Cleared for Take Off

by Jefferson Airplane

Overview

British label Acrobat's Jefferson Airplane title Cleared for Take Offcontains live and (possibly) outtake material from the band's heyday, recorded circa 1966-67. The group runs through songs contained on its first two albums, Jefferson AirplaneTakes Off and Surrealistic Pillow, with a few curiosities. "Don't Let Me Down," never featured on a regular Jefferson Airplane album, is a nine-minute showcase for lead singer Marty Balin that gives way to improvisation. Lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen's "Come Back Baby," misnamed "Jorma's Blues," is a song that didn't get on to record until his spin-off band Hot Tuna's second LP First Pull Up, Then Pull Down, in 1971. "Thing" is an instrumental. While the disc may be legal technically, it is certainly unauthorized, and it suffers most of the disadvantages of bootlegs. The sound is often distorted; tracks start, stop, and fade abruptly; and the annotations are scant and sometimes inaccurate. (In particular, the song list is incorrect, with "She Has Funny Cars" shown as appearing as the fourth track when it is really the tenth track, and all the tracks from four to nine are thus off by one.) These major caveats accepted, a fervent Jefferson Airplane fan probably will want to hear these examples of what the group sounded like at their popular peak, particularly on the extended version of the hit "Somebody to Love," with vocal embellishments by Balin. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	11/06/2003
Label:	Acrobat Music
UPC:	0824046400125
Rank:	100723

Tracks

1. 3/5 of a Mile in Ten Seconds
2. Don't Let Me Down
3. Don't Slip Away
4. Get Together
5. High Flying Band
6. It's No Secret
7. Come Back Baby
8. Plastic Fantastic Lover
9. Running Round the World
10. She Has Funny Cars
11. Somebody to Love
12. The Other Side of This Life
13. Thing
14. Tobacco Road
15. Today
16. White Rabbit
17. You're Bringing Me Down
18. You're My Best Friend

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jefferson Airplane   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Marty Balin   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Paul Kantner   Composer
Jack Casady   Composer
Ernie K-Doe   Composer
Fred Neil   Composer
Grace Slick   Composer
John D. Loudermilk   Composer
Jorma Kaukonen   Arranger,Composer
Darby Slick   Composer
Neil Slaven   Liner Notes
Spencer Dryden   Composer
Skip Spence   Composer