The Setlist series of live CDs draw together familiar live material with some rarer, more obscure tunes. Featuring remastered tracks, new liner notes, photos and additional bonus material, the Setlist series, hot on the trail of the Playlist series, might prove a good bet for even the most diehard fan who thinks he or she has every live track their favorite band ever played.
The Setlist: The Very Best Of Jefferson Airplane Live CD features some blistering moments of a truly iconic American rock band. The low rumbling of “Somebody To Love” starts things off, with the band in that oft-minded territory of clinging lightly to a recognizable melody while Grace Slick did whatever it was Grace Slick did to make her such a unique vocalist — mainly her singing over the attack of the band behind her, sometimes finding a harmony or melody a little late.
I’m not sure how the version here of “White Rabbit” works — or if it even does (Slick’s voice is a little rough) — but this is one of two previously unreleased tracks. “It’s No Secret,” the other unreleased track, is upbeat and fun, unlike a lot of the stuff the band was pushing at this time. The first half of this CD features members of the original Jefferson Airplane (Slick, Jorma Kaukonen, Marty Balin, Jack Casady, Paul Kantner and
Spencer Dryden).
Of course, the band went through a bunch of personal changes, as well as a name change, so we get to hear later lineups on tunes like “Feel So Good,” from what sounds like a big concert setting, the slow and sweet “Comin’ Back To Me,” and “Have You Seen the Saucers.” You can tell the band has changed when you hear Papa John Creach cutting through on his fiddle. “Good Shepard” is trippy and draggy (in the best sense of the word) with leads that seem to slice more than find melody. “Volunteers” has a good energy but not much different from the studio version. “Crown Of Creation” and “The Ballad Of You, Me and Pooneil” ends the CD (showcasing another found-it-sometimes-lost-it Grace Slick harmony vocal).
Most of the tracks for this collection were culled from the albums Bless Its Pointed Little Head (1969), Jefferson Airplane Loves You (recorded in 1967, released in 1992), Sweeping Up The Spotlight: Jefferson Airplane Live At The Fillmore East (recorded 1969, released 2007) and 1973’s Thirty Seconds Over Winterland.
Though one can get a bit tired of Slick’s warbling, as well as the revolving door of players, you can’t deny the power of the Casady’s bass, Kaukonen’s guitar or Balin’s undeniable range as maybe one of the best male vocalists ever in rock and roll. Setlist: The Very Best Of Jefferson Airplane Live is a tight little collection of some imperfect recordings from a really fine American band.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
