Volunteers (Jefferson Airplane album)

History

This was the sixth album recorded by the group and the first to be wholly recorded in San Francisco, at Wally Heider's then state-of-the-art 16-track studio. Guest musicians included Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar, veteran session pianist Nicky Hopkins, future Airplane drummer Joey Covington on percussion, David Crosby, and Stephen Stills. It was one of the earliest 16-track recordings. The back cover of the album shows a picture of the MM-1000 professional 16-track tape recorder built by Ampex which was used to record the album.

The album was marked with strong anti-war and pro-anarchism songs. The theme of nature, communities and ecology was also explored with the songs "The Farm" and "Eskimo Blue Day". The title track was inspired by a "Volunteers of America" garbage truck that woke singer Marty Balin one morning. The album`s original title was Volunteers of Amerika, spoofing Volunteers of America, a religious charity similar to the Salvation Army. The spelling, Amerika, usually references both German fascism and the Kafka novel. After VOA objected, the title was shortened to Volunteers.

The album provoked even more controversy with lyrics such as "Up against the wall, motherfucker" which appeared on the opening song "We Can Be Together". The offending word was mixed lower on the 45 RPM release of that track to partially 'obscure' it, but it was still audible. The word "motherfucker" was censored on the album lyric sheet as "fred", however. At the time RCA Records was refusing to allow the word "fuck" on the album until they were confronted with the fact that they had already set a precedent on the Cast Recording Soundtrack of Hair. "Eskimo Blue Day" was also a point of contention, with its chorus line of "doesn't mean shit to a tree" repeated throughout. Musically, the album is characterized by Jorma Kaukonen's lead guitar parts (the dueling solos on "Hey Fredrick", plus the traditional gospel-blues song "Good Shepherd" and "Wooden Ships") and the distinctive piano-playing of Nicky Hopkins. It also featured the band experimenting with a country-rock sound, particularly in "The Farm" and "Song For All Seasons".

Despite its controversies, the album was a commercial success. It peaked at #13 (becoming the band's fourth Top Twenty record) on the Billboard album chart and received a RIAA gold certification within two months of its release.

This was to be the last album with the group for both Jefferson Airplane's founder Marty Balin and drummer Spencer Dryden (although they did both appear on the "Mexico" single released in 1970 and its B-side "Have You Seen the Saucers?") and thus signifies the end of the best-remembered "classic" lineup. It was to be the group's last all-new LP for two years; Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen would now devote more of their energy to their embryonic blues group Hot Tuna, while Paul Kantner and Grace Slick released Blows Against the Empire and Sunfighter with various guest musicians and celebrated the birth of their daughter China in 1971.

Releases

Even though the album was released in late 1969, the cover photo dates back to 1967; it features the band wearing disguises and was taken during the filming of a promotional film made for their single "Martha".

A specially remixed Quadraphonic (4 channel) version of the album was also released in 1973. The Quad version was available on LP Record using the discrete JVC / RCA CD-4 / Quadradisc system, and Reel to reel, and 8-track cartridge tape. The Quad mixes are noticeably different from the usual stereo mixes; "Hey Fredrick" has a completely different lead vocal, "Volunteers" is a totally different recording, Kaukonen's guitar lines are different on "We Can Be Together", "Wooden Ships" lacks the 'sailboat sounds' opener, and the backing vocal by the Ace of Cups on "The Farm" is made more prominent. A few tracks from the Quad version were included on the 3-CD box set Jefferson Airplane Loves You, however on the box set the four-channel recordings have been reduced to two channels due to the technical limitations of Compact Disc.

The 2004 CD rerelease features five additional bonus tracks from the group's annual Thanksgiving concert at the Fillmore East, New York in 1969.

Legacy

In 2003 the album was ranked number 370 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The album was released again in 2009 along with the entirety of the group's live performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 as Jefferson Airplane Woodstock Experience.

Track listing

Credits from original Vinyl LP and Quadraphonic LP

Personnel

Per the Volunteers liner notes.

Additional personnel

Production

Charts

Album

Single