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***** CD 1 1. Other Side of this Life (Sept. 23 [30th is more likely], 1966, Winterland Aud.) 2. It's No Secret (ditto) -- The sound of a plane taking off that opens this set was used for several songs, and is most likely the progenitor of the starship taking off in Paul's BLOWS AGAINST THE EMPIRE (put together by Graham Nash). 3. Come Up the Years (Oct. 2, 1966, Fillmore Aud.) 4. Fly Trans Love Airways (Oct. 2, 1966) -- first appearance of Donovan's "Fat Angel," a.k.a. "Fly Trans Love Airways." The original fat angel was Mama Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas, and of course the airplane was an additional allusion to the West Coast sound. 5. Don't Slip Away (Oct. 7, 1966, Winterland Aud.) 6. High Flying Bird (Oct. 7, 1966) -- Signe is about a week away from leaving. These songs originally appeared with Signe as vocalist, although early-recorded Grace versions do exist. 7. Bringing Me Down (Oct. 14, 1966, Fillmore Aud.) 8. Jam (Oct. 14, 1966) -- Signe begins her last three-day run at the Fillmore. Confusion exists over whether she finished the entire run, or whether Grace stepped in on the last day, Nov. 16, so I have just put in the known Signe run of two days. 9.-10. Bill Graham intro > jam 3-5ths of a Mile in Ten Seconds (Oct. 15, 1966) The first appearance of "3-5ths of a Mile" and with Signe as vocalist. Grace's later version would of course open SURREALISTIC PILLOW and be a staple of the band; not many have heard Signe singing with Marty on this. 11. My Best Friend (Nov. 6, 1966, venue unknown?) 12. Plastic Fantastic Lover (Nov. 6, 1966) 13. Today (Nov. 6, 1966) 14. White Rabbit (Nov. 6, 1966) 15. In the Midnight Hour (Nov. 6, 1966) 16. She Has Funny Cars (Nov. 6, 1966) -- Some have argued this is the third day of the Oct. Fillmore run, or else another venue closer to that date. Given all the new songs from the recording in progress (SP), I believe this really is Nov. 6, 1966. As such, "White Rabbit" had just been recorded for that album three days earlier! A historic concert, whatever the real date. 17. Somebody to Love (Nov. 25, 1966, Fillmore Aud.) -- Grace had performed this with her original band, the Great Society, but this is an early Airplane appearance of the soon-to-be hit song. 18. Go To Her (Nov. 26, 1966, Fillmore Aud.) -- Both Signe and Grace recorded versions; this is Grace live. ***** CD 2 1. Ronald Reagan's reaction to the new "scene" 2. Get Together Feb. 4, 1967 (Fillmore) -- classic speech by a young governor as well as a classic song by Dino Valenti. How could I improve upon the venerable "San Franciscan Nights 1"? I did choose "Get Together" as appropriate for following the -- in retrospect, very humuorous! -- RR's speech. -- 3. Come Back Baby 4. Leave Me Alone March 10 and 12, 1967 (Winterland). A new booking agent had the hot new band touring, and "Come Back Baby," if compared with the jams of 1966, indicates the future emergence of Hot Tuna; "Leave Me Alone" shows how Marty could have easily been a part of that. -- 5. Saturday Afternoon / Won't You Try May 19, 1967 -- Men's Gym, CA Polytechnic -- first live appearance of this song; it would later be reworked in the studio sessions that follow. -- 6. Saturday Afternoon / Won't You Try 7. Martha Oct. 2-5 (?), 1967 -- rehearsals for recording AFTER BATHING AT BAXTER'S. Very haunting "Martha" jam with Grace on recorder and keyboards. Took place at Pacific High Studios (or Winterland). -- 8. Young Girl Sunday Blues 9. Two Heads 10.Share a Little Joke Feb. 1, 1968 -- a very powerful performance of BAXTER'S tunes. For once the band returned to the Matrix as they had just fired Bill Graham as manager and no doubt thought it politic not to show up at you-know-where for a while. -- 11.Star Track 12.Greasy Heart 13.Fat Angel May 17-18, 1968. Rare live performance of Jorma's contribution to a new album in the making, CROWN OF CREATION. Then Grace's classic "Greasy Heart" on the next day. The "Fat Angel" on that same last day shows that the improvisatory nature of the band was changing for the better, and is one of my favorite versions. . . . May 17 is most likely Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, with the 18th the Santa Clara Fairgrounds. ***** CD 3 1. If You Feel (Like China Breaking) -- Sept. 10 '68 -- Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany 2. Wooden Ships -- April 26, 1969 -- the Swing Auditorium, San Bernadino 3. Good Shepherd 4. We Can Be Together May 7, 1969 -- free concert in Golden Gate Park, SF CA 5. Ballad of You, Me, & Pooneil -- June 9, 1969 "Family Dog @ Great Hwy" 6. Good Shepherd 7. Eskimo Blue Day -- June 13, 1969 "Family Dog @ Great Hwy" 8. Wild Thyme 9. Eskimo Blue Day Oct. 26, 1969 -- Winterland Auditorium, SF CA 10.Greasy Heart -- Feb. 7, 1970 -- Anaheim Convention Center 11.Have You Seen the Saucers -- March 24, 1970 Capitol Theatre, Port Chester NY ***** CD 4 1. Crown of Creation -- May 1st, 1970 -- Stony Brook, NY 2. Mexico -- May 7, 1970 -- Fillmore East, NY 3. Eat Starch Mom -- Sept. 3, 1972 -- Hollywood Bowl, L.A. CA 4. Blind John 5. Long John Silver 6. Aerie -- Sept. 22, 1972 -- Winterland, SF CA 7. Love Don't Lie -- Sept. 10, 1984 -- Bandshell, GGP SF CA (solo Marty) 8. Planes -- Aug. 18, 1989 -- Riverside Theater, Milwaukee 9. Good Shepherd 10.Freedom Sept. 22, 1989 -- Greek Theater, Berkeley CA 11.Summer of Love 12.True Love Sept. 30, 1989 -- Polo Fields, GGP SF CA 13.She Has Funny Cars -- Oct. 7, 1989 -- Free Concert for the Homeless, Washington D.C. ***** CD 5 Some brief snippets of interviews (I'll try to bring them out individually at some point; meanwhile, I haven't touched upon those with Prairie Prince, Tim Gorman, and Slick Aguilar yet). Five CDs was like writing a novel with a haiku poem! Songs were chosen to either illustrate the interviewed person or to capture a little of what happened post-Airplane. Hal talks with Jorma (Santa Clara, April 24, 1992) ~ [I try to take him back to his student days] Plastic Fantastic Lover -- Sept. 28, 1989 -- Fillmore Auditorium ~ [final Fillmore appearance ever -- Sept. 26th was the best!] Hal talks with Papa John (Veteran's Benefit, San Jose, no date, '92) ~[I ask him about one of his solo numbers; Gretchen is there too but I'm saving the full treatment for Valentine's Day] Somewhere Over the Rainbow -- Oct. 9, 1992 -- Catalyst, Santa Cruz ~ [The solo number: I have the SBD of the whole show] Hal talks with Darby Gould (San Jose, no date, a month or so later) ~ [Talks about working for several bands at once; throat problems] Genesis Hall -- Oct. 9, 1992 -- Catalyst, Santa Cruz ~ [A Richard Thompson cover: had to get in Fairport somehow!] PERRO (proto-Mountain Song) -- Wally Heider's studio 1/2/71 ~ [From Stephan Barncard's famous tapes; our Airplane heroes in the studio with Jerry Garcia, David Crosby, and -- Phil Lesh, maybe? As far as I know Crosby dropped the song but Paul took it up on his album PLANET EARTH ROCK N' ROLL ORCHESTRA] Mountain Song Have You Seen the Stars Tonight -- Feb. 13, 1994 -- Seva Benefit, Masonic Hall SF CA ~ [From Wavy's wonderful 25th anniversary tribute to Woodstock; too bad I can't use the Hot Tuna section! I have the whole concert, though. Here Paul not only plays the completed song but invites Crosby to join him on another song they wrote together: a gorgeous one!] Transcaucasian White Boy -- no date, '73?, Wally Heider Studio ~ [From the outtakes/working tapes of BARON VON TOLLBOOTH: Dave Tamarkin's excellent Ultimate JA Collection #1 used "Your Mind Has Left Your Body" so I used another, equally atmospheric tune from one of my favorite albums] Silver Spoon -- no date, Wally Heider Studio ~ [From Dave Tamarkin's Ultimate JA Collection #2; a very powerful Grace moment] BLOWS AGAINST THE EMPIRE -- Oct. 19th, 1974 -- Radio City Music Hall ~ [A quirky choice: this album turned me from an Airplane fan into a full-fledged fanatic. Here it is live with Freiberg, Pete Sears -- who would later jump ship for Hot Tuna (I have some interview material with him), Johnny Barbata (another CSN&Y tie-in), and the one and only Papa John Creach]

5 CDs of Jefferson Airplane and related music compiled by Hal Broome, December 2004 - January 2005 CDs 1 - 4 are an aural history of the Jefferson Airplane, starting in a period where Spencer Dryden had joined the band and Signe was preparing to leave. I have put in, as chronologically as possible (just read JAbase to know how problematic that is!), what I think are the classic songs of each JA period, showing the good along with -- and fans will admit this -- the bad. Along the way I picked a few favorite tunes ("Good Shepherd," for instance) and deliberately chose variations to show how it developed live in concert (from Grace as the main singer to Jorma and then to a duo of them both). Some choices are just me being quirky. Others are because it is the first live appearance of the song. Then others are due to my trading friend's tastes: he asked for me to put in "Eskimo Blue Day," so ok, two different versions coming up! After doing the CD 1 - 4 chronology, I then took a different tack for 5: here I slip in some snippets of my interviews and show some of the later stages of what, to me, is one of the most puzzling, maddening, irritatingly brilliant bands to have come out of San Francisco. So, for the novice, with a tidbit or two for the serious collector,I pay tribute to my favorite band and the idiosyncratic fans that follow them. -- Hal Broome, January 28, 2005.

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