Jefferson Starship – Live In Central Park May 12, 1975 (2013)
In between the release of these two albums, the band played a free show in Central Park before a massive crowd (estimates vary widely, but nobody questions that turnout was huge). And even though Red Octopus wasn’t yet in stores on this May 12, 1975 date, the band played two of its three soon-to-be-popular numbers, along with the most popular numbers from the previous record. To that they added some material from other sources: some songs from Balin’s previous (and little-heard) band Bodacious DF (“The Witcher” and “Drivin’ Me Crazy”) and a spotlight number featuring fiddler Papa John Creach. And for the faithful, the tail-end of the show included three classic Airplane numbers, “White Rabbit,” “Somebody to Love” and “Volunteers.”
That set, spread across two discs, has now been released by Real Gone Music. The original show was broadcast on FM radio, so high fidelity tapes (courtesy of the band’s management, Gordon Anderson tells us in a brief Producer’s Note) were used for all but a few seconds of the release. And the band’s in fine form: the aggregation might not have adhered to the same style as Jefferson Airplane, but then by the mid 70s, the original members had all moved in their own individual musical direction. Even had Jack Casady (bass) and Jorma Kaukonen (guitar) somehow been persuade to travel on the Starship (sorry again!) , the result would likely still not have sounded like the Airplane; that duo’s Hot Tuna work variously explored country blues and power-trio rock styles far removed form Jefferson Airplane’s radio-ready “album rock.”
While Jefferson Airplane had released live documents of their performances (1969's Bless Its Pointed Little Head and Thirty Seconds Over Winterland, Jefferson Starship did not; this release is the first official live recording of the band from the 1970s, and it captures them at their peak.
Tracklist:
1. Intro – Ride The Tiger – Live (7:36)
2. Stage Announcements – Fast Buck Freddie – Live (5:09)
3. The Witcher – Live (5:12)
4. Stage Announcements – Devil’s Den – Live (9:06)
5. Caroline – Live (7:55)
6. You’re Driving Me Crazy – Live (6:50)
7. Papa John’s Down Home Blues – Live (5:01)
1. Play On Love – Live ( 4:21)
2. Better Lying Down – Live ( 4:36)
3. Have You Seen The Saucers – Live ( 4:35)
4. Come To Life – Live ( 5:17)
5. White Rabbit – Live ( 3:24)
6. Stage Announcement – Live ( 1:25)
7. Sweeter Than Honey – Live (14:10)
8. Somebody To Love – Live ( 7:33)
9. Volunteers – Live ( 6:22)
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