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Long John Silver (album)

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Long John Silver
JA LongJohnSilver-Vinyl.JPG
Studio album by
ReleasedJuly 20, 1972
RecordedMarch – May 1972
Studio Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco
Genre Psychedelic rock
Length41:25
Label Grunt/RCA Records
Producer Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane chronology
Bark
(1971)
Long John Silver
(1972)
Thirty Seconds Over Winterland
(1973)
Alternative cover
Jaljs.jpg
Paper sleeve that came with the original vinyl LP release
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Christgau's Record Guide C+ [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Rolling Stone (not rated) [4]

Long John Silver is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, and their last album of all new material until 1989. It was recorded and released in 1972 as Grunt FTR-1007.

Contents

Recording history

After several solo projects for Grunt Records, the members of Jefferson Airplane (including Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Joey Covington and Papa John Creach) came together again in March 1972 for the first time in the studio since the Bark album was released in September 1971. Sessions at Wally Heider Studios continued for nearly three months, but tensions were high and several songs were recorded by each member recording their own part separately. [5] David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young participated in the recording sessions, but Crosby's vocals were stripped from the record at the insistence of his label.

Joey Covington left the band during the sessions (accounts vary as to whether Covington was involuntarily dismissed); reflecting the balkanized milieu, veteran session drummer John Barbata (formerly of The Turtles and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) and Hot Tuna's Sammy Piazza deputized for the rest of the recording process. Barbata ultimately replaced Covington, playing on all but three songs.

Recording was completed in May, 1972; before the album's scheduled July release, RCA Records demanded that the band remove a line from the song "The Son of Jesus" electronically, which referred to a "bastard son of Jesus". [6] Live performances of the song had the offending line intact.

Release and promotion

Released on the band's Grunt Records imprint, the album was Jefferson Airplane's least successful effort since their 1966 debut, only peaking at No. 20 on the Billboard album chart.

In July, the band began a two-month tour of the United States, their first major tour since 1970. It featured a new line-up including Kantner, Slick, Kaukonen, Casady, Creach, Barbata and former Quicksilver Messenger Service bassist David Freiberg as an additional vocalist/percussionist. A close friend of Kantner from the early 1960s American folk music revival scene, Freiberg took over Marty Balin's harmony parts and selected leads on ensemble efforts (most notably "Wooden Ships") and "tried to keep the band together." [5] The tour ended in September at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, with Balin joining for an encore. Live performances from the Chicago Auditorium Theatre and Winterland were released on the live album Thirty Seconds Over Winterland in 1973.

Original vinyl release

The original vinyl LP release (1972) featured an album cover that folded up into a replica of a cigar box. The record sleeve bore an image of cigars; this image was later used as cover art on CD releases. The inside bottom of the box was covered with a photograph of marijuana.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Grace Slick, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Long John Silver"  Jack Casady 4:22
2."Aerie (Gang of Eagles)" Slick3:53
3."Twilight Double Leader" Paul Kantner Kantner4:42
4."Milk Train"  Papa John Creach, Roger Spotts3:18
5."The Son of Jesus"KantnerKantner5:27
Side two
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Easter?" Slick4:00
2."Trial by Fire" Jorma Kaukonen Kaukonen4:31
3."Alexander the Medium"KantnerKantner6:38
4."Eat Starch Mom" Kaukonen4:34

Personnel

Jefferson Airplane
Additional personnel

Production

  • Jefferson Airplane – producer, arrangements
  • Pat "Maurice the Magnificent" Ieraci – production coordinator
  • Don Gooch – engineer
  • Steve Barncard – special thanks
  • Pacific Eye & Ear – album concept, album design
  • Bob Tanenbaum, Propella Rotini – illustrations
  • Bruce Kinch – photography
  • Borris – weed. AKA Mike Trudnich
  • Recorded at the Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco

Charts

Album

YearChartPosition
1972 Billboard Pop Albums20

Single

YearSingleChartPosition
1972"Long John Silver"Billboard Pop Singles102

Notes

  1. Planer, Lindsay (2011). "Long John Silver – Jefferson Airplane | AllMusic". allmusic. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: J". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved February 27, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  4. Bangs, Lester (2011). "Jefferson Airplane: Long John Silver : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on March 12, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. 1 2 Tamarakin, Jeff (2003). Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   0-671-03403-0.
  6. Sims, Judith (December 7, 1972). "Jefferson Airplane Tries Shock Rock". Rolling Stone . Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. (123): 14.

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