Volunteers

"Volunteers" was significant in many ways in 1969. It was Jefferson Airplane's last album to feature the band's classic lineup. It was their last album of the 60's. It articulated many 60's concepts and causes. There are songs about the potential uprising of the younger generation ("We Can Be Together", "Volunteers"), the joys of country living ("The Farm"), a post-apocalyptic world ("Wooden Ships") and the ecology ("Eskimo Blue Day"). Its sound was a defining sound for 60's rock. Practically every track features fantastic guitar work, but more than that, the guitar sounds represent the standard for what by that time had coalesced into a separate genre, "psychedelic rock".Some of my favorites stand out because of their sound, others because of their lyrical content, and some because of both. Paul Kantner's "We Can Be Together" is a perfect example of JA's rousing lyrics, vocal harmonies and searing guitar. The lyrics clearly spoke to the young generation: "We are all outlaws in the eyes of America...We must begin here and now...Tear down the walls." The title track rocks and speaks in the same way: "Look what's happening out in the streets/Got a revolution/Got to revolution...Hey now it's time for you and me." "Hey Frederick" is a track written and sung by Grace Slick, slightly similar to "rejoyce" (from a previous album) but stronger, and it includes a long exploratory instrumental. Another similarity to "rejoyce" is her surreal poetic lyrics: "Either go away or go all the way in/Look at what you hold/Come back down on a spear of silence." "Wooden Ships", written by Paul with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, is a moody, folk-like track about survival in a post-apocalyptic world: "Horror grips us as we watch you die/All we can do is echo your anguished cry and/Stare as all your human feelings die/We are leaving/You don't need us." "Turn My Life Down" is an unusual track from Jorma Kaukonen. It has trademark JA harmonies but sounds more like a mid-tempo pop song which happens to include psychedelic guitar.There are 5 bonus tracks, all taken from performances at the Fillmore East on November 28 & 29 of 1969. I am generally not very fond of live music, much preferring studio, but I find 2 of these very worthwhile: "Good Shepherd", with exceptionally good guitar, and "Somebody To Love", on which Grace sings the verses in a very free-form manner, proving not only that she got inspired but also had the talent to express it.

After buying an original 1972 pressing and wondering how RCA pressed all of the lows and highs out of the LP I bought this 180 gram release from Sundazed and was surprised at the quality of the audio spectrum on this disc. Sundazed was able to recover the lows and highs from the master tapes. The recording is still not up to par with other LPs I have owned. I do not know if it was the studio's fault or if Sundazed could have squeezed more from the tapes. I have read rumours that the studio masters were damaged and that the RCA pressings were made from a copy of the master tapes. Just rumors not verified.

Volunteers is the last really great Jefferson Airplane album. There is a good variety of types of music, from heavy/acid rock to light country satire on themselves, to the famous title track. I still enjoy listening to it.I remember that Volunteers came out on LP, and a short time later a new version came out in Quadraphonic - a surround format that never caught on. For one reason or another, to make a Quad version of the album, they decided to re-record these tracks. Perhaps they were able to render the other four tracks from the original takes.The point is, these are entirely different takes by the same band members a short time later. They don't play or sing them exactly the same: it is similar, but with some obvious differences. Volunteers starts off with a bit of a jam before Marty starts singing, and the lyrics include "one generation gone ahead, one generation went to bed, c'mon now, we can do it, we can do ANYTHING" and this is not in the original take. Wooden Ships starts right in on the music, with no boat sound effects of fading into the music. Hey Frederick has Grace experimenting with a different phrasing of some of the lyrics. The sound seems a bit brighter than the 2004 remaster.Though the tracks were recorded for quad, they are presented in stereo for this release. It certainly would be interesting to have quad recordings by the Airplane and others published today in DTS or Dolby Digital.If you love the Volunteers album, I do recommend you check out these alternate takes.Also, if you have not heard Paul Kantner's "Blows Against The Empire", you might want to check it out. It could have been the last great Airplane album (it came out after Volunteers) except that it has a different lineup: only four members of the Airplane, and a variety of guests (including Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, David Crosby, and others). It also introduced the name Jefferson Starship, though the real band of that name came four years later.

This is an overall very fine album. Their best in my opinion. Most songs are catchy and not as weird as on their other albums. But one song stands out: Wooden ships cowritten with Crosby and Stills. This is a spine chilling amazing track. The text about survivors from a nuclear holocaust (I think) leaving in ships watching the dying remains of society as they go. I would rate this as one of the best ever rock songs. It is far superior to the version featured by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Crank it up and enjoy!

Great CD in good condition

Good to have!

Excellent

Really great album that sounds as good if not better than when it was first released. The overall sound scape is fantastic, really conjuring up the West Coast sound of the era...