Jefferson Airplane - 1967-08-04 - Toronto CA (SBD)

Jefferson Airplane

1967-08-04

O'Keefe Centre

Toronto, Canada

Soundboard Recording

320 kbps

Artwork Included

Grateful Dead:

01.  New Potato Caboose       

02.  Viola Lee Blues       

Jefferson Airplane:

03.  //She Has Funny Cars       

04.  Bringing Me Down         

05.  High Flying Bird         

06.  White Rabbit             

07.  Come Back Baby           

08.  Runnin' 'Round This World 

09.  Tobacco Road             

10.  Run Around               

11.  It's No Secret 

Jefferson Airplane - 1967-08-04 - Toronto CA (SBD)

It was billed as the summer of love. In the wake of the Monterrey Pop Festival in June 1967, the flower power generation and psychedelic rock music, both of which had become synonymous with San Francisco, were firmly embedded in the public consciousness. On July 7, Time Magazine featured a cover story entitled, The Hippies: The Philosophy of a Subculture. It is estimated that around 100,000 people traveled to San Francisco in the summer of 1967. The media was right behind them, casting a spotlight on the Haight-Ashbury district. Albums such as Sgt. Pepper's by the Beatles and Surrealistic Pillow from San Francisco's own Jefferson Airplane, with their vivid imagery and allusions to drug use, climbed to the top of the Billboard charts. Ever the sharp eyed promoter, Bill Graham took the Airplane and Grateful Dead on tour across the US and into Canada, billing the shows as "Bill Graham Presents The San Francisco Scene" in order to capitalize on the attention that the city of the Golden Gate Bridge had been receiving. The 2 bands played Toronto from July 31 to August 5.  This soundboard recording captures the Jefferson Airplane during that tour, on August 4, 1967, 53 years ago today. Fittingly given our theme this month, we also get 2 tunes from the Grateful Dead's set that night!  Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair when you download and listen to this one.

Jefferson Airplane/Jerry Garcia Connections

• Few bands are as connected to Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead as the Jefferson Airplane. Both emerged from the San Francisco scene in 1965 and would be leading lights of psychedelic rock. 
• The 2 bands would headline the Human Be-in on January 14, 1967 in Golden Gate Park, a concert which put San Francisco’s counter culture on the map and served as a prelude to the Summer Of Love. 
• The Airplane and Dead also performed at Monterrey Pop in June 1967, and at Woodstock in August 1969. In fact, the 2 bands shared the same bill quite frequently, with Deadbase listing 50 such concerts from 1965 to 1970. Who knows how many more undocumented pairings also took place? 
• Famed promoter Bill Graham was heavily involved with both bands. 
• In 1967, as the Grateful Dead were working on their debut album, Jerry Garcia also spent time helping the Airplane produce their landmark 2nd album, Surrealistic Pillow. Garcia in fact, was the source of the album’s title, when he mentioned that, as a whole, the album sounded "as surrealistic as a pillow is soft." Although RCA, the Airplane’s record company would not acknowledge Garcia's considerable contributions to the album with a "Producer" credit, he is listed as "spiritual advisor." 
• While the 2 bands would go their separate ways in the 1970s, their initial partnership would spotlight the cultural revolution that was taking place in the City By The Bay.  
• Paul Kanter of the Airplane spoke at the Jerry Garcia Memorial on August 13, 1995.