Spitfire | ||||
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![]() Cover art by Shusei Nagaoka | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 1976 | |||
Recorded | March 1976 | |||
Studio | Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco | |||
Genre | Arena Rock, Soft rock, Psychedelic rock | |||
Length | 42:04 | |||
Label | Grunt | |||
Producer | Larry Cox, Jefferson Starship | |||
Jefferson Starship chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | C [2] |
Spitfire is the third album by American rock band Jefferson Starship. Released in 1976, a year after the chart-topping Red Octopus , it quickly scaled the charts, peaking for six consecutive weeks at No. 3 in Billboard and attaining a RIAA platinum certification. The album features writing contributions from members of singer Marty Balin's former band Bodacious DF, as well as Jesse Barish, who became one of Balin's frequent collaborators. Stereo and quadraphonic mixes of the album were released. "Song to the Sun" was included in the 1977 Laserock program. [3]
Record World said that the single "St. Charles" "has the kind of haunting melody line that characterized [Jefferson Starship's] recent hits." [4]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Cruisin'" | Charles Hickox | Hickox | 5:27 |
2. | "Dance with the Dragon" | Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Craig Chaquico | Kantner, Chaquico, Pete Sears | 5:02 |
3. | "Hot Water" | Slick | Sears | 3:17 |
4. | "St. Charles" | Kantner, Balin, Jesse Barish, Chaquico, Thunderhawk | Kantner, Chaquico | 6:38 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
5. | "Song to the Sun: Part I: Ozymandias / Part II: Don't Let It Rain" | instrumental / Kantner, China Wing Kantner | P. Kantner, Chaquico, John Barbata, David Freiberg, Sears, Slick / P. Kantner | 1:39 / 5:36 |
6. | "With Your Love" | Balin, Joey Covington, Vic Smith | Balin, Covington, Smith | 3:33 |
7. | "Switchblade" | Slick | Slick | 4:01 |
8. | "Big City" | Barbata, Joel Scott Hill, Chris Ethridge | Barbata, Hill, Ethridge | 3:20 |
9. | "Love Lovely Love" | Barish | Barish | 3:31 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [14] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [15] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio albums, and one gold-selling compilation. The album Red Octopus went double-platinum, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1975. The band went through several major changes in personnel and genres through the years while retaining the Jefferson Starship name. The band name was retired in 1984, but it was picked up again in 1992 by a revival of the group led by Paul Kantner, which has continued since his death in 2016.
Surrealistic Pillow is the second studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, released by RCA Victor on February 1, 1967. It is the first album by the band with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It is considered to be one of the most influential and quintessential works of the early psychedelic rock era and the 1960s counterculture.
Backless is the sixth solo studio album by Eric Clapton, released in November 1978. Produced by Glyn Johns, and released by RSO Records, Backless reached no. 8 on the pop charts. While the single "Promises" only reached no. 37 on the UK Singles Chart, it was a much bigger success in the US, reaching no. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up single, "Watch Out for Lucy", was the B-side of "Promises", but reached no. 40 on the Billboard 100 on its own merit. Later in 1980 "Tulsa Time" was #30 on the Billboard 100 with the 1977 song "Cocaine" as B-side. It was Clapton's last studio album to feature his longtime bassist Carl Radle, who died in 1980.
Journeyman is the eleventh solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Heralded as a return to form for Clapton, who had struggled with alcohol addiction and recently found sobriety, the album has a 1980s electronic sound, but it also includes blues songs like "Before You Accuse Me", "Running on Faith", and "Hard Times." "Bad Love" was released as a single, reaching the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart in the United States, and being awarded a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1990. "Pretending" had also reached the No. 1 position on the Album Rock Chart the previous year, remaining at the top for five weeks.
Knee Deep in the Hoopla is the debut studio album by American AOR band Starship, the succeeding musical project to Jefferson Starship. It was released on September 10, 1985, through record label Grunt.
No Protection is the second studio album by American rock band Starship. It was released on July 27, 1987, by Grunt Records and RCA Records. The album featured the number-one single "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", and the top-10 single "It's Not Over ", the former of which appears in the fantasy comedy film Mannequin and the latter of which was a tune originally performed the previous year by one-time Manfred Mann's Earth Band frontman Chris Thompson for the soundtrack to the film Playing for Keeps. Third single "Beat Patrol" was #46 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Rock of the Westies is the tenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released on 24 October 1975. The title is a pun on the phrase "West of the Rockies", the album having been recorded at Caribou Ranch in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Volunteers is the fifth studio album by American psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in 1969 on RCA Records. The album was controversial because of its revolutionary and anti-war lyrics, along with the use of profanity. The original album title was Volunteers of Amerika, but it was shortened after objections from Volunteers of America, a religious charity.
Red Octopus is the second album by American rock band Jefferson Starship, released on Grunt Records in 1975. Certified double platinum by RIAA in 1995, it is the best-selling album by any incarnation of Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off groups. The single "Miracles" was the highest-charting single any permutation of the band had until Starship's "We Built This City" a decade later, ultimately peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart; the album itself reached No. 1 for four non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200. As was common in the era, stereo and quadraphonic mixes of the album were released concurrently.
Bark is the sixth studio album by American rock band Jefferson Airplane. Released in 1971 as Grunt FTR-1001, the album is one of the Airplane's late-period works, notable for the group's first personnel changes since 1966. The album was the first without band founder Marty Balin and the first with violinist Papa John Creach. Drummer Spencer Dryden had been replaced by Joey Covington in early 1970 after a lengthy transitional period in which both musicians had performed with the band.
Long John Silver is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, and their last album of all new material until 1989. It was recorded and released in 1972 as Grunt FTR-1007.
The Worst of Jefferson Airplane is the first compilation album from the rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in November 1970 as RCA Victor LSP-4459. The "Worst" in the title is ironic, as the album features all of Jefferson Airplane's hit singles up to that point. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 in 1971 and has since gone platinum.
Dragon Fly is the debut album by Jefferson Starship, released on Grunt Records in 1974. It peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified a gold album. Credited to Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, and Jefferson Starship, the band itself was a turning point after a series of four albums centering on the partnership of Kantner and Slick during the disintegration of Jefferson Airplane through the early 1970s.
Freedom at Point Zero is the fifth album by American rock band Jefferson Starship, released in 1979. It was the first album for new lead singer Mickey Thomas, and the first after both Grace Slick and Marty Balin left the previous year. Aynsley Dunbar plays drums on this album; he had left Journey the previous year. The album cover was shot on location in the San Francisco Bay on board the USCGC Midgett.
Gold is a compilation album by American rock band Jefferson Starship, released on Grunt Records in 1979. It collects the band's four Top 40 hit singles from the 1970s, as well as three additional singles that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, a single that missed the chart, one b-side, and one album track. All tracks were also featured on their four studio albums to date: Dragon Fly from 1974; Red Octopus from 1975; Spitfire from 1976; and Earth from 1978. It peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified a gold record by the RIAA.
Earth is the fourth album by American rock band Jefferson Starship. The album was recorded in 1977, with the same band lineup as the previous album, Spitfire and released in 1978.
"Miracles" is a song written by Marty Balin and originally recorded by Jefferson Starship, appearing on its 1975 album Red Octopus.
"With Your Love" is a song written by Marty Balin, Joey Covington and Vic Smith. The song was first recorded by Jefferson Starship and was the lead single of their 1976 album Spitfire. In the US, the single peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 6 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was also a top-ten hit in Canada.
"Hearts" is a song written by Jesse Barish and performed by Marty Balin in 1981, included on his debut solo album Balin. It was Balin's third single in nineteen years and the biggest hit of his solo career.
"Count on Me" is a 1978 song and single by Jefferson Starship written by Jesse Barish for the album Earth. The single, in lighter rock mode, gave Starship another US Top 10 hit after "Miracles". It was featured in the end credits to the movies Grown Ups and The Family Stone.