Airplane!

An original-art 1' x 2' tour poster designed exclusively for these sets by Dennis Loren (who created album covers, concert posters, and print ads for Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Paul McCartney, The Velvet Underground, Rick James and many others) comes in each box, as does a luxurious LP-sized 28-page booklet featuring extensive liner notes by Richie Unterberger, rare photos, memorabilia and a reproduction of the original LP artwork in 12 inch; format. For sound, look and luxury, these sets have it all…so have at it!

The triple CD (or cassette) box set Jefferson Airplane Loves You came out at a time when major record labels were rushing out deluxe sets of about every meaningful artist of the '60s and '70s. Most of those sets hid self-indulgent, inflated "best of" collections of previously released material with a couple of alternate mixes and live tracks to lure in the fans. Loves You has some general appeal (although slimmer "best of" collections are available and cater better to the casual listener who wants to hear "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love"), but it is clearly aimed at the fan. Disc 1 covers the early years up to the group's second LP Surrealistic Pillow.

Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success. This sets from the American Classic rockers features the albums Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966), Surrealistic Pillow (1967), After Bathing At Baxters (1967), Crown Of Creation (1968), Bless Its Pointed Little Head (1969), Volunteers (1969), Bark (1971), and Long John Silver (1972).

Jefferson Airplane was the first of the San Francisco psychedelic rock groups of the 1960s to achieve national recognition. Although the Grateful Dead ultimately proved more long-lived and popular, Jefferson Airplane defined the San Francisco sound in the '60s, with the acid rock guitar playing of Jorma Kaukonen and the soaring twin vocals of Grace Slick and Marty Balin, scoring hit singles and landing on the cover of national magazines.

Master aircraft and engine designs, parts and components, aerodynamics and classification

The Airplane and the Dead reaped maximum exposure in the press and on radio and TV during their 1967 Canadian visit. Their free performance at Toronto City Hall Square a week prior to their O‘Keefe concerts (July 31-5 August) would draw crowds estimated at from 10,000 to 40,000, figures exceeded only by the wordage covering the event in the three daily papers. While the press scratched their heads and scrambled to comprehend this new form of youthful rebellion, this was undoubtedly a peak period for Jefferson Airplane, who had found momentum and international fame after the addition of former Great Society singer Grace Slick. Media coverage had catapulted Somebody To Love and White Rabbit into the psychedelic heavens. While Monterey was behind them (by about 2 months), Airplane were on a commercial roll when they appeared in Canada to serve up highlights from the first 3 albums and more. Timeline revisits this historic performance from one of the most iconic bands in the psychedelic era.

REMARKABLE 1970 SHOW FROM A REVITALISED JEFFERSON AIRPLANE After a number of years of plain sailing, by the end of 1969, having recently played both Woodstock and, at the end of the year, the disastrous Altamont Festival, Jefferson Airplane were somewhat mentally and physically exhausted. The only casualty however was Spencer Dryden, who was dismissed from the band in February 1970, as he was deeply disturbed by the events at Altamont and burned out from four years on the acid-merry-go-round. Throughout 1970 the group continued to tour regularly however, but their only new recording that year was the single Mexico backed with Have You Seen the Saucers? . Grace Slick's a-side was an attack on President Richard Nixon's Operation Intercept, which had been implemented to curtail the flow of marijuana into the United States.

Its smirky title notwithstanding, The Worst of Jefferson Airplane provides a fine recap of the band's first six albums. Released in 1970 shortly before Marty Balin's initial departure from the band, the album marked not only the end of the decade but, unwittingly, the end of the group's most stable phase in terms of membership. The track selections are evenly divided among the first-generation albums; only the live Bless Its Pointed Little Head is represented by a single entry. Pains were also taken to include songs featuring lead vocalists Balin, Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. A few omissions are striking, most notably the chart single "Greasy Heart" and the signature Kantner track, "Wooden Ships."