Bless Its Pointed Little Head

by Jefferson Airplane

Overview

Jefferson Airplane's first live album demonstrated the group's development as concert performers, taking a number of songs that had been performed in concise, pop-oriented versions on their early albums -- "3/5's of a Mile in 10 Seconds," "Somebody to Love," "It's No Secret," "Plastic Fantastic Lover" -- and rendering them in arrangements that were longer, harder rocking, and more densely textured, especially in terms of the guitar and basslines constructed by Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady. The group's three-part vocal harmonizing and dueling was on display during such songs as a nearly seven-minute version of Fred Neil's folk-blues standard "The Other Side of This Life," here transformed into a swirling rocker. The album emphasized the talents of Kaukonen and singer Marty Balin over the team of Paul Kantner and Grace Slick, who had tended to dominate recent records: the blues song "Rock Me Baby" was a dry run for Hot Tuna, the band Kaukonen and Casady would form in two years, and Balin turned in powerful vocal performances on several of his own compositions, notably "It's No Secret." Jefferson Airplane was still at its best in concise, driving numbers, rather than in the jams on Donovan's "Fat Angel" (running seven-and-a-half minutes) or the group improv "Bear Melt" (over eleven minutes); they were just too intense to stretch out comfortably. But Bless Its Pointed Little Head served an important function in the group's discography, demonstrating that their live work had a distinctly different focus and flavor from their studio recordings. [The 2004 reissue of the record includes three previously unreleased bonus tracks recorded November 5, 1969 at the Fillmore West: "Today," "Watch Her Ride" and "Won't You Try Saturday Afternoon" (here titled only "Won't You Try").]~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	06/22/2004
Label:	Bmg Heritage / Rca
UPC:	0828766164329

Tracks

1. Clergy
2. 3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds
3. Somebody to Love
4. Fat Angel
5. Rock Me Baby
6. The Other Side of This Life
7. It's No Secret
8. Plastic Fantastic Lovers
9. Turn out the Lights
10. Bear Melt
11. Today
12. Watch Her Ride
13. Won't You Try

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jefferson Airplane   Primary Artist
Jorma Kaukonen   Vocals,Guitar
Grace Slick   Keyboards,Vocals
Jack Casady   Bass
Paul Kantner   Vocals,Guitar
Spencer Dryden   Drums
Marty Balin   Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

Richie Schmitt   Engineer
Darby Slick   Composer
Bill Lacey   Audio Restoration
Donovan   Composer
Jefferson Airplane   Arranger
Jorma Kaukonen   Composer
Jeff Tamarkin   Liner Notes
Grace Slick   Composer
Fred Neil   Composer
Jack Casady   Composer
Joe Josea   Composer
B.B. King   Composer
Paul Kantner   Composer
Frankie Pezzella   Project Manager
Al Schmitt   Producer
Paul Williams   Reissue Supervisor
Mike Hartry   Transfers
Donovan Leitch   Composer
Spencer Dryden   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Marty Balin   Composer