Early Flight

Last updated
Early Flight
Jefferson Airplane - Early Flight Cover.jpg
Compilation album by
ReleasedFebruary 1974
RecordedDecember 1965, November 1966, February 1970
Studio
  • at RCA Victor's Music Center of the World (Hollywood)
  • Pacific High (San Francisco)
  • Wally Heider (San Francisco)
Genre Rock
Length32:21
Label Grunt/RCA
Producer Rick Jarrard, Matthew Katz, Thomas Oliver
Jefferson Airplane chronology
Thirty Seconds Over Winterland
(1973)
Early Flight
(1974)
Flight Log
(1977)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Christgau's Record Guide B [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Early Flight is a 1974 compilation album by the American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released as Grunt CYL1-0437. It features previously unreleased material from 1966, 1967, and 1970 as well as both sides of a non-album 1970 single.

Contents

The first three tracks come from the recording sessions for Jefferson Airplane Takes Off which took place in December, 1965 at RCA Victor's Music Center of the World recording studio in Hollywood. These tracks feature vocals by Signe Toly Anderson and Skip Spence on drums. "Runnin' 'Round This World" had been previously released as a B-side on the "It's No Secret" single.

The closing two tracks on side one and the first track from side two come from the recording sessions for Surrealistic Pillow , which took place from October through November, 1966 at RCA Victor's Music Center of the World. Tracks from the "Takes Off" and "Surrealistic Pillow" sessions appeared later as bonus tracks on the respective 2003 remasters, albeit with different mixes.

"Up or Down" comes from the early recording sessions for Bark which took place in February 1970 at Pacific High and Wally Heider Studios before Marty Balin chose to leave the band. "Mexico" and "Have You Seen the Saucers?" had been previously released as a non-album single in 1970, but this was the first LP on which the two songs appeared.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."High Flying Bird" Billy Edd Wheeler 2:30
2."Runnin' Round This World" (from single B-side RCA #8679) Marty Balin, Paul Kantner 2:21
3."It's Alright"Kantner, Skip Spence 2:15
4."In the Morning" Jorma Kaukonen 6:25
5."J.P.P. McStep B. Blues"Spence2:48
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Go to Her"Kantner, Irving Estes3:58
2."Up or Down" Peter Kaukonen 6:18
3."Mexico" (from single A-side RCA #0343) Grace Slick 2:05
4."Have You Seen the Saucers?" (from single B-side RCA #0343)Kantner3:37

Personnel

Jefferson Airplane
Additional Personnel

Charts

Chart (1974)Peak
position
US Billboard 200 [4] 110

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References

  1. Eder, Bruce (2011). "Early Flight - Jefferson Airplane | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: J". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved February 27, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  3. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  4. "Jefferson Airplane Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 June 2023.

Notes