#jeffersonairplane #whiterabbit Rapper INTRODUCED to Jefferson Airplane -WHITE RABBIT! W/ @Donjuanabe Join this channel to get access to perks: / @blackpegasusraps
Then there's the Alice B Toklas (where we got the slang term Toke for smoking pot) cookbook recipe for "brownies from paradise" in which she included Marijuana as an ingredient. 😃
Wrong from Wikipedia-Slick said the composition was supposed to be a wake-up call to parents who read their children novels such as these and then would wonder why their children used drugs. She later commented that all fairytales read to little girls have a Prince Charming who comes and saves them. But Alice did not; she was "on her own...in a very strange place, but she kept on going and she followed her curiosity - that's the White Rabbit. A lot of women could have taken a message from that story about how you can push your own agenda." Slick added that "The line in the song 'feed your head' is both about reading and psychedelics...feeding your head by paying attention: read some books, pay attention."
"And when White Rabbit comes to that fantastic note where the rabbit bites its own head off, I want you to throw that fuckin' radio into the tub with me!"
Thanks for your reaction! Actually a "Jefferson airplane" was a handmade roach clip that was somewhat shaped like an airplane not realized by the establishment at first. Once the band's title was figured out they had a lot of pressure to change the band's name if they wanted radio play. (they eventually changed the name to "Jefferson Starship" and later "Starship" when there were transitions and member changes.) This is the genre known as Psychedelic Rock (or acid rock) from the 60's and 70's with lots of drug references that were unnoticed at first and played on the radio. Some other Psychedelic rock songs you may want to check out are Status Quo's "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" and Brewer and Shipley's "One Toke Over The Line". Once some of the lingo and drug references were figured out, the US radio stations were banned from playing certain songs including "One Toke Over The Line" but Lawrence Welk created a bit of a scandal when he had singers do that song on his show because he was not familiar with the word "toke" and thought the song was religious! (the video of that Lawrence Welk episode is on You Tube.) I am an older woman living in a retirement community and at our last Woodstock anniversary event "White Rabbit" was one of the most requested song for the band to play by our oldest residents as it really was sort of a cultural anthem for that time period.
@@sublimnalphish7232 Lucky you! Sometimes we had songs played with sound effects to cover certain lyrics or words were even changed at times or just not played at all.
It always bothered me that Brewer and Shipley got it so wrong. There is a line in their song = "It says right here in the Constitution, that it's A-OK to have a Revolution..." ---> BUT The Constitution NEVER SAID ANYTHING LIKE THAT! It is ONLY found in the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, a Legally, NON-BINDING DOCUMENT, the same with the idea, of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. (Wikipedia) ---> "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase from the United States Declaration of Independence. The phrase gives three examples of the unalienable rights which the Declaration says have been given to all humans by their Creator, and which governments are created to protect. ---> HOWEVER, The concepts enumerated in the DOI were not codified into our laws (The Constitution). LIFE and LIBERTY made it, but somehow they omitted "The pursuit of Happiness". ---> If it's NOT in the Constitution, it's not part of our country's Foundation. The DOI is not a Legally BINDING DOCUMENT in the USA, It was a letter to King George, written by members of his Colonies, BEFORE THE USA EXISTED! ---> I have always felt that the DOI SHOULD BE a US Legally Binding Document, and all our laws and Court cases should be interpreted and judged in the light of the DOI and they must be consistent with the concepts expressed therein, or they are UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Unfortunately, the Founding "Fathers" did not agree with my POV!
@@joeydepalmer4457 Alice in Wonderland yes it is an influence on the song , Grace Slick talked about how parts of the story were used in the lyrics ..Hookah Smoking Caterpillar for example
@@VIDSTORAGE can you not understand its aout someones trip on drugs and sharing it with people. its about ot having the sog anned ecause of it Alice In Wonderland is the Psychedelic trip. the story just represents the psychedelic trip and what they see while on the trip
To understand and appreciate this song you have to realize that it's from the late 60's. Drugs, free sex, counterculture, protests, Vietnam, civil rights, assassinations, riots, psychedelia, youth culture, hippies, dropping out, upheaval, the works. It perfectly fit those times the way that any given Taylor Swift song fits our times (read into that what you will) or disco and easy listening rock fit the 70's. There may be meaning in the lyrics but for most young people back then it was just a part of a lifestyle they adopted for a while and nothing more.
Vietnam War playlist required for any films etc, White Rabbit. Paint it Black -Rolling Stones. Eve of Destruction -? We Gotta get Out of This Place -The Animals. Volunteers of America -also Jefferson Airplane. The End Unknown Soldier -both by The Doors. Purple Haze -Jimi Hendrix.
The Vietnam War tv show China Beach had an episode where they used this when one of the female characters is breaking her years-long sobriety at a bar, and it is sooo freakin’ ominous.
What I love about this song is that it is a no-bridge song that only escalates and escalates in intensity until it inevitably ends in a single crescendo.
@@catherinelynnfraser2001 Someone who gets it! And I was the stupid kid on the block and I knew. Ok I did not say it like that (but I am lucky to get my name straight)
@@catherinelynnfraser2001 I kept looking for someone to mention the correct musical form. It was relatively rare at the time in a pop song format and of course even rarer today. It's mood is pretty polarizing, and if you aren't open to being swept up in a two and a half minute crescendo, then you get a reaction like this one.
This is a performance on the Smothers Brothers show. Anyone watching them, would love this. If you do not know the Smothers Brothers ... you should. They got kicked of TV for speaking the truth. This is an awesome song when elevated.
Don is on the right track with the name change. Started as Jefferson Airplane, then Jefferson Starship, and then Starship. All the name changes were because of legal reasons when members changed. Song was played at the original Woodstock festival in '69. "Somebody to Love" is another of their bigger songs.
Jefferson Starship, Miracles; ''Love is a magic word, ooh, yeah (Baby) Few ever find in a lifetime But from that very first look in your eyes I knew you and I had but one heart (Baby) Only our bodies were apart (It's making me crazy) That was so easy (Baby) So easy (Oh, baby) I had a taste of the real world (Didn't waste a drop of it) When I went down on you, girl"
I graduated in 1969. This was HUGE, transgressive. Adults didn't get it. We were GLUED to our turntables, listening to this album - over and over. Even those of us who hadn't yet gone down the rabbit hole. And yeah, it's exactly the most iconic song of the era. This was IT.
I remember those days, my favorite Disney, Alice In Wonderland ' you should seriously watch Alice In Wonderland ' stealing mum's pills, Valium, and painkillers' Doctors back then gave these uppers, and downers painkillers,😂
oh.... holy shit, you're right! I knew that undertone sounded familiar. Her voice even has that slow crescendo and decrescendo that he trumpets have in that song.
Grace Slick was the singer. "Somebody to Love" is another iconic 60's song by them, and yes, they did become Jefferson Starship. They had numerous hits as both Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. Their biggest hit as Jefferson Starship was probably "Miracles", although Grace Slick did not sing that one.
That was not Grace Slick. Grace Slick was black and the original singer for this song. You can’t find the video with Grace Slick. Everyone always uses this one.
@@SusanGordon-bf2cgThe term "Head" has been around, since the 1960's. They were referred to as "Head" Shops, in 2024 they are called "Smoke Shops. Same inventory, exception, more legal variety of inventory now!! "Stoners" was/is a term used for legal/ illegal drug users...
If you heard any FM radio, from the 1960s (obviously before you were born) to at least the early 2000s (when I pretty much stopped listening to radio), this song was in constant rotation. You couldn't miss it. Like so many other classics, it was just part of classic rock FM radio, for decades 👍
One of the 10 greatest rock songs ever; tight, powerful, so short you can listen to it repeatedly trying to get enough of it, and at volume 11 when possible.
And now you have to wonder, was Lewis Carroll tripping on something when he came up with that story? Smoking something ither than tobacco in that hooka? Sampling magic mushrooms? What kind of pills?
@@jimwilcox2964 He actually was addicted to opium and I believe cocaine which were both legal back then, in certain areas, I love this song and you should react to J. A.'s song Lather if you like interesting lyrics.
I remember hearing this as a kid and then finding out what it was really about (wink, wink, nod, nod). Psychedelic rock was so above parents heads. BP and Don, Jefferson Airplane played Woodstock too. You need to check out the group list. My eldest brother and his best friend tried to get there but ended up on a gas station roof about a mile away. The NY state thruway was jammed.
song is a bolero, where it steadily builds to a crescendo...not the typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. super bold and creative in the mid 60's, trippy and evocative. Black Pegasus, y'all need to see the movie Woodstock and see all the iconic banks of the time...
Song is so trippy. The group had three names that I recall- Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship..then Starship. I love their later song We Built This City.
Paul Kantner had a group towards the end before he died.,without a ship though called Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra . With his and Grace's daughter singing lead vocals.
This song was an F-U to, more or less, the advocates who were saying “don’t do drugs” while the band responded, in a sense of - “drugs are in our culture, including childrens books” and used Alice in Wonderland as an example of all the drug refrences…
This song was on the Woodstock soundtrack because this group performed live at Woodstock so they captured this performance. The also perform this song at the Monterey jazz festival as well.
Not sure if you meant to say that this is their Woodstock performance but that's how it's worded. This performance is from the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, two years before Woodstock.
These lyrics, written by Grace Slick was a reminder that there was a historical fascination regarding the psychotropic drug use of the 1960’s counter culture , mainly LSD tripping and the fantasy world of Lewis Carrol’s “ Alice in Wonderland”. Marty Balin’s lead guitar, was an attempt to bring one into the slow beginning of a Trip against the militaristic background of the government’s desire towards regimentation. there is also the allusion to how 1950’s parents believed that their children could be brought into a “ Normal” condition by the use of medication for supposed disturbances. For another perspective on this era listen to “ Mother’s Little Helper”.
Those were primarily the 60s parents who were persuaded into drugging their kids for ADD or ADHD or other problems (Mother's Little Helper was a 1966 song by the Stones, which highlighted parents taking drugs to cope with their kids). Pushed by big pharma, the drugging of kids increased into the 70s and 80s, and exploded in the 2000s.
If you’re gonna watch another Jefferson Airplane song definitely recommend “Somebody to love”, might be their most famous song. Gotta love Grace Slick’s vocals, she sounds like an ice queen about to freeze someone alive.
Here's something worth a listen to: there's a RU-vid of her singing, and it's just her voice, no music. Even just that is insane. Gives me the moose bumps every time.
The ultimate psychedelic song. Yes, follow along as my beloved Grace takes you through Wonderland. Now you need to do Somebody to Love, Lather, Wooden Ships is a MUST...so much more. Cheap out their Woodstock set.
Yes. Now you are moving past weed music to full on psychedelic music. Somebody to Love is another good Airplane song worth checking out. Now to move on their second incarnation Jefferson Starship. Yeah I they're better stoned
THIS was tripping music... LSD, shrooms, whatever got you where you wanted to be... Alice in Wonderland... The rabbit, the hooka smoking caterpillar, the card people and the rest... The song has it all...
One of the lead vocalists for Starship was Mickey Thomas, and he was also the lead singer on the #3 hit Fooled Around and Fell In Love by Elvin Bishop.
Jefferson Airplane was formed in San Francisco in 1965, but became a nationally known breakout in 1967 with the release of their album Surrealistic Pillows. Their first big show was the Monterrey Pop Festival in June, 1967. For context, Big Brother and the Holding Company was also formed in San Francisco in 1965, added Janis Joplin in 1966, and the Monterey Pop Festival was where they were discovered. Other performers who had their breakout at Monterrey Pop were The Who, Otis Redding, Ravi Shankar. The Beatles had released Rubber Soul and Revolver in the previous two years, and some mark this as the beginning of the Psychedelic Movement. But when they released Sgt Pepper in May 1967, Timothy Leary became famous in 1963, when he was fired from Harvard for advocating the use of LSD in psychiatry. He began to find a following in San Francisco, and the psychedelic movement was gaining ground at this time. 1967, 'The Summer of Love" was a cultural shift and featured an explosion of creativity. It was a glorious time for music.
This was never a song for dancing. It was a song for listening while stoned. I believe it came out in early summer of 67 about the same time that The Doors song "Light My Fire" was released. I remember that I was waiting around enjoying my last days of freedom before I had to report to Navy basic training in August of 67. Yes, this is an essential 60s song as much as CCR's "Fortunate Son" or Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" (Cream was Eric Clapton's first band}. Jefferson Airplane has far more trippy songs then this. My favorite Jefferson Airplane album is probably their 'trippiest' album "The Worst of Jefferson Airplane". Songs like "Plastic Fantastic Lover", "Lather", "Martha", and "Today" give rise to thought".
I freaking LOVE this song. It’s a dare to go down the alternative music rabbit hole. It’s a rap form on its own. It reminds me of “ These boots are made for walking” by Nancy Sinatra. It’s got such a theatrical sound. Glad you listened.
I'm super proud of you for reacting to all these songs that outside the norm for you. At the same time, it's a mind blowing experience for me to watch someone talk about a song that's new for them but a staple for me. I'm screaming at the screen; how do you not know this song??? But I'm a 60's something white guy that grew up with all these songs that are new to you. It's an eye opening experience for both of us! 😁
My introduction to this song was the trailer for Matrix 4. Loved it and had to go listen to the original. I would think that's where most people of our generation would have heard of it recently. She's got such a memorizing and extremely strong voice.
No need to over-analyze...pretty straightforward...In the 1960's we needed "head music" and this was one that definitely made our playlist . Psychedelic drugs were not new but were making a popular resurgence and Lewis Carroll, the author of "Alice in Wonderland" (1865), was rumored to have been under the influence when he got the idea for the book. Read the book or see one of the films with that in mind. The version of the film with Johnny Depp is the most trippy, IMO. But of course everyone loves Disney's 1951 animated version as well.
I loved this song as a teen. Saw the Jefferson Airplane in person. My friends and I were very much into rebellion, the hippie movement and psychedelics.
Hopefully, one day, you can do Fortunate Son. 1969. You have to hear the message CCR gave us with this song. It's so powerful.😊. Jefferson Airplane became Starship in 1974. A couple of years before that, they were reconstructing rebuilding and now rebranding...😊 Do you consider mind altering minds drugs always being bad or not? Hard to talk about on RU-vid.
Yeah, Jefferson Airplane has nothing on the epic that is IRON BUTTERFLY- In the Gadda Da Vida. All 17.03 minutes of it. It's what I relax to on a summers day on the lawn with a G&T and not much else on. Love 60s psychedelia music.
Jefferson Airplane, Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship were absolutely a powerhouse from the 60's into the 80's. You almost wouldn't even know they're the same group behind Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now 20 years later.
It still gives me chills, even in my 70s. The whole song package is consistent. Drugs creep up slowly like the beat, then your mind follows the drugs (legit or otherwise). You might also want to listen to "Spill the Wine" which isn't about drugs, but instead wine. Same kind of effect. Eric Burdon.
Jefferson Airplane was one of the biggest bands in the USA in the '60s. They played at Monterey, Woodstock and Altimont. They became Jefferson Starship after Marty Balin left, he owner the Jefferson Airplane name and the remaining band members had to change the name
In 1967 I was 4 years old and my parents would watch the Smothers Brothers show, and it ran early enough I would see it. I was too young to really appreciate these songs. My teens started in the mid-70s and sometimes I feel like being at the tail-end of one of the biggest generations in history I missed out on some truly cool stuff.
I STILL COMPLETELY DIG THIS SONG!!! Grace has SUCH A GREAT VOICE!! ...and, the instrumentals in it are VERY TRIPPY-VIBE - and, very much reminds me of the 60s psychedelic music I GREW UP WITH!!! You just haven't had much experience listening to psychedelic music!! :) SO GOOD!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Really I’m very grateful for your open mind to this great music. I get that you weren’t born yet and that isn’t your scene and that is what makes me love seeing your unadulterated reactions. Forget the haters that don’t support your own opinions on this. I love your open mind. Thanks
Aaah, the good old days! I got to see them in the 90s with Papa John Creech, who was born the next city over from me. I love them whether it's Airplane or starship! :-) Love your reactions to the best music in history.
