Monday, January 28, 2013

Jefferson Starship at the Borderline



There was a rare London‭  ‬performance by San Francisco musicians Paul Kantner and David Freiberg in London in October‭ ‬2012.‭ ‬Kantner is the‭  ‬founder of Jefferson Airplane and later Jefferson Starship while Freiberg had been in Quicksilver Messenger Service before joining the Airplane/Starship.‭ ‬Jefferson Starship's singer is now Cathy Richardson who had success off-Broadway as Janis Joplin‭  ‬in‭ '‬Love Janis‭' ‬in‭ ‬2001.‭ ‬She is a powerful vocalist in the tradition of Grace Slick.‭ ‬Jefferson Starship played a set of two hours.

Their version of‭  ‬the‭ ‬1964‭ '‬Let's Get Together‭' ‬by‭  ‬Dino Valenti encapsulates the LSD-inspired Haight-Ashbury counter-cultural fraternity‭ (“‬everybody get together,‭ ‬try to love one another right now‭”)‬.‭ ‬They performed‭  ‬Airplane's‭ ‬1967‭ ‬hits‭ '‬Somebody to Love‭' ‬by Darby Slick which proposes free love to abolish human alienation‭ (“‬When the truth is found to be lies and all the joy within you dies‭”)‬,‭ ‬and‭ '‬White Rabbit‭' ‬by Grace Slick,‭ ‬which references Lewis Carroll's‭ '‬Alice in Wonderland‭' ‬and is a‭  ‬paean to psychedelic drugs‭ (“‬feed your head‭”)‬.‭  ‬Also from‭ ‬1967‭ ‬they performed‭ '‬The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil‭' ‬by Kantner which is influenced by A.A.‭ ‬Milne poems for children.‭  '‬Pooneil‭'  ‬is singer Fred Neil,‭ ‬and the song captures the magic of childhood and the psychedelic‭ ‬60‭'‬s‭ (“‬Love like a mountain springtime flashing through the rivers of my mind‭”)‬.‭ '‬Crown of Creation‭' ‬by Kantner from‭ ‬1968‭ ‬is based on the Cold War science fiction novel‭ '‬The Chrysalids‭' ‬by John Wyndham,‭ ‬and lyrics like‭ “‬life is change,‭ ‬how it differs from the rocks‭” ‬are reminiscent of Heraclitus,‭ ‬the father of dialectics.

Freiberg performed a powerful version of the‭ ‬1964‭ ‬Buffy Sainte-Marie anti-narcotic song‭ '‬Codine‭' (“‬I feel like I'm dying and I wish I was dead‭”)‬.‭  '‬Wooden Ships‭' ‬from‭ ‬1969‭  ‬by Kantner,‭ ‬David Crosby and Stephen Stills is an evocative song of the quest for human survival in a post-apocalyptic nuclear war world,‭ ‬and highlights the counter cultural desire to leave the bourgeois capitalist world of Nixon's AmeriKa‭ (“‬we are leaving,‭ ‬you don't need us,‭ ‬sailing ships on the water very free and easy‭”)‬.‭ ‬Kantner's‭ ‬1970‭ '‬Have You Seen the Saucers‭?'  ‬indicts US government cover up about UFOs‭  (“‬have you any idea why they're lying to you‭?”) ‬but there is the idea of exiting planet earth‭ (“‬open the door,‭ ‬don't you know that's what it's for,‭ ‬come on and join us on the other side of the Sun‭”)‬.‭ ‬The science fiction theme was continued with‭ '‬Have You Seen the Stars Tonite‭?' ‬by Kantner and Crosby which appears on Kantner's solo album of‭ ‬1970‭ '‬Blows Against the Empire‭'  (‬inspired by Robert Heinlein's novel‭ '‬Methuselah's Children‭')‬.‭ ‬The album describes the counter culture escaping the capitalist earth for a galactic world of free love,‭ ‬free music and free drugs.

Jefferson Starship closed the gig with the leftist‭ ‬1969‭ ‬anthem‭ '‬Volunteers‭' ‬by Kantner and Marty Balin‭ (“‬Hey now it's time for you and me Got a revolution Got to revolution‭”) ‬and reference is made to the potential of the Occupy Wall Street movement.‭ 

Steve Clayton

2 comments:

Norman Burns said...

Thanks for that! Grew up into all the West Coast stuff, a bit late, in the mid-70's, and ever since. 'Blows against the Empire' - what a title! Add the Grateful Dead, Country Joe & the Fish, Love and the Doors and you've got the greatest explosion of counter-culture we've ever seen. shame it never had the Socialist perspective to help it hold itself together...

Anonymous said...

They are back in January 2014...