1970_02 The Daily Collegian February 1970

              E DAILY COLLEGIAN    Thursday, Ft
There are time* wbencri- "
tlctsm passes beyond
evaluation and becomes
advertising, the review
becomes a "hype," and
one statement a 'plug.* This is
The Jefferson Airplane has created an album that ls so rich ln conception
and so perfect In its Implementation that little can be said In the
way of 'critical analysis,* only:
Dig U!
Very   few  artists or groups
perform on such a high level that
dealing with their recorded work
is more a matter of assimilation
of  something   far beyond your
capaclUes as a listener (much
less as a writer): the Judge be-
Judged. 'Beggars'
Banquet*   was   such an album,
Dylan's stuff, the Beatles'. *The
Notorious Bird Brothers,* anything by the Band, 'Tommy, the
oflnvention, 'SurreaUs-
Plllow,' and now another one
Alrplane-*Vol-
of Amerika* (shortened
who did a generally lousy Job of recording and
pressing this album, to 'Volun-
RCA, the Airplane
through on top.
They got all the 'fucks* and
■shits* and 'motherfuckers' ln
lniact, they got by with all the
Stars U Stripes irreverence on
igs are
productls
perfect Airplane music, with the
added presence of Jerry Garcia,
Steve Stills, and David Crosby
contributing a broader spectrum
lano work of Nicky Hopkins inning a deserved comparison
dlh "Beggars' Banquet"(justhls
resence  guarantees  a similar
We  Can  Be Together*  ls a
' i  revolutionary
(Listen closely
ie same rhythm
lying the alternaUve melody
rlcs of 'Volunteers.*) Just
the hlppest thing I've ever"
ln  the way of 'political*
this song combines mill-
In Its verbal stance (We are
m in the eyes of Amerika/
order  to survive,  we steal,
.it,  lie,  forge, fuck, hid and
i, lawless,
hideous,   dangerous,  dirty, violent  and  young*) with a lyrical
kind of sentimentality ln the way
it is performed (the 'message*
of the vocals and Instrumental ls
expressed ln another stanza:
Come on all you people standing
around/ Our life's too fine to let
it die and/ We can be together),
everybody ln
his song, everybody young, and the advice ls
is  sound  as  can be:  All your
property Is'/ Target for
iur enemy/ And your enemy Is/
By now you've probably heard
he Airplane sings those fa-
Unes, *Up against the wall,
i they do;
but the way the statement ls handled In the context of this song
is  very  clever and Imaginative
indeed. It follows a brief pause
in the song and appears after the (
lines, Everything they sayweare
we are/ And we are very/ Proud
of ourselves, so that these specific lines are emphasized, and
sing like a piece of dialogue com -
with quotation marks. The
Airplane ls obviously more into
tearing down walls than putting
people up against them, and the
song ends with a positive state-
" cosmic revolution: We
must begin here and now/ A new
continent of earth and Are/ Tear
down the walls/ Come on now
getting higher and higher/ Tear
down the wallsi Outtaslght!
■Good Shepherd* opens with a
startling entrance by lead guitarist .lorma Kaukonen (bow
we've underrated him!) with a
repeated phrase so thick and
resonant that It sounds Uke an
electric saxophone. Both the mel-
Volunteers: the Airplane
creates a sound revolution
Look what's happening out ln the streets
Got a revolution      Got to revolution
Hey, I'm dancing down the streets
Got a revolution       Got to revolution
Ain't it amazing all Ihe people I meet
Got a revolution       Got to revolution
One generation got old
One generation got soul
This generation got no destination to hold
Pick up the cry! .
Hey now. It's time for you and
Got a revolution       Got to revolution
Come on now, we're marching to the sea
Got a revolution       Got to revolution
Who will take tt from you?
We wlU, and who are we?
We are Volunteers of Amerika
Volunteers of Amerika
Volunteers of Amerika
the Ups of everyone I meet/While
you're climbing up the chart/
Your band tost fell apart/1 guess
it from the scene - Well,
my friend, it's time for me to go/
I ]ust can't be late for my evening show/ You see, I've written
this tune/ And I hope that very
soon/ I'll be heard on Top 46
radio.) Put this one ln the same
very high class as the Stones''
rock song about rock songsters,
'Jigsaw Puzzle."
■Volunteers* ls the mover of
the set, a street fighting song If
ever there was one. Host folks
missed the boat on the Beatles/
Stones controversy over "Revolution" and 'Street Fighting
Man*; so freaked out were they
over the former that they stupidly embraced the latter for almost
all the things It was not, missing
both the muffled mlUtance of the
Beetle song and the,cold cynl-
clslm of the Stones tune. "Volun-
are reminiscent of the most recent music by the Velvet Under-
•The Farm* Is the biggest surprise of the album, one of two
country songs undoubtedly Inspired by the presence of Crosby
and Stills, and containing some
really fine pedal steel guitar by
Jerry Garcia, The Jefferson Airplane ls Just about the last rock
group I'd expect to find Uvlng on
a farm, but this song ls a hymn
to Just that kind of life.
•Hey Fredrick*lsGraceSlick's
done since 'White Rabbit.'In that
same vein of Spanish-Influenced,
Bolero-type building up of rhythmic Intensity, 'Fredrick'
matches some of Grace's freakiest lyrics as this maybe an anti-
speed song?-How many machine
men will you see before you/
Stop beUevlng that speed/ WIU
sUde down on you/ Like brakes
ln bad weather?) with one of the
most perfect singing Instruments
ln all of rock music on top of a
solo by Jorma (with wah-wah
pedal) that must beheard.asthey
say, to be beUeved. Toward the
end, the tempo ls halved and
doubled and everyone works their
balls off, Jorma's shouting,
screaming guitar over bass,
drums, and tambourine.
■Eskimo Blue Day" ls another
one of Grace's specialities-cold,
savage lyrics sung with eerie,
sustained vocal Unes and Ughtly
controlled vibrato. (Redwoods
talk to me/ Say It plainly/ The
human name/ Doesn't mean shit
to a tree!) "A Song for AU Seasons' ls the second country style
song, and Its lyrics faU Into the
category of Self-Criticlsm rock:
after castigating another rock
group for obtaining Success at
the price of internal stability
(Well, the word, my friend, you
know,  ls on the street/ It's on
EUROPE
One Way
CHARTER
JET FLIGHTS
August 4, 8 and 15
From San Francisco to
Frankfurt - August 26
Stockholm - August 30
Paris - September 7
A limited number of spaces
are available to faculty,
staff,   students  of  The
California State Colleges
Far*: $225 on* way
For Information:
Office of International
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, Calif. 94132
(415) 469-1044
EDmOFlDS
■2>^a^aJ^r,emas,Jma/SS9
1025 FULTON MAIL
tears* ls what ere tried to force
•Street Fighting Man' to be.
Evidently the Airplane knew
exactly what they were doing because thla song ls just over two
minutes long, guaranteeing convenient airplay (I beard It on an
Atlanta station followed by John
MayaU's 'Don't throw rocks at
policemen" thing!), and It ls so
simple ln Its lyric emphases and
It Insists on being a sing-along.
'Volunteers-ls the 1969 version
of 'Get Together' (a love/peace/
flowers song by the Youngbloods
now resurrected by RCA victor
years later), which the Airplane
recorded back ln the bey-days of
the Height. The distance between
the two songs ls the distance we
have travelled between the V-
slgn and the clenched fist.
The Jefferson Airplane loves
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.°Ke«D>afs belt «t saaaMs,                                        "s'-70
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