Jim Gilmour

 

 

 

Great Escape

 

Since 1980, Jim Gilmour (not related to David Gilmour) has had the keyboard duties for one of the most interesting and enduring bands in prog rock music, namely Saga. He also does the backing and sometimes lead vocals for Saga, as well as being one of the songwriters for the band. Now Jim goes it all the way on this new solo album following upon his solo album from 1997 called Instrumental Encounters.

On this second solo album you can listen to five instrumental tracks and five with vocals. The music and words on this CD were written with the help of images and experiences Jim had on his excursions in the Canadian wilderness. That is probably the reason why the entire album sounds a lot like film music, some songs could perhaps even by used as a soundtrack for a "romantic" movie…..

For me the keyboards dominate too much and I would rather have liked it if Jim would have stayed closer to the Saga sound. Just the opening song reminds me of good old Saga, meaning real prog rock with lots of guitar and keys, scrambled together into a great catchy melody. During the keyboard passages in songs like Algonquin, No Sign and Canoe Do It?, Gilmour sounds like keyboard giants such as Jordan Rudess, Kevin Moore, Patrick Moraz or Richard Andersson. The vocals on this album are definitely NOT to my liking as they are far too sweet and poppy. Further I really do not enjoy the piano improvisation Carden Isle and the last five minutes of Last Portage, which also only consists of piano "exercises".

Best tracks are No Sign, Algonquin, Canoe Do It? and the first 6 minutes of Last Portage. But as I already said before, the album is too much dominated by keyboards, making it perhaps an essential listening for all keyboard players in the world???? The true Saga fans, like yours truly, should first listen very carefully to this album before buying it.

Tracklist: No Sign (7:19), Algonquin (5:30), Lost Among The Way (5:12), Killarney Sunrise (4:42), The Northwind (4:01), Radiant Lake (4:41), Carden Isle (3:44), Wasteland (2:59), Canoe Do It? (5:27), Last Portage (13:28)

 

 

Jing Chi

 

 

 

3 D

 

Jing Chi are a veritable supergroup comprising a trio of top-notch musicians whose combined CV reads like an A to Z of popular music. Bassist and ringleader Jimmy Haslip started his career in Tommy Bolin's band of the mid 1970s and has since contributed to albums by the likes of Steely Dan, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Rod Stewart and Cher. Guitarist Robben Ford has bent the old six string for the likes of Joni Mitchell, Little Feet and Ricki Lee Jones as well as being a prolific solo artist, while drummer Vinnie Colaiuta is ubiquitous: Frank Zappa, Sting, Stevie Nicks, John McLaughlin and Chick Corea (to name but a few) have all benefited from his precise and inventive playing.

The trio came together in 2001 to release their self-titled debut album which was followed up by a live album in 2003. For the latest release, the band have gone for a harder edged approach, drawing influence from '60s rock icons Cream, Hendrix's Band Of Gypsies and The Allman Brothers. The result is eight original instrumentals and a remarkable cover version of Blind Willie Johnson's 1927 classic It's Nobody's Fault But Mine, where the trio are joined by blues icon Robert Cray who sings and adds additional guitar. The album niftily defies categorisation, incorporating blues, rock, tinges of fusion and elements of the jam-based bands resulting in a collection of tunes that will find favour across a broad spectrum of musical disciplines.

Opener Colonel Panic sets a heavy tone where the Cream influences stand out and superbly displays the individual talents of the three protagonists - it's as if all three decided to play a solo for five minutes and then they combined the results (indeed, it's the only track where all three musicians are credited as composers). Chi Town is rather mellower with flowing guitar lines from Ford underpinned by some simple synth lines played by Haslip. Move On is a simple, melodic tune, in complete contrast to the fusion drenched Hidden Treasure on which the renowned Larry Goldings guests on organ. Time Is A Magazine takes King Crimson's Red as a template, twisting it about resulting in another heavier number with funky overtones. On this track Ford's wah-wah pedal is put into overdrive and he even loans it to Haslip who dishes out some amazing bass playing.

A couple of blues numbers takes the tempo down a notch with Ford once again taking the plaudits for his work on Mezzanine Blues (which also features the soprano sax of Steve Tavaglione) and Larry Goldings making his organ's presence known on Blues Alley. The extended nature of It's Nobody's Fault But Mine means that, despite being the only track to feature vocals, the majority of the song is actually instrumental. Ford and Cray combine well with some precise playing that manages to maintain a loose, jamming feel to it. Thrown into the mix are some rather ambient textures and also a further nod to Cream with the inclusion of the guitar riff to Spoonful midway through the song. Tangled Up ends the album as it began, a charged instrumental that more than adequately demonstrates just how good the three musicians are and how well the combine.

All-in-all an exciting album of superb playing demonstrating why Ford, Colaiuta and Haslip are amongst the most in-demand session musicians. Despite the antipathy of some people towards instrumental music, 3D is worthy of a place in the record collections of a wide cross selection of music lovers.

Tracklist: Colonel Panic (5:15), Chi Town (6:05), [3hui (Good Men) (1:44)], Move On (4:00), [Zest (0:19)], Hidden Treasure (6:23), [Ki 3i (All Things Are Well Established) (1:12)], Time Is A Magazine (4:38), Mezzanine Blues (5:10), Blues Alley (7:40), [3in (The Sun Shines Clear And Bright) (0:59)], It's Nobody's Fault But Mine (13:22), [Wires (1:16)], Tangled Up (6:04)
Tracks in square brackets are ambient linking pieces

 

 

Jefferson Airplane

 

 

 

Jefferson Airplane formed in San Francisco during the summer of 1965, emerging from the San Francisco Bay folk music boom. Although the Airplane was considered the pre-eminent San Francisco group of the period, Paul Kantner was the only native San Franciscan in the band.

The group's founder was singer Marty Balin, who had established a minor career as a pop singer in the early Sixties and had made several recordings under his own name. In mid-1965 Balin raised funds to open a night club, The Matrix.

Balin met folk musician Paul Kantner at another local club, the Drinking Gourd. Kantner had started out performing on the Bay Area folk circuit in the early 1960s, alongside fellow folkies Jerry Garcia, David Crosby and Janis Joplin. He has cited folk group The Kingston Trio as a strong early influence. Kantner briefly moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1964 to work in a folk duo with future Airplane/Starship member David Freiberg (who subsequently joined Quicksilver Messenger Service).

After Balin recruited Kantner, the two set about selecting other musicians to form the house band at the Matrix. After Balin heard female vocalist Signe Toly Anderson at the Drinking Gourd, he invited her to be the group's co-lead singer. Anderson sang with the band for a year, departing in late 1966 after the birth of her first child.

Kantner next recruited an old friend, blues guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. Originally from Washington, DC, Kaukonen had moved to California in the early 1960s and had met Kantner while at Santa Clara University in 1962. Kaukonen was invited to jam with the new band and although initially reluctant to join, was won over after playing his guitar through a tape delay device that was part of the sound system used by Ken Kesey for his Acid Test parties. The original lineup was completed by drummer Jerry Peloquin and acoustic bassist Bob Harvey.

The origin of the group's name is often disputed. "Jefferson airplane" is slang for a used paper match split to hold a marijuana joint that has been smoked too short to hold without burning the hands - an improvised roach clip . An urban legend claims this was the origin of the band's name, but according to band member Jorma Kaukonen, the name was invented by his friend Steve Talbot as a parody of blues names such as Blind Lemon Jefferson. [2] A 2007 press release quoted Kaukonen as saying:

"I had this friend [Talbot] in Berkeley who came up with funny names for people," explains Kaukonen. "His name for me was Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane (for blues pioneer Blind Lemon Jefferson). When the guys were looking for band names and nobody could come up with something, I remember saying, 'You want a silly band name? I got a silly band name for you!'"

 

 

 

The group made its first public appearance at the opening night of The Matrix club on 13 August 1965. The band drew inspiration from The Beatles, The Byrds and The Lovin' Spoonful, gradually developing a more pop-oriented electric sound.

A few weeks after the group was formed, Peloquin departed, in part because of his disdain for the others' drug use. Although he was not a drummer, singer-guitarist Skip Spence (who later founded Moby Grape) was then invited to replace Peloquin. In October 1965, after the other members decided that Harvey's bass playing was not up to par, Harvey was replaced by guitarist-bassist Jack Casady, an old friend of Kaukonen's from Washington. Casady played his first gig with the Airplane at a college concert in Berkeley, California, two weeks after he arrived in San Francisco.

The group's performing skills improved rapidly and they gained a following in and around San Francisco, aided by reviews from veteran music journalist Ralph J. Gleason, the jazz critic of the San Francisco Chronicle; after seeing the band at the Matrix in late 1965 he proclaimed them "one of the best bands ever." Gleason's support raised the band's profile greatly, and within three months their manager Matthew Katz was fielding offers from record companies, although they had yet to perform outside the Bay Area.

Two significant early concerts featuring the Airplane were held in late 1965. The first was the dance at the Longshoremen's Hall in San Francisco on 16 October 1965, the first of many happenings in the Bay Area, and it was here that Ralph Gleason first saw the Airplane. At this concert they were supported by a local folk-rock group, The Great Society, which featured Grace Slick as lead singer. Kantner met her for the first time that night. A few weeks later, on 6 November, they headlined a benefit concert for the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the first of many engagements for rising entrepreneur Bill Graham, who became their manager.

In November 1965 Jefferson Airplane signed a recording contract with RCA Victor, which included an unheard-of advance of $25,000. On December 10, 1965 the group played at the first Bill Graham show at the Fillmore ballroom, supported by The Great Society and others. The Airplane also appeared at Family Dog shows promoted by Chet Helms.

The group's first single was Balin's "It's No Secret" (a tune he had written with Otis Redding in mind); the B-side was "Runnin' Round The World", the song that led to the band's first major clash with RCA.

After the Airplane's debut LP Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was completed in March 1966, Skip Spence quit the band. He was eventually replaced by Spencer Dryden, who played his first show with the Airplane at the Berkeley Folk Festival on July 4, 1966.

 

 

 

 

Manager Matthew Katz was fired in August -- causing legal fallout that continued for years -- and Balin's friend and roommate Bill Thompson was installed as permanent road manager and temporary band manager. Thompson, a friend and ally of the band, was a former Chronicle staffer who had convinced reviewers Ralph Gleason and John Wasserman to see the band. Thanks to Gleason's influence, Thompson was able to book the group for appearances at the Berkeley Folk Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was released in September 1966. The folk-music-influenced album included John D. Loudermilk's "Tobacco Road" and Dino Valente's "Let's Get Together", as well as original ballads "It's No Secret" and "Come Up the Years." The LP garnered considerable attention in the USA and became a gold album. RCA initially pressed only 15,000 copies, but it sold more than 10,000 in San Francisco alone, prompting the label to reprint it. For the reprinting, the company deleted "Runnin' Round This World" (which had appeared on early mono pressings), because executives objected to the word "trip" in the lyrics. For similar reasons, RCA also substituted altered versions for two other tracks: "Let Me In," changing the line "you shut your door; you know where" to "you shut your door; now it ain't fair" and "Run Around," changing the line "flowers that sway as you lay under me" to "flowers that sway as you stay here by me". The original pressings of Takes Off featuring "Runnin' 'Round The World" and the uncensored tracks of "Let Me In" and "Run Around" are now worth thousands of dollars.

 

 

Signe Anderson gave birth to her daughter in May 1966, and in October announced her departure. Her final gig with the Airplane took place at the Fillmore on 15 October 1966. The following night, her replacement Grace Slick made her first appearance. Slick, a former model, was already known to the band - she had attended the Airplane's debut gig at the Matrix in 1965 and her previous group, The Great Society, had often supported the Airplane in concert.

 

 

Grace Slick i før og nå utgave, og det er temmelig åpenbart at ungdommelighet er et forbigående fenomen for alle oss som enda ikke har funnet ungdomskilden!

 

Slick's recruitment proved pivotal to the Airplane's commercial breakthrough — she possessed a powerful and supple contralto voice, well-suited to the group's amplified psychedelic music, she was good looking, and her stage presence greatly enhanced the group's live impact.

 

 

The Great Society had recorded an early version of "Somebody To Love" (under the title "Someone To Love") as the B-side of their only single, "Free Advice"; it was produced by Sylvester Stewart (soon to become Sly Stone) but it reportedly took more than 50 takes to achieve a satisfactory rendition. The Great Society decided to split up in late 1966 and played its last show on September 11. Soon after, Slick was asked to join Jefferson Airplane by Jack Casady (whose musicianship was a major influence on her decision) and her Great Society contract was bought out for $750.

In December 1966 Jefferson Airplane was featured in a Newsweek article about the booming San Francisco music scene, one of the first in an avalanche of similar reports that prompted a massive influx of young people to the city and contributed to the commercialization and exploitation of the hippie culture.

Around the beginning of 1967 Bill Graham took over from Bill Thompson as manager. In January the group traveled to Los Angeles to record the tracks for their next LP, and also made their first visit to the East Coast. On January 14, alongside The Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane headlined the now-legendary "Human Be-In", the famous all-day 'happening' staged in Golden Gate Park, one of the key events leading up to the "Summer of Love."

During this period the band gained their first international recognition when rising British pop star Donovan, who saw them during his stint on the US West Coast in early 1966, mentioned the Airplane in his song "The Fat Angel," which subsequently appeared on his Sunshine Superman LP.

The group's second LP, Surrealistic Pillow, recorded in Los Angeles with producer Rick Jarrard in only thirteen days at a cost of $8000, launched the Airplane to international fame. Released in February 1967, the LP entered the Billboard album chart on March 25 and remained there for over a year, peaking at #3. Alongside The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, it is widely regarded as one of the seminal albums of the "Summer of Love." The name Surrealistic Pillow was suggested by the 'shadow' producer of the album, Jerry Garcia, when he mentioned that, as a whole, the album sounded "as Surrealistic as a pillow." Although the record company would not acknowledge Garcia's considerable contributions to the album with a "Producer" credit, he is listed in the album's credits as "spiritual advisor."

In addition to the group's two best-known tracks, "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love," the album featured "My Best Friend" by former drummer Skip Spence, Balin's driving "Plastic Fantastic Lover," and the atmospheric Balin-Kantner ballad "Today." A reminder of their earlier folk incarnation was Kaukonen's solo acoustic guitar tour de force, "Embryonic Journey" (his first composition), which referenced contemporary acoustic guitar masters such as John Fahey and helped to establish the popular genre exemplified by acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke.

 

 

 

 

The first single from the album, Spence's "My Best Friend," failed to chart, but the next two singles rocketed the group to prominence. Both "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" become major US hits when released as singles -- the former reaching #5 and the latter #8 on the Billboard singles chart -- and by late 1967 the Airplane were national and international stars and had become one of the hottest (and highest-paid) groups in America.

This phase of the Airplane's career peaked with their famous performance at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. Monterey showcased leading bands from several major music "scenes" including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the United Kingdom, and the resulting TV and film coverage gave national (and international) exposure to groups that had previously had only regional fame. Two songs from the Airplane's set were subsequently included in the D.A. Pennebaker film documentary of the event.

The Airplane also benefitted greatly from appearances on nationally syndicated TV shows such as Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show. The Airplane's famous appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour performing "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" was videotaped in color and augmented by developments in video techniques. It has been frequently re-screened and is notable for its pioneering use of the Chroma key process to simulate the Airplane's psychedelic light show. The membership of Jefferson Airplane remained relatively stable from 1967 to 1970. During that period they recorded five more albums and performed extensively in the USA and Europe. The group's music underwent a significant transformation after Surrealistic Pillow, however. Key influences on the group's new direction were the popularity and success of Jimi Hendrix and the British supergroup Cream, which prompted the Airplane (like many other groups) to adopt a 'heavier' sound and to place a greater emphasis on improvisation.

The band's third LP, After Bathing at Baxter's, was released on 27 November 1967 and eventually peaked in the charts at #17. Its famous cover, drawn by renowned artist and cartoonist Ron Cobb depicts a Heath Robinson-inspired flying machine soaring about the chaos of American commercial culture.

Recorded over more than four months, with little interference from the nominal producer Al Schmitt, the new album demonstrated the group's growing engagement with psychedelic rock. Where the previous LP had consisted entirely of standard-length songs, was dominated by long multi-part suites. It also marked the emergence of Kantner and Slick as the band's major composers and the concurrent decline in the influence and involvement of founder Marty Balin. Among other reasons, Balin was becoming increasingly disenchanted with the "star trips" and inflated egos produced by the band's runaway commercial success.

Baxter's also marked the end of the Airplane's brief run of success on the singles chart. While both "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love" were US Top 10 hits, the only single from Baxter's, "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil", peaked at #43. None of the band's subsequent singles made it into the Top 50 and several did not chart at all.

Despite this, Jefferson Airplane continued to enjoy significant success as "album" artists. Between 1967 and 1972 they scored a run of eight consecutive Top 20 albums in the USA, with both Surrealistic Pillow and Crown of Creation making the Top 10.

In February 1968 manager Bill Graham was fired after Grace Slick delivered an "either he goes or I go" ultimatum to the group. Bill Thompson took over as permanent manager and set about consolidating the group's financial security, establishing Icebag Corp. to oversee the band's publishing interests and purchasing a 20-room mansion at 2400 Fulton Street across from Golden Gate Park near the Haight-Ashbury district, which became the band's office and communal residence.

 

 

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The Airplane undertook their first major tour of Europe in mid-to-late 1968, co-headlining with The Doors in the Netherlands, England, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. In a notorious incident at a concert in Amsterdam, while the Airplane was performing "Plastic Fantastic Lover," a heavily intoxicated Jim Morrison appeared on stage and began dancing. As the group played faster and faster, Morrison spun around wildly until he finally fell senseless on the stage at Marty Balin's feet. (Not surprisingly, Morrison was unable to perform his set with the Doors and Ray Manzarek was forced to sing all the vocals[citation needed].)

Jefferson Airplane's fourth LP, Crown of Creation (released in September 1968), was a huge commercial success, peaking at #6 on the album chart. Grace Slick's "Lather", which opens the album, is said to be about her affair with drummer Spencer Dryden. "Triad", a David Crosby piece, had been rejected by The Byrds because they deemed its subject matter (a ménage à trois) to be too "hot" to record. Slick's searing sex and drug anthem "Greasy Heart" had been released as a single in March 1968. Several tracks recorded for the LP were left off the album, including the freeform Grace Slick/Frank Zappa collaboration "Would You Like A Snack?"

In February 1969 RCA released the live album Bless Its Pointed Little Head, which was culled from late 1968 live concert performances at the Fillmore West on October 24-26 and the Fillmore East on November 28-30. It became the Airplane's fourth Top 20 album, peaking at #17.

In early August 1969, a few days after the band headlined at a free concert in New York's Central Park, they performed in what Grace Slick called an early "morning maniac music" slot at the Woodstock festival, for which the group was joined by noted British session keyboard player Nicky Hopkins. When interviewed about Woodstock by Jeff Tamarkin in 1992, Paul Kantner still recalled it with fondness, although Grace Slick and Spencer Dryden had less than rosy memories.

Immediately after their Woodstock performance, the band played a live concert on The Dick Cavett Show; then sessions began for their next album, Volunteers, using new 16-track facilities at the Wally Heider Studio in San Francisco. This proved to be the last album by the "classic" lineup of the group. Released in the USA in November 1969, Volunteers continued the Airplane's run of Top 20 LPs, peaking at #13 early in 1970. It was their most political venture, showcasing the group's vocal opposition to the Vietnam War and documenting their reaction to the changing political atmosphere in the United States. Tracks included "Volunteers," "We Can Be Together," "Good Shepherd," and the post-apocalyptic "Wooden Ships", which Paul Kantner co-wrote with David Crosby and Stephen Stills and which Crosby, Stills & Nash also recorded on their debut album.

RCA voiced objections to the phrase "up against the wall, motherfucker" in the lyrics of Kantner's song "We Can Be Together," but the group managed to prevent it from being censored, pointing out that RCA had already allowed the offending word to be included on the cast album of the rock musical Hair.

In December the Airplane played at the Altamont Free Concert held at the Altamont Speedway in California. Headlined by The Rolling Stones, the concert was marred by violence. Marty Balin was knocked out during a scuffle with Hells Angels members who had been hired to act as "security". The event became notorious for the now-famous "Gimme Shelter Incident": the fatal stabbing of black teenager Meredith Hunter in front of the stage by Hells Angels "guards" after he pulled out a revolver during the Stones' performance. (This incident was the centerpiece of the documentary film Gimme Shelter.)

Spencer Dryden quit the band in February 1970, burned out by four years on the "acid merry-go-round" and deeply disillusioned by the events of Altamont, which, he later recalled, "... did not look like a bunch of happy hippies in streaming colors. It looked more like sepia-toned Hieronymus Bosch." He took time off and later returned to music in 1972 as a drummer for the Grateful Dead spin-off band New Riders of the Purple Sage. Dryden's replacement was Joey Covington, an L.A. musician who had been sitting in with Hot Tuna during 1969.

Touring continued through early 1970 but the group's only new recording that year was the single, "Have You Seen the Saucers?" b/w "Mexico". "Mexico" was an attack on then President Richard Nixon's Operation Intercept, which had been implemented to curtail the flow of marijuana into the United States. "Have You Seen the Saucers" marked the beginning of a science-fiction obsession that Kantner would explore with his music over the rest of the decade.

During 1969 Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen launched their side project, a return to their blues roots, which they eventually dubbed Hot Tuna. This began as a duo, with the pair performing short sets before the main Airplane concert, but over the ensuing months other members of the Airplane, as well as outside musicians (including Joey Covington), often sat in for Hot Tuna performances.

During late 1969 Casady and Kaukonen recorded an all-acoustic blues album, which was released in the spring of 1970. This initial Hot Tuna album was remarkably successful, reaching #30 on the US album chart. Over the next two years, Hot Tuna began to occupy more and more of Casady's and Kaukonen's time, contributing to the growing divisions within Jefferson Airplane that would come to a head during 1972.

The Hot Tuna project also led to the addition of a new band member. Covington had met veteran jazz-blues violinist Papa John Creach in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s; he invited Creach to sit in with the Airplane for a concert at Winterland in San Francisco on October 5, 1970. As a result, Creach was immediately invited to join Hot Tuna and became a permanent member of the Airplane in time for their fall tour.

The Winterland concert also marked a turning point of another kind for the Airplane -- it was a memorial for their old friend Janis Joplin, who had died in Los Angeles from a heroin overdose the previous day. Because of her death, her close friend Marty Balin refused to perform with the band that night.

 

 

 

During this period, Paul Kantner had been working on his first solo album, a science fiction-themed project recorded with members of the Airplane and other friends. It was released in December 1970 under the title Blows Against The Empire, and credited to "Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship". This "prototype" version of Jefferson Starship included David Crosby and Graham Nash, Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart, and Airplane members Grace Slick, Joey Covington, and Jack Casady.

Jefferson Airplane ended 1970 with their traditional Thanksgiving Day engagement at the Fillmore East (the final performance of the short-lived Kantner/Balin/Slick/Kaukonen/Casady/Creach/Covington line-up) and the release of their first compilation album, The Worst of Jefferson Airplane, which continued their unbroken run of chart success, reaching #12 on the Billboard album chart.

1971 was a year of major upheaval for Jefferson Airplane. Grace Slick and Paul Kantner had begun a relationship during 1970, and on January 25, 1971 their daughter China Wing Kantner was born. Grace's divorce from her first husband had come through shortly before this, but she and Kantner agreed that they did not wish to marry.

In March 1971, Airplane's founder and co-lead singer Marty Balin decided to leave the band officially after months of isolation from the others. Although he had remained part of the band's live performances after the band's creative direction shifted from the brooding love songs that he specialized in, an emerging drinking problem, compounded by the evolution of the polarized Kantner/Slick and Kaukonen/Casady cliques, had finally left him the odd man out. He had also been deeply affected by the death of his friend Janis Joplin and had begun to pursue a healthier lifestyle; Balin's study of yoga and abstention from drugs and alcohol further distanced him from the other members of the group, whose prodigious drug intake continued unabated. This further complicated the recording of their long-overdue follow-up to Volunteers. Balin had recently completed several new songs, including "Emergency" and the elongated R&B-infused "You Wear Your Dresses Too Short" (both of which would later see the light of day on archival releases).

On May 13, 1971, Grace Slick was injured in a near-fatal automobile crash when her car slammed into a wall in a tunnel near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Her recuperation took several months, forcing the Airplane to cancel most of their concert and touring commitments for 1971.