Post by erik on Jun 3, 2023 19:07:02 GMT -5
Once known as the counterculture band Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship gets into the Pop Music Hits Spotlight with a great 1976 pop-rock ballad that appealed to FM rock and AM Top 40 fans alike.
WITH YOUR LOVE (Jefferson Starship; RCA/Grunt; 1976)—The city most prominently identified with the 1960’s counterculture was undoubtedly San Francisco. And one of the most prominent groups to have come out of that city’s youth scene of psychedelia, LSD, and other mind-altering substances was The Jefferson Airplane. Fronted by Marty Bali, Paul Kantner, and Grace Slick, the group charted two huge hits in 1967 in the form of “Somebody To Love” and the somewhat controvesrsial “White Rabbit” (which had Slick’s [in]famous incantation of “Feed Your Head” at its conclusion). They were among the many acts that made the August 1969 Woodstock Festival a huge smash in 1960’s rock history; but after having been part of the Rolling Stones’ disastrous Altamont Festival at the end of 1969, and seeing their hit singles and albums dry up in terms of sales, they temporarily dropped out of sight. By 1975, they had re-emerged with a more mainstream radio sound both friendly to FM rock and AM Top 40 formats that had elements of straight West Coast pop-rock and progressive rock. By then, they had also changed their name to Jefferson Starship. The first sign of this came in late 1975 with their big hit “Miracles”, which featured Balin on lead vocals. Balin also handled the lead vocals on another one of their big hits, the romantic pop-rock ballad “With Your Love”. Balin co-wrote the song, whose arrangement features plenty in the way of keyboards, synthesizers, and a jazz-influenced alto saxophone instrumental break in the middle. Even if the band’s 1960’s counterculture fans weren’t as into this sound as they had been with the previous incarnation’s social statements of years past, “With Your Love” still became a significant hit upon its release from the band’s album Spitfire in 1976. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1976, and also reached #6 on that same publication’s Adult Contemporary singles chart listing. The band would have further hits in this vein for the rest of the 1970’s; then after another hiatus, they shortened their name to Starship in the 1980’s, and had hits in that decade with “Sara” and “We Built This City”. Under its original moniker of Jefferson Airplane, but acknowledging the other two monikers, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
WITH YOUR LOVE (Jefferson Starship; RCA/Grunt; 1976)—The city most prominently identified with the 1960’s counterculture was undoubtedly San Francisco. And one of the most prominent groups to have come out of that city’s youth scene of psychedelia, LSD, and other mind-altering substances was The Jefferson Airplane. Fronted by Marty Bali, Paul Kantner, and Grace Slick, the group charted two huge hits in 1967 in the form of “Somebody To Love” and the somewhat controvesrsial “White Rabbit” (which had Slick’s [in]famous incantation of “Feed Your Head” at its conclusion). They were among the many acts that made the August 1969 Woodstock Festival a huge smash in 1960’s rock history; but after having been part of the Rolling Stones’ disastrous Altamont Festival at the end of 1969, and seeing their hit singles and albums dry up in terms of sales, they temporarily dropped out of sight. By 1975, they had re-emerged with a more mainstream radio sound both friendly to FM rock and AM Top 40 formats that had elements of straight West Coast pop-rock and progressive rock. By then, they had also changed their name to Jefferson Starship. The first sign of this came in late 1975 with their big hit “Miracles”, which featured Balin on lead vocals. Balin also handled the lead vocals on another one of their big hits, the romantic pop-rock ballad “With Your Love”. Balin co-wrote the song, whose arrangement features plenty in the way of keyboards, synthesizers, and a jazz-influenced alto saxophone instrumental break in the middle. Even if the band’s 1960’s counterculture fans weren’t as into this sound as they had been with the previous incarnation’s social statements of years past, “With Your Love” still became a significant hit upon its release from the band’s album Spitfire in 1976. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1976, and also reached #6 on that same publication’s Adult Contemporary singles chart listing. The band would have further hits in this vein for the rest of the 1970’s; then after another hiatus, they shortened their name to Starship in the 1980’s, and had hits in that decade with “Sara” and “We Built This City”. Under its original moniker of Jefferson Airplane, but acknowledging the other two monikers, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.