Neither the Jefferson Airplane nor The Great Society can be classified as Garage Rock bands, but they were super popular around the same time - the mid to late 1960s. This is the story of 2 great Classic Rock tunes - Somebody To Love and White Rabbit.
Somebody To Love
Most rock fans know Somebody To Love. It's a great up tempo guitar song with Grace Slick on powerful vocals. Bar bands with female singers from all over the world cover this song to show their vocal abilities. I've seen some in my area in recent years so I know it's true!
Here's a video of the band on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour from 1967. Sounds to me like the music track is prerecorded but Grace is singing LIVE.
Now here is a fact that very few people know.
This version of Somebody To Love is a cover song! Yes, that's right. This is NOT the original. The original Somebody To Love was written, performed and recorded by a group called The Great Society. It was written by the guitarist of The Great Society, Darby Slick.
Wait, his last name was Slick? Yes, he was Grace's brother-in-law! Grace was the singer of The Great Society in 1965 when the song was written and recorded. Let's listen to the ORIGINAL version of Somebody To Love!
Also cool but not at all the same style! It has a different beat and a different vibe to it. Also the guitar solo is in the "right place" for a 1960s song - in the middle of the tune, although there is another guitar bit near the end. In the later Jefferson Airplane song from 1967, the guitar solo is at the end.
Still, I think this is a great version of a great song! Maybe its just me, but I hear a little Beatles influence in here. The drummer is hitting the cymbal a lot like Ringo did, and the guitar strumming seemed like John and George. It's not surprising. The Beatles influenced everything in the 60s.
From The Great Society to Jefferson Airplane
The songs I am writing about today appear on Jefferson Airplane's Second album, Surrealistic Pillow. Their First album was Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. Grace Slick was singing for The Great Society at the time. So who sang for Jefferson Airplane? Marty Balin and Signe Toly Anderson!
Marty was co-founder of the band in 1965, Signe was soon added as co-lead singer. Let's hear them singing the first single by Jefferson Airplane, It's No Secret.
It's mostly Marty but we hear Signe at around the 53 second mark. And we see her at 1:34. What an awesome live video with cool psychedelic lighting! Listen to Marty singing his heart out for his girl. I love this song!
Okay, so Jefferson Airplane already had a female singer. How did Grace end up with them? Seems Signe got pregnant and decided to leave the band when she gave birth to her daughter. Both bands already knew each other since they were both playing around San Francisco, sometimes even at the same show. Grace was invited to join Jefferson Airplane and she decided to make the move. And she brought 2 great songs with her!
White Rabbit
This is another well known 60s song which has drug references and Alice In Wonderland references. The point is, don't be surprised if your kids are curious about drugs since you read them the Alice books when they were young! The song has a cool drum track and of course Grace's powerful vocals. It builds to the climactic ending - Feed Your Head! Here are Jefferson Airplane again from the Smothers Brothers show.
THIS SONG also was originally done by The Great Society!
Grace Slick wrote the song when she was their singer. Again, there are major differences in style between the original and the more popular cover. For one thing, the original is over 6 minutes long, at least in this recorded version of it. The Jefferson Airplane cover version is 2 and a half minutes.
Here's the ORIGINAL version of White Rabbit by The Great Society recorded Live!
I think they were going for an Indian flavor. There is a little bit of Sitar sound to the guitar. The drumming is completely different. The intro is Very Long - it lasts over 4 minutes. Then we hear those familiar lyrics, more spoken than sung. This part of the song sounds more like the cover, but still has a different feel.
Bonus tracks!
This song is called Grimly Forming, and is one of my favorite The Great Society songs. It has a pretty cool 60s guitar sound with a steady drum beat. Grace sounds great! There are some artsy experimental parts in here, but the main part of the song is a very cool 60s folk rocker song!
Now to end, here is Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane. This is from 1969 and is a bit heavier. The guitars are bit more metal as opposed the earlier folk/rock/psychedelic sound.
Looks what's happening out in the streets. Gotta revolution, got to revolution!
Hey NOW it's time for YOU and ME! Gotta revolution, got to revolution!
Do you feel it? Is revolution in the air again? Can the people take back the power? Can we do it in a peaceful decentralized way? Are we doing that NOW right HERE on HIVE???
You can read more about the Jefferson Airplane at this wikipedia article.