Jefferson Airplane was one of the quintessential San Francisco Bay Area psychedelic rock bands in their hay-day. I couldn’t even count how many times I’ve listened to their sophomore album, Surrealistic Pillow (1967), which reached #3 on the charts, is certified platinum, and is a classic album representative of the time period. I also really dig Hot Tuna, a sort of spin-off band from Jefferson Airplane with Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, and Paul Katner at the beginning. I’ve not, however, listened to much other music from Jefferson Airplane. I figured I might as well check out their third album, After Bathing At Baxter’s (1967), tonight. Because the album was released the same year as Surrealistic Pillow (1967), I wanted to see how their sound sort of evolved from there. After Bathing At Baxter’s (1967) reached #17 on the Billboard album charts. According to the Wikipedia page for the album, “baxter” was Jefferson Airplane’s code word for LSD, which sort of paints the album title in a new light upon finding that out. With that said, I’m pretty stoked to give this one a listen, so I’m going to go ahead and jump on into the music.
“The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil” starts out with a nearly ominous guitar feedback sound, which resolves to a super tasty bopping psychedelic groove as the rest of the instruments drop into place. Oh wow, I really dig the upbeat, tight sort of feel that this tune is grooving with. The vocal performance has a ton of energy behind it from both Grace Slick and Paul Kantner. Oh wow, the band goes into a breakdown of sorts that brings a ton of great psychedelic rock flavor to the track. This song seems to be more psychedelic rock oriented with less folk elements than Surrealistic Pillow (1967). I’m really digging this one, and I’m stoked for the rest of the album.
Oh wow, “A Small Package of Value Will Come to You, Shortly” segues into things really nicely from the feedback at the end of the last track, and this one is a super scatterbrained mixture of chaotic sounds, with voices (without even necessarily forming words) seemingly splitting and rejoining throughout the soundscape as the instrumentation takes on a bit of a whimsical approach. Super interesting track.
“Young Girl Sunday Blues” segues in really nicely off the previous track, and has a super tasty psychedelic groove between the guitars, bass, and drums. All the instrumentation seems to move together as one cohesive unit – super sweet. Marty Balin’s high pitched vocals bring a really unique feel that reminds me a lot of listening to “Today” on Surrealistic Pillow. Wow, I really dig this tune. The band moves around and the jam evolves a ton in a very natural way. Great song.
“Martha” starts out with some gentle acoustic guitar, which seem to cue in some other instrumentation that all take a gentle approach to this one, with a sort of mellow playing with soft distortion from the electric guitar, and a really flowing bass line that climbs about the soundscape well, as the percussion takes an super subtle approach. The vocal lines in this one are sort of reminiscent of an English folk style, bringing an interesting flavor to the track and subsequently the album. Really sweet tune.
“Wild Thyme” starts out super nicely off the heels of the previous track, with some tasty electric guitar work from both the rhythm and lead guitars that sort of pick up in intensity as the tune continues along, with the bass and drums creating a sturdy rhythm section to work off of. Oh wow, the lead guitar work really goes into this track nicely with some super tasty licks. Oh wow, the quick drum break signals a super tasty movement in the track that picks up in intensity even further. Honestly this track is sort of reminiscent of the Grateful Dead of the same time period. Great track.
“The Last Wall of the Castle” starts out with some super tasty guitar that immediately reminds me of Hot Tuna, which is propped up nicely by the rockin’ drums behind the lead guitar work, as the rest of the band sort of forms a somewhat glidingly cohesive unit across the soundscape with some smooth psychedelic grooving. Oh wow, the instrumental breakdown in this one is awesome. Super tasty playing – great tune.
“Rejoyce” starts out with a sort of dark, ominous piano that is quickly joined by Grace Slick’s enchanting voice, reminiscent of the building style of “White Rabbit”. There’s some sparse, super tasty bass on the opposite side of the soundscape from the piano with some great fat sounding tone. Oh wow, the tune picks up at the cue of the rumblings of a low bass drum with some harpsichord, drums and an increase of intensity from the rest of the instrumentation. Oh wow, there’s a super interesting, almost snake-charming-like line from the recorder or some woodwind instrument. Oh wow, this tune is grooving really nicely at the moment, and as evolved a ton throughout the song. Great track.
“Watch Her Ride” starts out really nicely with some more fat bass and some grooving playing from the rhythm guitar which sort of lays down the tracks for the rest of the instrumentation, which the drums then seem to drive the tune down while the lead guitar really gets some great, tasty psychedelic licks in. This has a really sweet psychedelic rock groove to it. Oh wow, the vocal line from Grace Slick seems to guide the tune along as it trails off into the soundscape. Oh wow, the track comes to a bit of a crescendo at the outro and gently unwinds at the very end of the song. Great track.
“Spare Chaynge” picks up right where the previous track left off with some super exploratory playing from the bass and/or the rhythm guitar, with some sparse drums along the way, and a bit of feedback as well to introduce the lead guitar. This is super sweet, and reminds me a ton of the Grateful Dead’s “Dark Star”, which is a super exploratory jam tune that drives the psychedelic experience really nicely. Oh wow, the bass seems to be picking up on a bit of a groove, but nearly seems hesitant about expanding on the jam at first, until the lead guitar starts trading some lines with it, almost in a permissive sort of way – super sweet. I’m super into this track at the moment. Holy smokes, the electric guitar seems to be doing the same thing now, hesitantly starting a bit of a jam, until the bass expands on it a bit and the guitar begins to take it a bit further out. Holy smokes, the drums are picking up as well at the moment with this groove – super awesome. Wow, I really dig how the distortion seems to have gotten a bit crunchier throughout the tune. Oh wow, the bass dropped all the distortion and now has a clean repetitive rumbling on the right side of the soundscape, with the low bass drums traveling about the soundscape, and the guitar seems to be taking the groove further out with some tasty jamming. This track is sweet, and has steadily picked up on some semblance of structure as it reaches the outro of the track. Great song.
“Two Heads” starts out with a bit of raga inflection with what might be a sitar (possibly electric?), as the rest of the band gets a really sweet jam grooving around with some tasty acoustic guitar and bass that play off the drums to creating a really nice back and forth conversational tone in the rhythm section. Grace Slick creates a really nice mystifying sound with her voice as the rest of the instrumentation plays some sort of strange psychedelic jams around her. I really dig the vocals between Balin and Slick in the chorus section as well. Super sweet track.
Oh wow, “Won’t You Try/Saturday Afternoon” has a super warm, inviting feeling in this one that has some exploratory flavor that quickly resolves each time it seems to arise as the band seems to be tying up the playing on the album. This was the original final track of the album, everything after this one was from the 2003 CD reissue as bonus tracks. Oh wow, the piano has some incredibly great flavor as the bass notes ring nicely throughout the soundscape with some tasty accentuation to the bass and drums. Oh wow, the tune really eases to the end very tastily, and seems to wrap things up super nicely for what would be the original ending of the album. Great track.
“The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil (Alternate Version) [Bonus Track]” seems to take the feedback that the original version started with and seemingly multiply that tenfold, though the rest of the band drops into the track super nicely again as the feedback fades out. Oh wow, I really dig this little gentle acoustic guitar part (or possibly harpsichord?) that seems to be the main melodic part to this extended gentle psychedelic jam. Oh wow, the acoustic guitar/harpsichord part faded out to some super exploratory playing from the lead guitar and a super crunchy bass guitar, with the drums moving the track along with a nearly primal rhythm. Honestly, the fat and crunchy bass almost reminds me of TOOL a bit. Oh wow, the rest of the instrumentation is super interesting after that extended exploratory section, which seems to build on the nearly primal momentum built up from the jam. Oh wow, the lead guitar playing gets some super tasty licks in as the jam continues to build, with the rhythm guitar and fat bass guitar work together on one side to form a super tasty groove with the drums and what sounds to be a piano of some sort on the other side of the soundscape, with the lead guitar jamming in the middle. It almost sounds like there’s some wooden blocks tapping behind the rhythm guitar and bass guitar, but I think that’s actually noise from the strumming/plucking of the bass – super awesome. Wow, this jam seems to keep on giving – I’m really digging it. Oh wow, when the band returns to the main chorus at the outro it feels like a great deal of traveling occurred throughout the jams in the tune, as the track wraps up quite nicely. Great track.
“Martha (Mono Single Version) [Bonus Track]” has a super great flavor right away with the acoustic guitar and a massive sound from the bass guitar in this mono mix. Oh wow, the electric guitar has nearly enchanting sound as it mingles amongst the bass guitar and acoustic guitar in the soundscape. The sparse percussion in the form of what sound to be some wooden blocks or something of a simple nature seems to gently keep the track flowing – super sweet. Great song.
“Two Heads (Alternate Version) [Bonus Track]” starts out with that raga sound again, which gives way to some pleasant acoustic guitar and some great grooves from the bass guitar and electric guitar. Oh wow, there’s a super interesting feel in the bridge (or maybe pre-chorus) to this track, which brings in some really interesting, nearly medieval flavors with the harpsichord sounding instrumentation – awesome. Oh wow, the tune seems to unravel on itself at the end – super sweet. Great tune.
“Things Are Better In the East (Marty’s Acoustic Demo) [Bonus Track]” has a super tasty, delicate sound with the strumming of the acoustic guitar, which sort of flows along really nicely with Balin’s vocals in this one. Balin’s vocal performance is as deep in pitch as I’ve ever noticed them to be, but still hit a ton of great high notes as the track continues. Oh wow, the acoustic guitar playing gets super flavorful as the playing becomes nearly rough at times with buzzing introduced at times. Holy smokes, the acoustic guitar part fades out to silence for a moment before a super tasty psychedelic groove from the whole band joins in the soundscape. The piano moves between a couple different lines with a nearly bluesy flavor, while the lead guitar really goes in on the track and the bass and rhythm guitar seem to coalesce on the other side of the soundscape to create a groovy rhythm section, with the drums and piano playing very tightly with one another very near the rhythm guitar and bass. Holy smokes, this instrumental jam part is super sweet. Great track, and super tasty way to tie the album up.
Wow, this album is pretty awesome. There are plenty of tracks from this one I’ll be revisiting soon. I’m glad I finally gave Jefferson Airplane a bit of a deeper dive as opposed to listening to Surrealistic Pillow over and over (though Surrealistic Pillow is an excellent album in its own right). This album is noticeably more psychedelic rock oriented and less folk oriented than Surrealistic Pillow, though there are still some elements from folk rock present throughout this album. There are some great extended psychedelic rock jams throughout that have a sound that reminds me a fair deal of the Grateful Dead, another Bay area psychedelic rock band from the same time period. If you dig psychedelic rock from the 1960s and haven’t given a closer look at Jefferson Airplane and/or haven’t listened to this album yet, you might want to consider checking this album out. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A