You nailed it perfectly Mazzy. Airplane is my all time favorite band, and you called the stinkers correctly. If only in 70, Kantner and Slick could have tweaked some of the better stuff off Blows & Sunfighter for a proper Airplane album with some Balin spice thrown in.
Mazzie, great as always. I was 16 in 1966 in Fallbrook, California and got really lucky to hear these bands early, and discover their following first albums by sheer luck in that country town. Given you're younger by a few years, you sure did get lucky too with the right parents, and growing up in the City. Lucky us.
Hi Mazzy, This was so much fun ! loved both Bands, but I preferred the Airplane until.... Long John Silver ! I adored Marty Balin's voice,especially with Grace. My favorite Dead albums are Working Man's Dead,and American Beauty.
Growing up in Louisiana, both these bands occupied a mystical, larger than life persona inside my youthful psyche. Their reputations as rulers of the San Francisco/hippie movement were unquestioned. Other than mowing yards, I did not have a regular job when I was in HS; point being, I didn't have the ways and means to buy all of the records I fancied then. It turned out that I only bought Grateful Dead records, strictly because the friends I hung out with bought Jefferson Airplane records. This was the method of being monetarily efficient while exploring the oeuvre of both. As the years roll by, I have stuck with the Dead and tended to view the Airplane (with all due respect) from afar. With the perspective of time passing, the legacy of the Dead has surpassed that of the Airplane in my mind, but I appreciate this perspective coming from someone at ground zero, witnessing first hand the two going toe to toe. Maslov, you have the bona fides and the first hand knowledge. I must defer to your expertise on this subject. Thanks for this hugely entertaining video.
Lovely to hear you speak like this about my two favoutite bands. You sum it up so well, and it is so pleasing to hear it from one who was actually there. I love Blows Againt the Empire, but even that loses out to Garcia and Ace, confirming how the Dead were well on top by the early 70's. Thanks Norman.
@@alanarakelian5021 Supposedly, he was kind of a go-between with the producer who they were having difficulty with. He also played guitar on several tracks, notably the acoustic guitar on Plastic Fantastic Lover.
WOW, Thanks so much for that. I got on the bus late. I was born in 1964, in the cultural wasteland of Utah and i had no older siblings to introduce me to music. I liked Brent when he added harmonies. Bobby did get cheesy at times. i have only seen, in person, the cigar inner sleeve of Long John by far, no contest ! It's not a competition stupid. Thanks for the love, and the bonus LP.
Fantastic rock 'em sock 'em fight to the finish for both of these amazing bands. You make some salient points that I can't disagree with. Took the words right out of my mouth. The Airplane win in a big way for me. Even that LJS album... I've come now to appreciate the Dead in all their glory... those early records tho were their hay-day for sure. Great vid Mazz....
In the 1960's growing up on Long Island it was the Jefferson Airplane. You heard them everywhere, on the AM radio, Their 60's LPs were fantastic, I just loved Marty Balin. By the time Grace joined they got even better and BIGGER. I first got to see both the JA and GD in 1968. Pigpen was the guy for me back then. The first GD LP that I really dug was Live Dead. By the time JA broke up, the GD was just hitting their stride. When you are talking 1960's the Jefferson Airplane were the shit ~!!
what a great history lesson..even though i was around for all of this, the nuance you bring is always you..really nice video..be well..stay well my friend..and peace always..rocky
Thanks Mazzy for another interesting trip through history. 👍 Two of my favorite bands (GD is my favorite by far but also love JA) and you're one of the best to do this topic justice. As you appropriately note, art is not a competition, but we all have our likes and dislikes, which can change with mood or maturity. Based on studio output only, The Airplane gets the nod. Based on the totality of output, The Dead comes out ahead. When Hunter joined the Dead (informally), the great songs started rolling out left and right. Personally, I like Brent's vocals once he got some good songs to sing (when he started collaborating with Barlow on song-writing). I think the songwriting partnerships were key to the Dead's longevity. Almost as important as Taupin was to Elton John. As a side note, if Jerry contributed to Surrealistic Pillow, doesn't the Dead get some credit for how great SP is? p.s. Baxter's is my favorite JA album. p.p.s. Totally agree that One More Saturday Night is an affront to the ears. 😅 p.p.p.s. Bark is a great album.😂
Mazz, I'm late to the party here but, great show! I agree mostly, The Dead's first album was my intro, but I didn't care for the next few.....until the American Beauty/Workingmans' Dead duo of brilliance!.. I have an official RCA Korean pressing of Surrealistic Pillow I got in '73 while "visiting that country" that is sooo clean. (A fresh master on nice heavy virgin vinyl, lucky find for the time!) The insert is in Korean with some hilarious mis-translations, i.e. "mind-expending" and "Mug-whumps"....I'm only pretty as I feel.......
I was a bit younger. My older brother was moving in and out of the house at that point, attending graduate school to get his bachelors degree in English and avoiding the draft while staying with friends and various girlfriends so he could get messed up without lectures from Mom- and when he came home he always had new records. I remember hearing the first two Airplane albums, Revolver by The Beatles and I think Through the Past Darkly by The Stones, but no Dead to speak of. He played Surrealistic Pillow a lot, and to me it and Country Joe’s Electric Music For the Mind and Body and I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin-To-Die are the picacles of San Francisco psychedelic and acid rock. When I was older I started buying the old music too, and turned on to British psychedelia like The Piper At the Gates of Dawn and Mr Fantasy -although I still prefer the US version Heaven is In Your Mind. But despite all that, I tend the go back to Pillow and those first Country Joe and the Fish albums
Great video; I’d love to see more comparison videos-especially of the SF bands. I’ve been a JA fan since the late 60s. Saw the movie “Woodstock” multiple times as I worked in a movie theater when it was first released. Probably because of seeing them perform in the movie, I’ve been much more of a JA fan that Grateful Dead, although my youngest brother, who is now 62 years old, has been a Deadhead since he was young.
Just want to say--not particularly related to the content of this particular video--that I have been watching a lot of your stuff lately, and I honestly think that your channel is the best music channel on RU-vid. And that's even though you criminally misplaced Who By Numbers in your ranking of The Who's output! 😉
Really interesting video, Mazzy. I have exactly one album by each, bought when they were released. “Surrealistic Pillow,” an amazing album. And “Anthem of the Sun,” which I bought on reel-to-reel tape. Tried several times but I just couldn’t get into Anthem.
Great video.. dead all the way for me, i have all plus many boots… i need to dive deeper into Jefferson Airplane, i have most of the lps just dont listen the them. Will start tonight, thanks.
Simply, yes to every word. But opinions aside, I think I watch these presentations more for Mazzy’s infectious enthusiasm than for any more tangible reason.
Great stuff Mazzy. I love Takes Off…almost better than Surreal. Btw, I did my shoot out of the surreal mofi mono 45 vs OG stereo. I like the mono, but still prefer the OG stereo. The mono sounds like the band is in a tunnel, the voices are amazing. The stereo you can actually hear the band. The stereo has a bit too much reverb. But the stereo beats the mono IMHO. To each their own. But I will prefer the stereo. The mono definitely provides different cross-section of the music. Better than stereo, not in my book. Plastic fantastic lover explodes in stereo. Good stuff man.
I do love the stereo drenched in reverb but the mono MoFi for me came out on top. As it’s not a great recording anyway and that version seems fuller and slightly drier ✌🏼
Like how you were able to pull that episode off. Saw both bands as well. Am more of a prop head myself. Love the Airplane. Was also able to enjoy the Tuna in the many configurations. Did you ever go to Sweetwater in Mill Valley? Upfront and close with Jack is a spiritual experience. 🖖🚀
I grew up in SF and love both bands but for me it’s Dead all the way!! The Airplane was strong for a few years but kind of peaked early I saw the Dead all through the 80s and 90s and never got tired of them Both are great bands!’
Fine analysis, Mazzy! Each band was phenomenal in its own way. I didn't get to see the Airplane live until its '80s reunion. The concert was excellent, the album deeply, deeply disappointing. Never got to see the Dead, sadly. It's unfortunate that many people today only know two Jefferson Airplane songs. What a bold, experimental outfit.
Great battle. I’m a JA kind of guy. I think I just recently bought my first GD album. Surrealist Pillow and Bless his pointed little head are my favorites. Although I don’t have Crown of Creation, Lather was a favorite song ( written fir Spencer Dryden by Grace Slick I believe) and I want to say that the next drummer after Dryden, Joey Covington was from wester PA Johnstown.
1970 COULD have been a great year for the Airplane if they'd combined the Mexiico/Have You Seen the Saucers single with the Blows Against the Empire material and the Hot Tuna material. 1971 would've also been good if they'd combined Bark with Sunfighter, First Pull Up Then Pull Down, and Papa John's solo stuff.
The airplane all the way for me 🛩️..... Amazing band in the sixties... Grace is one of my favourite vocalist and she was one hell of a sexy hippie chick ✌️🙏🕉️
It was back in 2009 for a recreation of Woodstock. Maria Muldaur performed as well. Believe it or not, my set was the Joe Cocker set (me playing Joe Cocker!). Marty and I shared mic in the finale of the show!! A high point in my life!! Unforgettable!!
Don’t forget there’s a demo recording dated November 1965, they did for Autumn records that was eventually released called The Birth of the Dead! Plus of course the two live albums of The Great Society with Grace Slick before she joined Jefferson Airplane! I always preferred Two From the Vault three CD which came out much later recorded at the Shrine on August 24th 1968, than Live/Dead.
Jefferson Airplane all the way. Great songs and great harmonies. I remember the Summer of Love and the music was amazing with Surrealistic Pillow being one of the best. Oddly, I bought my first two GD cds last year despite being 68 years old. I’ve listened all their studio and a number of live albums on RU-vid several times, but I am struggling to get into them. They’re okay, although I’m in the minority for liking their studio recordings better than their live recordings. I saw them live in 1990. Nice, but not memorable.
Love Airplane Mazzy …. But you might be comparing them to the greatest American rock band ever. The Grateful Dead legacy is enormous in fact there’s an entire genre, and an actual culture in 2023, that is directly attributed to the influence of the dead. Airplane is a fantastic band with at least five great records… and one of my favorite guitarist. The dead’s catalog is so deep, so vast, and once live dead hits they are unstoppable … the songs, the playing and of course the cultural impact. Take another look at the Brent, around here it’s our favorite period :) great video ✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼
The Grateful Dead were just getting started as the Jefferson Airplane were finishing up, I think the Dead have a better overall catalogue, but the Airplane came strong out of the gate did some great stuff and then quickly crashed and burned. The Dead were slow to start off, but still interesting, by 1970 saw they reached full maturity and they put out a whole lot of great music after that.
Side note....the Jefferson Airplane paper bag outer cover was supposed to resemble an "A&P" grocery store bag which was a popular grocery store chain back then.
that was fun thanks. I think you're too hard on Long John Silver but who isn't? no it isn't pretty and I don't even think they liked it all that much. But Aerie is one of the strangest, prescient and scarily beautiful songs in the JA cannon. Also, it's hard to appreciate Bark without talking about Jorma's Third Week in the Chelsea - a song which made the entire record make sense.
Hello mr musiclover I can also compare. Jefferson Airplane live 1968 in Stockholm with lightshow was better than Grateful Dead 1980 Stockholm because they were. Jetlegged, thanks for videos takecare......
I guess that we will have to disagree about Paul Kantner's 1970 album "Blows Against The Empire". and later "Sunfighter". AKA Jefferson Starship. Although these are not Jefferson Airplane, I think that Kantner, Slick, and friends made a great album.
Hey mazzy, I really don't like comparing bands but I get it. As somebody once said "it's about the music". I love both bands but I will say at their best, the airplane were better. They had 4 very good songwriters and that's probably why they didn't last. Not enough vinyl to go around. Both were very good live but the airplane made better studio albums. 2 of my favorite bands.
Not a huge fan of either one, but I like em ok! I'm an 80's kid, but it doesn't mean I didn't dig the time that preceded me! I pick GD if I had to pick one! I do have "starship" "knee deep in the hoopla" , no ways near the quality of JA!😅😅
The question is why did the Airplane crash so far so fast but the Dead never really did. I mean, Touch of Grey is still a decent song while We Built This City is embarrassing. I think it has to do with Slick and Balin being show biz people, ultimately. Kantner, Kaukonen, and Cassidy could slot right in with the Dead, but the singers were prone to schmaltz.
As of now I think Surrealistic Pillow is better. But I've heard it Way more times than the Dead album. I find the Airplane a more interesting band. But I know better than to tell deadheads. I like how the Airplane was open to profane outlaw slogans. Because there was nothing mature or humane about the war on Vietnam, or the lynchings in the south, etc. There was room for diverse political views without any nationalism or conformity. Whereas the Dead did not venture that deep into politics. Imho
Well, since I Love everything from the Dead, they win over all: that being said Surrealistic Pillow is one of my all time favorite albums and After Bathing at Baxter's and Crown of Creation are pretty damn good too! But sorry, not a fan of Volunteers at all (only Good Shepherd and Wooden Ships) can't stand the song Volunteers and We Can be Together is almost the same song just slightly better!
