I am supprised no Dead Heads have posted. Or others of a similar style like The New Riders of the Purple Sage, Moby Grape, and The Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Having a Flashback Friday - Airplane Induced
I was 15 when the Jefferson Airplane released the Crown of Creation at the pinnacle of the psychedelic rock era, and it became a go to album of mine throughout high school and college. We will not go further into the particulars of the situations regarding the playing of this album during that time. On this cold and wet Friday I am sitting in my home listening and enjoying un-induced flashbacks of that era but also reveling in the composition, musicality, musicianship and expression of the dark emotions of this statement of society at that time. While I do not consider it well engineered from an audiophile perspective, it has a wonderful warmth, good clarity despite the warmth, good dynamics, and above average staging/imaging for rock albums of that era. Slick and Balin’s voices are mesmerizing. Kaukonen’s finger picking stylings are soaring and heady. My favorite bassist, Cassidy’s runs maintaining rhythm while often carrying melody, so intricate, warm, and woolly. The messages are dark (There will be no survivors my friend') but I find it transfixing.
For those of the psychedelic rock era, or those who appreciate the music, what are your flashback favs.
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@jsalerno277 - I'm a Deadhead! But I don't need to 'flash back' as I listen to them just as much now; that's timeless music. @jtcf - yes, I enjoyed looking through the windowpane on several occasions, too! @thecarpathian - went from being a hippie to a punk to a post-punker to an indie rocker, and on and on and on right up through today. Didn't leave any of it completely behind.... |
@larsman I am also a Dead fan often getting lost in their constantly changing rhythmically and melodically changing patterns all while staying within the confines of the original song structure and finishing with the original rhythm and melody. Amazing musical complexity. The improvisation pattern of change, similar to jazz but in rock structure, brings you on a journey of changing elevations. Lesh, also high on my list of favorite bassists, takes a different path from traditional bass playing like Cassidy. Lesh plays complex counter rhythms and melodies to Garcia’s lead while Cassidy plays melodically to the direct composition. Both play cords on the base to enhance melodic composition. Both will have you in awe of their technique on close listening. From an audiophile perspective I find their studio albums all generally well done. But that is not where all the beauty is. The live albums is where what I have spoke is lives and they are a mix of good to bad engineering from an audiophile perspective. I attended too many performance to list in the late 60s and 70s. |
@jsalerno277 - very well said! I don't have any use for GD studio albums; to me, that has always been besides the point; they were always all about live performances. But I do have every one of the big annual box sets they've released, and I've got the vinyl versions of a few of those shows, too. |
- 47 posts total