Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane

Back in the pre-historic period before the Web swallowed everything there was an e-mail list called 2400Fulton, named for the address of the mansion where the Airplane were based, in San Francisco. Jeff Tamarkin was one of the regulars because he is not just a writer, but a fan with a deep love for the Airplane. I also have a deep love, and while Surrealistic Pillow was my first album of theirs, I quickly got Takes Off. But then After Bathing At Baxters permanently changed my brain. I wore out several copies of the vinyl, then copied it onto audio cassette, and finally CDs came out. It is still my favorite album of theirs, and possibly my favorite album of all. So when Jeff wrote this book, I had to get it.

I have a theory that some groups have so many geniuses that you cannot keep them together for too long. The Beatles are an example in my mind, and so is the Airplane. The stretch of albums from Surrealistic Pillow to Volunteers is hard to match, let alone beat, and the shards that came out of the band had brilliant moments as well. There were some very good albums by Jefferson Starship, and Hot Tuna is still gigging and worth seeing if they come to your town. But nothing compares to the Airplane. There is a quote from Bill Graham to the effect that when they were "on", no group in the world could beat them. I loved this book, though I imagine you have to be a fan before it will it will be meaningful to you.