JEFFERSON AIRPLANE – CROWN OF CREATION LP – Nr MINT UK 1975

Jefferson Airplane – Crown Of Creation
(RCA Records  1975  SF7976)
UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– a little wear to edges/corners and some very light ringwear

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Jefferson Airplane was a San Francisco, California-based band who pioneered the American counterculture movement as well as psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They were headliners at the three most famous American rock festivals of the 1960s—Monterey (1967), Woodstock (1969) and Altamont (1969)—in addition to the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968)  in England. Their 1967 break-out record Surrealistic Pillow ranks on the short list of most significant recordings of the “Summer of Love”. Two songs from that album, “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit”, are among Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

The “classic” line-up of Jefferson Airplane remained stable from 1967 to early 1970, and consisted of Marty Balin, Jack Casady, Spencer Dryden, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen and Grace Slick. The group broke up in 1972 and split into two bands: Hot Tuna and Jefferson Starship. Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, and honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.

Crown of Creation is the fourth studio album by the San Francisco psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, and was released in September 1968. It saw the band continuing their development of psychedelic music from their previous album, After Bathing at Baxter’s. The group had also been dabbling in electric rock with some references to science fiction in the lyrics. In most of their lyrics The Airplane expressed views regarding the hippie ethos, libertarian politics, and anti-war messages. For those reasons, they did not have a commercialized sound, and the singles the band released were not big hits. It would prove to be the pinnacle of The Airplane’s psychedelic experimentation, for their next studio album, Volunteers, explored more into country rock and hard rock.

Upon release, the album—while not the group’s best-selling work—was a considerable success, peaking at #6 on the Billboard Pop Charts and earning a RIAA gold certification. The opening single, “Greasy Heart”, was released in April 1968 and became a modest hit on the Hot 100 chart. Even though the album brought the band back into the Top 10, it remains Jefferson Airplane’s most overlooked work.

Track listing

Personnel

• Marty Balin – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Grace Slick – vocals, piano, organ
• Paul Kantner – rhythm guitar, vocals
• Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar, electric chicken, vocals
• Spencer Dryden – drums, piano, organ, steel balls, vocals
• Jack Casady – Yggdrasil bass

Additional musicians

• ∞ – percussion
• Gary Blackman – nose solo
• Charles Cockey – guitar, vocals
• David Crosby – guitar
• Tim Davis – congas
• Bill Goodwin – talking drums
• Dan Woody – bongos
• Gene Twombly – sound effects

Production

• Al Schmitt – producer
• Richie Schmitt – engineer
• Pat Ieraci – 8-Track
• Hiro – cover and back photo
• USAF – bomb photo, sometimes attributed to the Hiroshima detonation, but is in fact one of the US desert testing explosions.
• J. Van Hamersveld – album design, art direction
• Bill Laudner – road manager
• Chick Casady – equipment manager
• Bill Thompson – manager