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Jefferson Airplane: The Woodstock Experience

Jefferson Airplane - Jefferson Airplane: The Woodstock Experience Audio CD

A fair review of the Jefferson Airplane "Jefferson Airplane: The Woodstock Experience" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Jefferson Airplane reviews here, or go back to the Jefferson Airplane tabs.

Band: Jefferson Airplane
Title: Jefferson Airplane: The Woodstock Experience
Rating:

Release Date: 2009-06-30
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: We Can Be Together 2: Good Shepherd 3: The Farm 4: Hey Frederick 5: Turn My Life Down 6: Wooden Ships 7: Eskimo Blue Day 8: A Song For All Seasons 9: Meadowlands 10: Volunteers 11: Introduction (Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part One)(Previously unreleased) 12: The Other Side Of This Life (Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part One)(Previously unreleased) 13: Somebody To Love(Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part One) 14: 3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds(Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part One)(Previously unreleased) 15: Won't You Try / Saturday Afternoon(Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part One) 16: Eskimo Blue Day(Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part One) 17: Plastic Fantastic Lover(Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part Two) 18: Wooden Ships (Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part Two) (Previously unreleased) 19: Uncle Sam Blues(Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part Two) 20: Volunteers(Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part Two) 21: The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil (Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part Two)(Previously unreleased) 22: Come Back Baby (Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part Two) 23: White Rabbit(Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part Two) 24: The House At Pooneil Corners (Recorded Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair,Sunday,August 17,1969 Part Two)(Previously unreleased)

morning maniac music, to be sure...
I'll start by saying the performance is totally astounding. I've got a real love-hate (or love-haight?) relationship with this item. Really. I don't have superlatives enough. In that, I agree with almost everyone else here. The "Wooden Ships" by itself would justify the price. I don't know if it was the energy of the event, or the "whole lotta orange" they got earlier, or whatever it was that was keeping them awake a 5:30 AM, but this is perhaps the most intense performance that I have (which is most of what's available commercially and a couple of bootlegs).

But I can't get past the packaging. I don't mean the liner notes (such as they are) or the poster (which is OK), or the (plastic-free) enclosure (bravo for that). Those are terrific; I would have preferred better notes maybe, but that's a preference. What I don't quite understand was the need to include a copy of "Volunteers".

I do understand on one level. The Airplane set is 100 minutes, too long for one CD, and not quite enough for two. Again, I wouldn't have minded two CDs of just the Airplane set -- for $15? -- in the least. But someone decided they needed some filler, but they weren't willing to spend any money. So they used the most recent edition of "Volunteers", the 2004 remaster (which for some reason doesn't sound quite as good as the 2004 edition itself), rather than get the rights to some other as-yet-unreleased tracks, say, or produce more thorough notes, as a way of justifying the second CD. I note that the Sly & the Family Stone and Janis versions of this series get the whole set on one CD; so the 2d CD is then only to enhance the package. Unfortunately, neither "Kozmic Blues" nor "Stand" have been remastered, so if you already have these CDs (or the 2004 "Volunteers") this seems redundant.

I should mention, however, that despite these reservations, I did buy this CD, and I have ordered he Janis version; it helped that I don't currently have "Kozmic Blues" on CD, so it's not redundant. Yet.

The Airplane at their best
This is the Airplane at their peak with Nicky Hopkins thrown in for good measure and contributing some worthwhile keyboard work as he always did, whoever he was playing with. Most people are familiar with the Airplane tracks on the original Woodstock One and Two albums, plus others may have heard the renditions of "Somebody to love" and "White Rabbit" on the 2001 DVD "Woodstock the Music", but to hear the whole set is another experience altogether. I especially enjoyed his organ on "House at Pooneil Corners" which of course is absent from the only other two (unreleased)live versions of that song that I've heard. Frankly, the best parts of this performance are far and away the most inspiring music that was played at Woodstock for my money - and no I haven't forgotten Hendrix played. The staggering extended version of "Wooden Ships" and the two "Pooneils" will totally blow you away. I have many versions of "The Ballad of you Me and Pooneil" in my collection but this one has already become my favourite. It is an absolute travesty that most of this music was omitted from the the movie and soundtrack. The Airplane were the first band to sign up to play the festival and it wasn't until they made a commitment to be there that the rest started to come to the party. They epitomized what the whole spirit of the event was all about and they should have been front and center of the movie and soundtrack not relegated to a couple of minutes of "Volunteers". I can't believe someone has sat on this tape for 40 years, but better late than never! The sound quality was actually much better than I expected - very clear with all instruments and vocals nicely balanced.

I was also happy to have the remastered version of "Volunteers" as well. Prior to the arrival of this 2xcd set I still only had my original (now somewhat crackly) vinyl copy from '69 plus a few tracks of the nice quad mix on the "Jefferson Airplane Loves" you boxed set from '92. Great to have a fresh clean copy, though I doubt I'll ever part with that vinyl original.

I've no hesitation in giving this five stars. Order your copy now and when it arrives be sure to play only the "Volunteers" album part in the car. The live concert needs the biggest sound system you can find - crank it up to eleven and take the trip.

Interesting Gem for Hardcore Airplane Fans
It isn't as good as the Airplane's live at Fillmore East album, Bless Its Pointed Little Head, which is why the Woodstock album has been bundled with Revolution, the band's last outstanding body of studio work. This is one for hardened Airplane fans, albeit 40 years after the event. The live set suffers from very poor recording techniques but for dyed-in-the-wool Airplane fans that's marginal as Slick and band fight the awful conditions and belt out most of the tracks from Revolution. The band's mood probably wasn't helped by having been delayed on the Woodstock stage for 12 hours or more, eventually coming on at dawn and having to follow The Who. A great curio and one for everyone who, 40 years on, still wants to fly Trans Love Airways.

Simply a must have!
A must for music lovers. A must for fans. Simply a must have.
Thank you Grace, Marty, Paul, Jack and Jorma - for the years of enjoyment and for this moment.

The Airplane rocked Woodstock!
Just listen to the complete set from Woodstock, which starts on the latter part of Disc 1. Don't bother with "Volunteers" - you already own it. This was the first time I'd ever heard the Airplane's entire Woodstock performance, and I was very impressed, especially since the band had been up all night (and taking various drugs, I'm sure) before getting to play in the morning.

The packaging was nice, although I have to complain that the replica sleeve around Disc 1 (for "Volunteers") omitted the interior of the original album, which had the PB&J photo.

You can see a complete list of all Jefferson Airplane discography, or go back to the Jefferson Airplane tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.