Jefferson Airplane: Fly Jefferson Airplane
by Bob Sarles
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jack Casady, Joey Covington, Marty Balin, Signe Anderson, Spencer DrydenDirector: Bob Sarles
Brand: RED Distribution
Cinematographer: Bill Day
Cinematographer: Ted Leyhe
Editor: Bob Sarles
Producer: Bob Sarles
Editor: Christina Keating
Producer: Christina Keating
Producer: Matt Friedman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 81 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Eagle Rock Ent
Movie Reviews of Jefferson Airplane: Fly Jefferson Airplane
Movie Review: This really is history: performance and spectacle
Summary: 5 Stars
The complete performances are the easy part of this DVD to watch, and I'm glad there is a performance option which allows viewers to just see a bunch of great songs on this DVD when they know the rest. There is a tremendous amount to learn about Jefferson Airplane, their songs, their mansion, their managers, their drummers, covered in the material between the songs and in bonus interviews. "Head Lights" is a concept that will never be the same for me, after seeing swirling samples of top of the line light shows which were a part of the Jefferson Airplane tours when they tried to bring parts of their San Francisco scene to other cities in America. From the beginning, Jefferson Airplane aspired to be more than a typical folk entertainment act, and it quickly evolved into a miraculous phenomenon.
The height of insouciance on the `Fly Jefferson Airplane' DVD is trying to remember how unexpected it was that a major record company like RCA would release a single for `White Rabbit,' a great party song on the theme:
One pill makes you larger,
and one pill makes you small,
And the ones that mother gives you
don't do anything at all.
Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall.
Maybe the theme is "Feed your head." Other than that, the intellectual focus seems to be that being an adult had become an outmoded form of existence, particularly in songs like `Crown of Creation,' `Lather,' `We Can Be Together,' and `Volunteers.' Grace Slick manages to sing some of my favorite words, but she had written `White Rabbit' before she was asked to join Jefferson Airplane, and the amount of musical sophistication which that song acquired by becoming a featured part of the repertoire of a group of accomplished musicians is astounding for those who are sophisticated enough to compare a typical song introduction with the number of great musical lines which that song has before the "One pill ..." part starts.
For people who find the idea of San Francisco music and light shows a bit strange, `Fly Jefferson Airplane' shows an incredible sample of how individuals became involved in it as an extraordinary life form requiring total involvement and miraculously survived. Jefferson Airplane played at The Monterey Pop Festival, Woodstock, and Altamont. By 1970, they were playing such high-powered music that the clip of `Plastic Fantastic Lover' is from something called GO RIDE THE MUSIC.
I hope I have chosen the words *insouciance* and *phenomenon* well for describing Jefferson Airplane, because it would be nice to be able to describe them in terms that Nietzsche would understand. Back in 1980, I did not know Jefferson Airplane well enough to use any of their songs in the outline that I sent to Walter Kaufmann, but a few themes like *smoking*the*dope* might have set the stage for rattling the chain on Nietzsche's use of opium. Undoubtedly Walter Kaufmann's best reader was his mother, a factor which did not seem important to Nietzsche or Jefferson Airplane. LSD is mentioned in `Fly Jefferson Airplane' without any attempt to blame the CIA for experimenting with altering people's state of consciousness. "Head Lights" were devoted to maximizing the alteration of consciousness for Jefferson Airplane audiences, though the show might be edited if the mayor, city council, and police wanted to see the show. The police tend to be commented on like the Hell's Angels who were supposed to be protecting the stage at Altamont, who did not particularly like Jefferson Airplane and knocked out their lead singer because of something he said. A police car is even shown taking Marty into custody after the rooftop performance on a hotel in New York City, after a policeman is filmed saying, "Stop the music."
What I should keep coming back to is a sense of monstrosity. When Freud left Vienna for London, he was not allowed to take his sisters with him because the Gestapo did not want the world to think sane people would be fleeing the Nazis like rats from a sinking ship. Freud even joked to someone that he had asked if he could add "I can heartily recommend the Gestapo to anyone" when he had to sign some form to show that he had been treated fairly by the Gestapo. Police aren't there to create disorder, but the ideal of a passive, indifferent population did not appeal to Jefferson Airplane, and `Volunteers' is one of the songs from GO RIDE THE MUSIC which allowed everyone in the group to play their instruments and beat the drums with full emotion. "This generation" became a statement for people who did not want to be the silent sufferers like Freud's sisters, who never had any say about public policy after a certain point. Undoubtedly I like this music more than some people ever will, but it anathematizes so much that I would like to condemn as strongly as possible; I can't help it. It's a great monstrosity or even better, if that is possible.
Summary of Jefferson Airplane: Fly Jefferson Airplane
Focusing on Jefferson Airplane's 1965-1973 run, "Fly Jefferson Airplane" incorporates complete vintage performances with brand new interviews from almost all of the band members of the time, as well as others who were along for the ride.FEATURING COMPLETE PERFORMANCES:
WHITE RABBIT (from Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour)
CROWN OF CREATION (from Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour)
LATHER (from Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour)
HIGH FLYING BIRD (from Monterey Pop)
SOMEBODY TO LOVE (from Monterey Pop)
THE HOUSE (at Pooneil Corner)
VOLUNTEERS (from Go Ride The Music)
PLASTIC FANTASTIC LOVERS (from Go Ride The Music)
BALLAD OF YOU & ME & POONEIL (from Night At The Family Dog)
IT'S NO SECRET (from Bell Telephone Hour)
MARTHA (from Perry Como Special)
BONUS MATERIAL:
* Interview outtakes from all the members *
* Photo gallery of rare and never before seen photos from the Jim Marshall collection.
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