Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow (2LP, Mono, Ultra Analog, Half-speed Mastering, 45 tours)
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
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Marty Balin – vocals, guitar, album design, lead vocals on "Today", "Comin' Back to Me" and "Plastic Fantastic Lover", co-lead vocals on "She Has Funny Cars", "My Best Friend" and "Go to Her"
Jack Casady – bass guitar, fuzz bass, rhythm guitar
Spencer Dryden – drums, percussion
Paul Kantner – rhythm guitar, vocals, lead vocals on "How Do You Feel", co-lead vocals on "My Best Friend", "D. C. B. A.-25" and "Go to Her"
Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar, lead vocals on "Come Back Baby" and "In the Morning"
Grace Slick – vocals, piano, organ, recorder, lead vocals on "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", co-lead vocals on "She Has Funny Cars", "My Best Friend", "D. C. B. A.-25" and "Go to Her"
Signe Toly Anderson - lead vocals on "Chauffeur Blues"
Skip Spence - drums on "Don't Slip Away", "Come Up the Years", and "Chauffeur Blues"
2 LPs, gatefold jacket
Numbered limited edition
Original analog Master tape : YES
Half-speed Mastering
Gain 2™ Ultra Analog
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 45RPM
Size : 12”
Mono
Studio
Record Press : RTI
Label : MOFI
Original Label : RCA Victor
Recorded October 31 – November 22, 1966 at RCA Victor's Music Center of the World, Hollywood, California
Engineered by Dave Hassinger
Produced by Rick Jarrard
Remastered by Krieg Wunderlich
Originally released in 1967
Reissued in 2015
Tracks:
Side A :
- She Has Funny Cars
- Somebody to Love
- My Best Friend
Side B :
- Today
- Comin' Back to Me
Side C :
- 3/5 of a Mile In 10 Seconds
- D.C.B.A.-25
- How Do You Feel
Side D :
- Embryonic Journey
- White Rabbit
- Plastic Fantastic Lover
Awards:
Michael Fremer's 100 Recommended All-Analog LP Reissues Worth Owning - Rated 52/100!
TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal
The Absolute Sound Top Ten Vinyl Reissue of 2016
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 146/500
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time - "White Rabbit" - Rated 483/500
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time - "Somebody To Love" - Rated 279/500
Reviews :
"The second album by Jefferson Airplane, Surrealistic Pillow was a groundbreaking piece of folk-rock-based psychedelia, and it hit like a shot heard round the world; where the later efforts from bands like the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and especially, the Charlatans, were initially not too much more than cult successes, Surrealistic Pillow rode the pop charts for most of 1967, soaring into that rarefied Top Five region occupied by the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and so on, to which few American rock acts apart from the Byrds had been able to lay claim since 1964. And decades later the album still comes off as strong as any of those artists' best work. From the Top Ten singles "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" to the sublime "Embryonic Journey," the sensibilities are fierce, the material manages to be both melodic and complex (and it rocks, too), and the performances, sparked by new member Grace Slick on most of the lead vocals, are inspired, helped along by Jerry Garcia (serving as spiritual and musical advisor and sometimes guitarist). Every song is a perfectly cut diamond, too perfect in the eyes of the bandmembers, who felt that following the direction of producer Rick Jarrard and working within three- and four-minute running times, and delivering carefully sung accompaniments and succinct solos, resulted in a record that didn't represent their real sound. Regardless, they did wonderful things with the music within that framework, and the only pity is that RCA didn't record for official release any of the group's shows from the same era, when this material made up the bulk of their repertory. That way the live versions, with the band's creativity unrestricted, could be compared and contrasted with the record. The songwriting was spread around between Marty Balin, Slick, Paul Kantner, and Jorma Kaukonen, and Slick and Balin (who never had a prettier song than "Today," which he'd actually written for Tony Bennett) shared the vocals; the whole album was resplendent in a happy balance of all of these creative elements, before excessive experimentation (musical and chemical) began affecting the band's ability to do a straightforward song. The group never made a better album, and few artists from the era ever did." AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder
"Surrealistic Pillow broke the group internationally, which was kind of a miracle since RCA at the time (if ever) was not known as a rock label. But "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" became generational anthems and the album a '60s decade icon.
In 1967 this was one of those "get stoned, sit down in front of the stereo, turn the lights out and travel elsewhere for fifteen minutes" records along with Strange Days and Day's of Future Past not to mention Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
In retrospect it's really a mild folk-rock record enhanced by Marty Balin's haunting balladry. It holds up well almost fifty years later (scary!).
Balin and Kantner's "Today" is as poignant and moving as it was back then and it and the side-ender "Comin' Back to Me" threw a one two adult emotional punch in the face of a generation mostly looking for liberation—though of course the album and later Airplane records covered that too!" Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com
"For parents tuning into Top 40 radio in the 60s, hits like "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" probably confirmed their worst fears. The band was the Jefferson Airplane from San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district-the counterculture's ground zero. The 1967 blockbuster release harboring these hits was Surrealistic Pillow, whose 11 tracks were in reality less trippy psychedelia and more a fusion of rock and folk, with harmonies echoing the Byrds, the Yardbirds, or The Mamas and the Papas. It was the Airplane's second release and crucially the first with added power-vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden, who joined singer Marty Balin, singer/guitarist Paul Kantner, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, and bassist Jack Casady. MoFi's 45rpm double LP is a beautifully packaged gatefold. Sides are short but surfaces are quiet, the sound vintage analog. But what makes this remastering significant is the use of the monaural mix. Much less reverb was applied compared to the stereo originals, giving each track a stunning clarity and detail and intimacy-and a far heavier, more cohesive energy that places the spotlight on the musicianship and enlivens classic tracks like "Today" and "Plastic Fantastic Lover." If you've only known the stereo version, you're in for a real treat." Neil Gader, The Absolute Sound, October 2016
Ultra Analog™ : The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ Series stems from the use of the Gain 2 system, mastered at half speed from the original master tapes where possible, capturing and uncovering as before undiscovered sonic information.
Half-speed mastering. In half-speed mastering, the whole process is slowed down to half of the original speed. A typical 33 1/3 rpm record is cut at 16 2/3 rpm. The source material is also slowed down (reducing the pitch in the process) meaning the final record will still sound normal when played back. Slowing the whole process down allows more time, which means the end result sounds better and is more efficient — allowing engineering to minimize the effects of inherent limitations within the vinyl format. The result is a more accurate and more open high-frequency response in the half speed vinyl when compared with a normal speed recording.
Ratings :
AllMusic : 5 / 5 , Discogs : 4,38 / 5 , The Absolute Sound : 5/5 Music, 5/5 Sonics , Michael Fremer : Music = 10/11; Sound = 11/11