500 Albums To Listen To - Part 1

Here's part 1 in a 500 part series. These are really 1001 of my favorite albums. I'll examine each and give some detail as to why it's a great album, but this is NOT a download blog. There are plenty of places to find these on the internet, even legally if you'd like.

Paul Kantner and Jefferson Airplane - Blows Against The Empire


The first album by the band under the name Jefferson Starship, Blows Against The Empire is a beautiful piece of American history that is under-appreciated. Musically and ideologically experimentational, Blows Against The Empire is a unique record. Paul Kantner got help from a few music legends on this project.

Personnel

• Paul Kantner – vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, banjo, bass machine
• Grace Slick – piano, vocals
• Jerry Garcia – banjo on "Let's Go Together", pedal steel guitar on "Have You Seen the Stars Tonite", sound effects and vocals on "XM", lead guitar on "Starship"
• Bill Kreutzmann – drums on "Let's Go Together"
• Mickey Hart – percussion on "Have You Seen the Stars Tonite", sound effects and vocals on "XM"
• Joey Covington – drums and vocals on "Mau Mau", congas on "Hijack"
• Jack Casady – bass on "A Child Is Coming" and "Sunrise"
• David Crosby – vocals and guitar on "A Child Is Coming" and "Have You Seen the Stars Tonite", background vocals on "Starship"
• Graham Nash – congas on "Hijack", sound effects on "Home", background vocals on "Starship"
• David Freiberg – background vocals on "Starship"
• Harvey Brooks – bass on "Starship"
• Peter Kaukonen – lead guitar on "Mau Mau"
• Phil Sawyer – sound effects on "Home" and "XM"

- Wikipedia's Personnel List for the album

Lyrically, this album is innovative and daring, going beyond protest song composition and examining total rebellion against the America of the Vietnam War era and a new revolution leading to a society of free love, free music, peace, and complete freedom.

"What you gonna do when Uncle Samuel comes around
Askin' for the young one's name
And lookin' for the print of his hand for the files in their numbers game
I don't want his chance for freedom to ever be that slim
Let's not tell 'em about him --"

-"A Child Is Coming", Track 4

"You know - a starship circlin in the sky - it ought to be ready by 1990
They'll be buildin it up in the air even since 1980
People with a clever plan can assume the role of the mighty
and HIJACK THE STARSHIP
Carry 7000 people past the sun
And our babes'll wander naked thru the cities of the universe
Cmon
free minds, free bodies, free dope, free music
the day is on its way the day is ours"

-"Hijack", Track 6

Why you should check it out
You ought to give this record a spin if only because it's like nothing you've ever heard before.