't tell me about real rock because I've been there in back. And I don't judge people who like crap, like rap, but I at least understand those that do. And of course in your ignorance, you think that Crosby still's and Nash was a top 40 type group which they weren't, and Wooden ships was not a top 40 song on their track. And if it wasn't for them writing the song, you wouldn't have been able to hear that cover today, because it wouldn't exist. Can't figure why you would even bother listening to lee's channel when? In fact, by now, you've learned that he loves and thinks they're great Crosby, stills and Nash. Look, I don't care how ignorant a person is. It's their right to be that way. But I don't understand why ignorant people like you feel compelled to prove it to the world by saying or writing. Dumb shit with no way to defend what you said. Except for you don't think it's real rock. Moron.
@@36karpatoruski No, I don't believe he did. Lee reacted to "Volunteers" Live at Woodstock. Not very many people react to "Hey Fredrick". Shawn Salvadori did a reaction. I saw an interview with Grace where she said that, pretty early on, she got past the notion that one could transform one's life via a love connection. Boy does she de-romanticise love/sex in this song.
@@johnhopkins4767She certainly did. Also, he definitely did the reaction. It’s been quite awhile back though. I was very surprised at the time because I’ve never seen any reactor do it, and never even seen a request for it.
Jorma on guitar. Haunting, elegant. Grace is Grace, The Voice of the 60's more so even than Janis. Spencer Dryden was Charlie Chaplin's great-nephew. Something like that. This album marked a departure for JA from peace/love/hippie weirdness to overt Marxist politics which was fashionable at the time, railing against "private property" for instance. The title "Volunteers" was a sarcastic swipe at the Volunteers of America, a right-wing militia organization
A truly great album, as weird as it sometimes is. I also highly recommend the BLOWS AGAINST THE EMPIRE album, with Paul Kantner and Grace Slick. Not a true JEFFERSON STARSHIP album -- came before them -- but like a sci-fi take on JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. And, yes, this IS better than the CSNY version, as good as that one. If you like this, you must listen to the entirety of MOBY GRAPE's first album and IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY's first album. Epic San Francisco music. Simply amazing albums.
I agree that you should do more JA, some Jefferson Starship, but don't bore us with anything by Starship. Also some of the Paul Kantner/Grace Slick solo stuff, Grace Slick solo ("Theme from the movie Manhole" is 15 minutes + of pure Grace). The first Jefferson Starship album "Blows Against the Empire" features Paul Kantner's sci-fi epic which covers the whole first side of the album and was nominated for a Saturn award. I love Grace Slick so I recommend some of her material: "Two Heads", "Rejoyce", "Silver Spoon", "Better Lying Down" (Grace does Blues), and "Easter".
i've done some of grace and pauls stuff... i cant remember the name of it but i think it was "Silver Spoon" and it was a wonderful track. i will have to add these others to my list, thank you for the suggestions! i have a couple requests for starship so maybe next week they will be out :)
I like the JA version better too. Always have, but I heard them do it first…. CSN’s is good too but I like the JA arrangement better and you just can’t beat having Grace in the mix of voices.
The music is fantastic. However, I prefer Stephen and David's darker vocals. The "Wooden Ships" chorus/harmonies is great here but I felt like the rest of the vocals sounded to uplifting for the lyrics. Nice reimagine but I prefer the CSN version.
This version has more of a vibe to it than CSNY - Airplane as a band were better musicians except maybe for Steven. Jorma wah wah fuzzing his way around.. Worst of the Jefferson Airplane album is still in my apple tunes rotation 50+ years later.
The Jefferson Airplane album "Volunteers" is a really terrific album. I highly recommend to check it all out.
Marty Balin has such a great voice.
And once again, the late, great Nicky Hopkins on piano.
I've always preferred the Airplane's version of this song. The feeling of the Apocalypse is right there in your face.
Jorma is a very under-rated electric guitarist, and his playing still sounds fresh and innovative. Jorma's electric playing with Jack Cassidy on Bass were groundbreaking in the psychedelic rock movement. And Jorma and Cassidy were also hugely important as acoustic musicians, helping develop the "American roots" movement (associated with Dylan and The Band). Jorma and Cassidy's band "Hot Tuna" is also a big legacy. I like to see Airplane getting renewed attention. They were a really great band with amazing instrumentation, and three amazing Vocalists/Song Writers.
i will be checking that out (hot tuna) soon... people were mentioning them in the chat too
@@L33Reacts Check out the song "Funky #7".
I cracked up when my old bassist remarked on how it was nice for Madonna to dedicate a song to an old Black blues fiddler. He was a funny guy. May still be. 😊❤
Casady.
Wow, I never heard this version before. It's amazing! Grace makes all the difference.
The lyrics for "Wooden Ships" were influenced by science fiction, the Vietnam War, and the nuclear arms race. Interestingly, while David Crosby had recorded a demo of a melody without lyrics in March 1968, the lyrics were written later in the year by Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Paul Kantner (singer and rhythm guitarist for the Jefferson Airplane), while they were aboard Crosby’s schooner, the Mayan, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
According to Crosby, "I’d been kicked out of the Byrds, and I found a boat and bought it in Ft. Lauderdale…Stephen…and Paul Kantner came down to see me…I had this set of (chord) changes that I’d been playing for a long time, that I really, really loved. We were sitting around the main cabin of the boat…and we started playing that set of changes and we wrote that song together…It was a very organic process."
Paul Kantner also stated, "David would take us on his boat here and there…I knew how fond David was of the ocean. It was his song, really to start with. So I just put “Wooden ships on the water, very free and easy,” which charmed David to no end. Most of (the song) was my lyric…and David’s music. Stephen Stills wrote one verse, the nasty verse about watching you die, which is sort of fitting for Stephen." Kantner initially didn’t get songwriting credit because the Jefferson Airplane were in a dispute with their manager over song rights. But according to Cosby “Of course we evened things up with him with a whole mess of cash when the record went huge.”
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) recorded their version of Wooden Ships on February 20, 1969, for their debut album. Kantner’s Jefferson Airplane followed suit on April 14 & 22, 1969, for their album, Volunteers. Both bands performed “Wooden Ships” at Woodstock. CSN performed theirs at night, and unfortunately there’s no serviceable video available. The Jefferson Airplane mustered onstage at 8:00 AM on Sunday, the last day of the festival, and delivered a stunning 21-minute extended version of the song, unreleased until the 2009 Woodstock Experience box set. Well worth a listen! 🤩
This is easily my favorite version of this song. Jorma (soft J) is on lead guitar. This is the classic Jefferson airplane line-up. The Airplane put out two more studio and a live LP but rarely hit this peak again as a group. Marty (co-founder of JA w/Paul) left the group after this LP and later came and went with Jefferson Starship. Jorma, Jack and Joey soon drifted off into Hot Tuna. Paul and Grace evolved into Jefferson Starship.
The real thing: genuine hippie shit! Loved it back then, love it now.
Yes, this is the best version. They take the song and set it free, their voices soar, it's all so powerful!
I like them both! Grace's voice was haunting, wasn't it? She is psychedelic without trying. ❤😊
Another group that twisted my young fragile mind! And I loved it! Peace & Love.
Finally somebody covering an absolutely awesome (IMV the best) version. Thank you.
This has always been my favorite version of this song! It does put you in a different head space than the CSN version, but Paul who was the artistic soul behind the band was always a Sci-Fi head. He put out an album, Blows Against the Empire, as Jefferson Starship. A Sci-Fi Epic, and the first rock album ever nominated for a Hugo award.
L33 u are an old soul with great taste in music & art. These songs are art in its highest forms. Your platform helps preserve this. It helps defend our faith in these classics. So you sir I give the title Defender of the faith.
I have owned this album since it came out but have not heard this in years. Forgot how much I loved it.
Always Puzzled me how airplane/ starship are overlooked in comparison with other bands. Grace Slick has to be one of the two greatest female rock voices ever. Even at their worst they are superb. And Awakening from Freedom at point zero has a guitar solo that stands up there with freebird, comfortably numb, Ulsan’s of swing.
Every member of the band made an important contribution to this recording. Plus Nicky Hopkins...this version of the song captured the sense of ultimate tragedy, more so than CSNY.
Now you need to hear the extended version they did at Woodstock.
Who's up for some Grace Slick and The Great Society!? ✌️
Father Bruce. Her sing about Lenny Bruce.
Both versions are great, but I agree with you, I like this version more.
Underappreciated 'san francisco sound' greatness:
"It's a Beautiful Day" 1969 and the songs 'Hot Summer Day', 'Wasted Union Blues'...then you'll be ready for 'Time Is'.
Does this song justice. Fantastic, love it,!
Thank you, Lee
If you do a Jefferson Starship song, try "St Charles". It wasn't a big hit, but was the best thing they ever did.
(If you believe in) Miracles - Marty lead singing unforgettable
Please listen to Jeff. Airplane's *** "Rejoyce" *** (studio version). Grace's stunning voice on full display. It's such a great track that gets overlooked too much.
How many bands could even conceive of doing a song like Rejoyce? Only the Airplane was that thoughtful, literate, and intelligent. Thank you for mentioning it. The whole Baxter's album, a masterpiece, has been disregarded and forgotten
Absolutely amazing track. Based on James Joyce's experimental stream-of-consciousness novel Ulysses. An elaborate multi-section arrangement, but it is over before you know it. I learned after several listenings what an emotional punch it's got.
There is a recording by a high school orchestra on youtube. They make a valiant effort, but it makes you realize how exceptional is the Grace Slick/JA performance.
@@johnhopkins4767 It really is amazing in retrospect that a "rock band" could produce a piece of music that is so complex and sophisticated. In 1967 no less. And then have it ignored
Beautiful version of a timeless song.
I heard this version of the song first, so it always feels like the definitive one to me.
Great version! I can’t believe I have never heard this before (that I can remember). Really love it! Thanks!
As much as I like the CSN version of this and as much as I think Stephen Stills is the most underrated guitarist in rock, I have always liked this version much better. It is much more emotional than CSN both vocally and instrumentally. Jorma (pronounced Yorma) absolutely kills the lead guitar. It's some of the best, most soaring guitar work ever. It still gives me the chills.
Totally on board with your reaction to this. I, too, am a huge Crosby Stills and Nash fan and I might have to concede Jefferson Airplane’s version might have an edge over CNS version, can’t believe I’m even typing this.
I saw Jorma & Jack Cassidy as Hot Tuna a little over a year ago, and he still rocks. ✌️❤️🎶
Jack Bruce? Seems unlikely, given that he died nine or ten years ago. I suppose you mean Jack Casady.
@@thescrewfly Thanks for the heads up. O automatically think Jack Bruce when it comes to bassists, no disrespect to Cassidy, who also is awesome.
male vocal is Marty Balin
Three lead voices. For example, in the first three lines, the first is Paul Kantner, then Grace, then Marty Balin.
Love both versions; this is the 'edgier' version with Grace's voice and Jorma's guitar, to me CSN is the classic mellower version.
Also try Lather or Triad.
My 1st concert was the Airplane @U of Md 1969. I moved to San Francisco and saw them perform many times Winterland, Fillmore ✌️💙😎
Love both versions!
Same message.
✌️♥️... it ain't illegal yet.
My favorite cut on that album is Plastic Fantastic Lover.
PFL is on the Surrealistic Pillow LP.
For Jefferson Starship, sure your doing Blows Against the Empire, check out 2nd record Sunfighter. It's out there.
You oughta react to JA's _Greasy Heart,_ really shows off Grace's vocals....
I saw Jefferson Airplane in concert in 1969 and 1970. At the 1970 concert I was right against the stage. Grace Slick and the rest were about five feet away. Jack Casady was my favorite bass player at the time. This song came out later. One of my favorite bands
Although the quality isn't as good, they did blow this song out to over 20 minutes at Woodstock.
I was wondering if you’d get to this version or studio airplane. Well I wonder no longer. Ba gripping performance here
If you ever react to entire albums, check out Spirit - The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, circa 1970
Man, I haven't heard this in a long while. I miss physical media
Heard this version first. Love both
I always assumed that the "Wooden Ships" and "Silver People" was about the Conquistadors landing in the Americas, destroying and enslaving the native peoples. But the song also seems to work as a post-apocalyptic vision of our modern world, if destroyed by nuclear war and other man-made disasters. Both recordings of this song are great, but I most like the Airplane version. While the CSN version is beautiful, the Airplane version puts real pain into the vocals, which combines so well with Jorma's wailing guitar. I think Airplane tells the "apocalyptic" story much more viscerally.
i agree with this 100% you can feel the pain and loneliness so much more in this version. The CSN version is a beautiful, surreal experience but this is an abstract yet visceral (to borrow your description) trip through the end of the world and what happens after. i can see the conquistador interpretation as well now that you mention it. i wonder how the berries and such go into that one... such a good track!
@@L33Reacts The blue berries can be referenced to the color of the pills given to people exposed to radiation. It's been 6 or 7 weeks now, haven't gotten sick once.
@@jeffmartin1026 Hi L33 and Jeff, I always assumed, (even in a modern context), that they were hungry and eating wild berries. Some wild berries are poisonous, so it was reassuring that he hadn't gotten sick once. CSN sings "huckleberries" if I remember correctly, although the berries being iodine pills is an interesting idea. One line suggests a "modern" interpretation "I can see from your coat my friend that you're from the other side, can you tell me please, who won?". This suggests a standardized military uniform, which Conquistadors didn't wear.
@@jraben1065 I always saw the "silver people on the shoreline" as people in radiation suits. They are on the boat and leaving as there is nothing they can do for those on the shore. Do they not have room for them, or are they already contaminated - who knows? In any way it is a reflection, to me, of the nuclear threat of the times.
@@jeffmartin1026 Hi Jeff, its fun to discuss this with you. I re-checked some sources, and Crosby did say he was imagining an apocalyptic future with radiation and protective silver suits. But I would point out, Crosby also wrote these lyrics while on his sailboat named "Mayan". Since I made the connection with Conquistadors vs Native Peoples, I wonder if science fiction writing Crosby had the "imperialist" Spanish vs Mayans in the back of his mind? In a psychedelic time, many song lyrics contained multiple perspectives, shifting themes, and duality.
Dude, you've GOTTA do Volunteers from Woodstock !!!
I get tired of reactors covering "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" to the exclusion of all their other material. Yes they're good songs (especially sequenced with the rest of "Surrealistic Pillow"). But I seldom listen to them on their own, especially "White Rabbit", because you can only listen to anthems so many times.
It would be a little like listening to the Beatles "She Loves You" and "Help", and then moving on. I still listen to JA classic line-up albums (Pillow, Baxter's, Crown, Volunteers) as much as I listen to Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, etc. In some ways I feel the Airplane albums are more emotionally focused. They certainly had a darker take on things - dark songs for a dark time.
Example? "Lather". Though inspired by Spencer, the titular character is a developmentally disabled young man. His activities are compared to those of his "normal" friends who are now "successful". DO NOT view the TV show video until you are familiar with the audio-only track. Audio production rivaling Sgt. Pepper evokes a sense of the chaotic internal experience of such a person.
You would think that people interested in re-discovering the great music from the 60's and 70's would be excited to hear a band that was a headliner at 3 of the biggest concerts in rock history. But you're right. They almost all stop at those 2 songs.
True. The Airplane deserves much more exploration. They are too often ignored, I feel, or just not given enough attention past 'Somebody to Love' and 'White Rabbit'. It's amazing how many of their tracks are not played on classic rock stations. There's a whole treasure trove of Jefferson Airplane music just waiting to be re-discovered! ✈️🎶🎵🎼
Its the music that unites us…
I like CSN, but this is a better version imho🤓
My fave version.
One of my all time favs here. Crosby. Great sounds.
Please do "A Certain Kind" by The Soft Machine from 1968, the sounds will blow your mind!!!
Jorma has several solo albums with Jack Cassidy on bass that are definitely worth checking out, as well as Paul Kantner's solo projects.
Say 'Yorma' and this might be his best performance on guitar in a storied amazing career.
That's probably hyperbole but this is a great track
Hey Dude! That was great. It’s time for HOT TUNA!!!!! Funky # 7 is a great start. ✌️❤️ Jorma’s band
Lee, I see you're a Md. Crab Fan!! None Better. All The Best!!
Yes I've also always preferred the Airplane Version. Odd situation, with the song being co-written by Paul Kantner and David Crosby, that you can really consider both band's version "the original." They were all friends and played together. Crosby plays on this version even.
At the end of this version you can hear an extra chorus call and response asking "Who write the music?"..."I write" clearly is David Crosby's voice. To complicate matters even more....some band members swear that Jerry Garcia plays a pedal steel guitar on this song....while others say they don't recall any such thing. If he does, I think it's that section where you asked Drummer, is that Paul or Jorma?
Jorma (pronounced Yorma) is one of the all time great guitarists, and doesn't get his due. Check out his song on this album "Eskimo Blue Day." He plays that fuzzy electric guitar and a very crisp acoustic guitar ("Water Song" would be a good place to start). Or the loveliest duet you'll ever hear with him and Grace. "Third Week in the Chelsea."
Don't forget, he hasn't even heard "Embryonic Journey" yet.
@@JamesDrumm-c2z Agreed ! There are so many to recommend. Genesis, Been So Long, and of course, Hesitation Blues!
Regarding "Wooden Ships", I believe the refrain at the end is "Go ride the music". I checked two different lyrics websites. It is also how I hear it myself.
"Eskimo Blue Day", besides using intense guitar dissonance to set the emotional tone, is also one of the Airplane's most philosophically profound (as well as profane) set of lyrics. (My comments reference the studio cut from "Volunteers", which I would strongly recommend at least at first.)
I spent time in the old growth Northwest during the fight over logging some of the remaining pre-European era stands. When you spend time in those contexts - listening to the birds, grokking the effect of moonlight on the human eye, experiencing the relative quiet and different sense of time - and then you look up "how long have the redwoods been around?" with the result showing "240 million years (20 million in California)" - when you have these experiences, Grace and Paul's song starts to shift around in your mind.
The universe was NOT made for humans. Yes we are here, and we are very clever, indeed. But we are not the POINT of the universe.
Listen to the 21m version from their Woodstock performance. Record hadn't been released yet.
I love both versions
Not sure which version I prefer but there's room for both. It's a mood thing. 🤘
Love this version over all. The others are great but Grace seals this one. Big Airplane fan, saw them live at the Fillmore east. True speak on Dreams. shared that end of world it looked kind of like the movie, The Road.
Well, forgetting Crosby works as he had an album called If Only o Could Remember My Name.
About your dreams, have you ever considered that you might be a Star Seed. Your dreams sound like you are tapped in. Interesting to check out.
Funny that you used the word "surreal" to describe their sound...
They had an album entitled, "Surrealistic Pillow".
Hope you'll explore more of the old Jefferson Airplane, some of their writing and musicianship is utterly sublime, and might give you the same feeling you got from this song, Lee..
Recommend, "Crown of Creation" for another psychedelic treat from them.
Or better yet...play Volunteers live from The Dick Cavett from The Day After Woodstock Show
I think I"ve only heard the CSN version .. not this. I agree, it has a futuristic vibe. Nice
Yeah you gotta stop just listening to top 40 garbage rock radio....they never play the good stuff just the overplayed short crap...too many requesters just ask for White Rabbit
I miss the CSN harmony. Good version
Both versions are incredible. Marty Balin has an incredible range and an original member who later rejoined the Jefferson Starship after a few years on hiatus!Lee you might want to react to the title song to this album called volunteers!
i have actually done it! but it's the woodstock version, it's the last JA track I did actually.
Heh the Starship version really frustrated Balin. He rejoined the band at about the same time as Slick did, wrote the biggest hit that either version of the band had ( Miracles) and yea it far outsold Sombody to Love, and all the critics and writers ignored him joining and gushed about how Slick was back.
This is such a good song that any exceptional group will do it and do it well. With that being said, there is no better version than Crosby stills and Nash. I still remember the first time. I heard it shortly after the album came out and I remember where I was and what I was doing. And it's one of those things that etches itself into your memory bank without trying. God, I miss those days of my life. They were great years.
Nope this is better stick with your top 40 garbage rock that never play stuff like this
@@DENVEROUTDOORMAN
First off, there's something seriously wrong with you. Since when are you the person that decides, What's good or not? And if no one agrees with you they're simply wrong, I would love to see you Write your dumb comment directly to Lee instead of to me. Because from what I've seen Lee likes all music. Even the simple music of the early 60s, which was, let's face it, basically pop. But you in your infinite wisdom have decided what's good and what isn't. I'm 76 years old yo yo, and I haven't been to less than a 100 concerts since 1968 when I started going to concerts. Don't tell me about real rock because I've been there in back. And I don't judge people who like crap, like rap, but I at least understand those that do. And of course in your ignorance, you think that Crosby still's and Nash was a top 40 type group which they weren't, and Wooden ships was not a top 40 song on their track. And if it wasn't for them writing the song, you wouldn't have been able to hear that cover today, because it wouldn't exist. Can't figure why you would even bother listening to lee's channel when? In fact, by now, you've learned that he loves and thinks they're great Crosby, stills and Nash. Look, I don't care how ignorant a person is. It's their right to be that way. But I don't understand why ignorant people like you feel compelled to prove it to the world by saying or writing. Dumb shit with no way to defend what you said. Except for you don't think it's real rock. Moron.
The Ides of March do a really cool version with horns. You might like it
you should listen to "Hey Fredrick" on Volunteers
He did it already.
@@36karpatoruski No, I don't believe he did. Lee reacted to "Volunteers" Live at Woodstock. Not very many people react to "Hey Fredrick". Shawn Salvadori did a reaction.
I saw an interview with Grace where she said that, pretty early on, she got past the notion that one could transform one's life via a love connection. Boy does she de-romanticise love/sex in this song.
@@johnhopkins4767She certainly did. Also, he definitely did the reaction. It’s been quite awhile back though. I was very surprised at the time because I’ve never seen any reactor do it, and never even seen a request for it.
Jorma on guitar. Haunting, elegant. Grace is Grace, The Voice of the 60's more so even than Janis. Spencer Dryden was Charlie Chaplin's great-nephew. Something like that. This album marked a departure for JA from peace/love/hippie weirdness to overt Marxist politics which was fashionable at the time, railing against "private property" for instance. The title "Volunteers" was a sarcastic swipe at the Volunteers of America, a right-wing militia organization
This is the LSD Flower child San Francisco Psychedelic version 🌸🌼
A truly great album, as weird as it sometimes is. I also highly recommend the BLOWS AGAINST THE EMPIRE album, with Paul Kantner and Grace Slick. Not a true JEFFERSON STARSHIP album -- came before them -- but like a sci-fi take on JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. And, yes, this IS better than the CSNY version, as good as that one.
If you like this, you must listen to the entirety of MOBY GRAPE's first album and IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY's first album. Epic San Francisco music. Simply amazing albums.
Cool dream of yours👍
I agree that you should do more JA, some Jefferson Starship, but don't bore us with anything by Starship. Also some of the Paul Kantner/Grace Slick solo stuff, Grace Slick solo ("Theme from the movie Manhole" is 15 minutes + of pure Grace). The first Jefferson Starship album "Blows Against the Empire" features Paul Kantner's sci-fi epic which covers the whole first side of the album and was nominated for a Saturn award.
I love Grace Slick so I recommend some of her material: "Two Heads", "Rejoyce", "Silver Spoon", "Better Lying Down" (Grace does Blues), and "Easter".
i've done some of grace and pauls stuff... i cant remember the name of it but i think it was "Silver Spoon" and it was a wonderful track. i will have to add these others to my list, thank you for the suggestions! i have a couple requests for starship so maybe next week they will be out :)
I agree that Starship is relatively boring, Just a run of the mill rock band with a few good songs.
I like the JA version better too. Always have, but I heard them do it first…. CSN’s is good too but I like the JA arrangement better and you just can’t beat having Grace in the mix of voices.
Check out Good Shepherd
I love CSN/Y, but this is a better version, imo. Great song, either way.
Comment to feed the algorithm. The algorithm is always hungry ... 😈
om nom nom nom (thank you)
Apopsicleliptic.🤣🤣
Yeah, that's a blooper for sure 😪🤣
I love CSN but this is the better version.
The music is fantastic. However, I prefer Stephen and David's darker vocals. The "Wooden Ships" chorus/harmonies is great here but I felt like the rest of the vocals sounded to uplifting for the lyrics. Nice reimagine but I prefer the CSN version.
This version has more of a vibe to it than CSNY - Airplane as a band were better musicians except maybe for Steven. Jorma wah wah fuzzing his way around.. Worst of the Jefferson Airplane album is still in my apple tunes rotation 50+ years later.