I like it but don't love Jefferson Airplane. I'm very fond of vital voices within the band, mostly Marty Balin with a side dish of Grace Slick. Their 1969 album, "Volunteers," is the Hippie Revolution's height, and I like it for that reason. Although I do have to say that there is also another voice on this album that I adore. It's Nicky Hopkins piano playing throughout the record. It's an interesting road that leads Nicky from being the piano player of the British Invasion to the heart of the San Francisco Hippie scene. His playing is lyrical, and at times I just listen to his keyboard work and not listen to the rest of the music. Which is an odd thing to do, but the joy of hearing the piano among the guitars, drums, and voices is really the essential part of the music.
"Hey Fredrick" is Grace magic. Her voice soars, the guitars (Paul Kanter and especially Kaukonen) twang with intensity, jazzy bass by Jack Cassidy, and Nicky's piano underpin the music as like adding salted butter to a slice of warm french bread. Eight minutes or so of bliss. The great thing about the Airplane is that they have the folk music aesthetic as a foundation, but it can lead to free-form jazzy rock with no fear of falling off the ledge. So yes, I don't love everything they do, but when they hit the spot, it's a bullseye.
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