With a new singer, Grace Slick, who also happened to bring a pair of classic songs with her (“Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit”), Jefferson Airplane’s second album in part defined the Summer of Love. The band was one of the best in San Francisco, whose scene helped shape an entire era. ‘Surrealistic Pillow,’ is a pinnacle of that period.
Surrealistic Pillow was the second album by the American psych rock band, released on February 1st, 1967, by RCA Victor. It is the first album by the band with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden.
Original drummer Alexander Skip Spence had left the band in mid-1966. He was soon replaced by Dryden, an experienced Los Angeles jazz drummer and the half-nephew of Charlie Chaplin. New female vocalist Slick, formerly with another San Francisco rock band The Great Society , joined the Airplane in the fall of 1966. Slick, Dryden, lead vocalist Marty Balin, guitarist-vocalist-songwriter Paul Kantner, lead guitarist (and occasional vocalist) Jorma Kaukonen , and bassist Jack Casady formed the core of the best-known line-up of the group, which remained stable until Dryden’s departure in early 1970.
Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick is also known for that powerhouse voice – responsible for classics like ‘White Rabbit’. At a time when studio production was limited and live concerts were almost always dominated by an incredibly loud band in direct competition with an even louder audience, it made it difficult to fully appreciate voices like Grace Slick’s; but it’s in this isolated vocal track from ‘White Rabbit’ that we’re able to finally concentrate on the star of the song .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eChgEiovCww
The album is considered to be one of the quintessential works of the early psychedelic rock.
- Marty Balin – vocals, guitar, album design
- Jack Casady – bass guitar, fuzz bass, rhythm guitar
- Spencer Dryden – drums, percussion
- Paul Kantner – rhythm guitar, vocals
- Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar, vocals
- Grace Slick – vocals, piano, organ, recorder
- Signe Toly Anderson – vocals on “Chauffeur Blues”
- Skip Spence – drums on “Don’t Slip Away”, “Come Up the Years”, and “Chauffeur Blues”
Surrealistic Pillow was the first blockbuster psychedelic album by a band from San Francisco.
The Fat Angel Sings 