Jefferson Airplane - Crown of Creation (Orange Marble vinyl)
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Marty Balin – vocals, rhythm guitar
Grace Slick – vocals, piano, organ
Paul Kantner – rhythm guitar, vocals
Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar, electric chicken, vocals
Spencer Dryden – drums, piano, organ, steel balls, vocals
Jack Casady – Yggdrasil bass
Additional musicians
Arthur Tripp – percussion
Gary Blackman – nose solo (A1)
Charles Cockey – guitar, vocals
David Crosby – guitar
Tim Davis – congas
Bill Goodwin – talking drums
Dan Woody – bongos
Gene Twombly – sound effects
1 LP, Gatefold Cover
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : Orange Marble
Speed : 33RPM
Size : 12”
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : RTI
Label : Friday Music
Original Label : RCA Victor
Recorded February – June 1968 at RCA Studios, Hollywood
Engineered & mixed by Rich Schmitt
Produced by Al Schmitt
Remastered by Joe Reagoso
Originally released in 1968
Reissued in 2016
Tracks:
Side A:
- Lather
- In Time
- Triad
- Star Track
- Share a Little Joke
- Chushingura (instrumental)
Side B:
- If You Feel
- Crown of Creation
- Ice Cream Phoenix
- Greasy Heart
- The House at Pooneil Corners
Reviews :
"Crown of Creation appeared ten months after their last album, After Bathing at Baxter's, and it doesn't take the same kind of leap forward that Baxter's did from Surrealistic Pillow. Indeed, in many ways, Crown of Creation is a more conservative album stylistically, opening with "Lather," a Grace Slick original that was one of the group's very last forays (and certainly their last prominent one) into a folk idiom. Much of what follows is a lot more based in electric rock, as well as steeped in elements of science fiction (specifically author John Wyndham's book The Chrysalids) in several places, but Crown of Creation was still deliberately more accessible musically than its predecessor, even as the playing became more bold and daring within more traditional song structures. Jack Casady by this time had developed one of the most prominent and distinctive bass sounds in American rock, as identifiable (if not quite as bracing) as John Entwistle's was with the Who, as demonstrated on "In Time," "Star Track," "Share a Little Joke," "If You Feel" (where he's practically a second lead instrument), and the title song, and Jorma Kaukonen's slashing, angular guitar attack was continually surprising as his snaking lead guitar parts wended their way through "Star Track" and "Share a Little Joke." The album also reflected the shifting landscape of West Coast music with its inclusion of "Triad," a David Crosby song that Crosby's own group, the Byrds, had refused to release -- its presence (the only extant version of the song for a number of years) was a forerunner of the sound that would later be heard on Crosby's own debut solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name (on which Slick, Paul Kantner, and Casady would appear). The overall album captured the group's rapidly evolving, very heavy live sound within the confines of some fairly traditional song structures, and left ample room for Slick and Marty Balin to express themselves vocally, with Balin turning in one of his most heartfelt and moving performances on "If You Feel." "Ice Cream Phoenix" pulses with energy and "Greasy Heart" became a concert standard for the group -- the studio original of the latter is notable for Slick's most powerful vocal performance since "Somebody to Love." And the album's big finish, "The House at Pooneil Corners," seemed to fire on all cylinders, their amps cranked up to ten (maybe 11 for Casady), and Balin, Slick, and Kantner stretching out on the disjointed yet oddly compelling tune and lyrics. It didn't work 100 percent of the time, but it made for a shattering finish to the album." AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder
Ratings :
AllMusic : 4 / 5 , Discogs : 4,21 / 5