Review of Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow

Released 1967

"When logic and proportion, have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the dormouse said; "FEED YOUR HEAD""

Having enjoyed The Doors first album, I started to read about other proponents of West Coast psychedelia. A whole new new branch of progressive music revealed itself. The names of groups such as The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Love seemed perfectly in keeping with the tales of free love, free spirits and the counter culture which was developing at the time.

I was then fortunate enough to catch an airing of 1967 The Monterey Jazz Festival which featured - amongst others - Janis Joplin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds and Moby Grape. I was in my element. Incidentally, back in the 1980's when there were just four TV channels to choose from here in the UK, it seemed that there was a cornucopia of classic music documentaries or films on show: from the Monterey Jazz Festival to the Big Sur trip, with CSN and friends, the original Woodstock festival, along with many others. Now, with hundreds of channels to choose from, it is very rare to find anything from this era. A terrible shame for anyone wanting to discover this special era in music.

Also on the bill at Monterey in 1967 were Jefferson Airplane. Again, the shallowness of my teenage years has to be admitted. My initial attraction to the band was the bare footed and frankly gorgeous Grace Slick. I was besotted by her voice, her performance and her underrated voice. On the back of that late night drooling I ventured out to purchase the fantastically titled Surrealistic Pillow.

Not the most imaginative of covers obviously, but it clearly showed that they were contemporaries of The Doors.

I'll admit that I was largely disappointed the first time I played the album in full. I felt that it was distinctly unadventurous, un-prog like and more akin to fans of The Mamas and Papas than anything I had been adding to my record collection in recent months. Plus Grace Slick was mixed too far back and more often than not shared the vocal. I felt cheated. Of course I thought that White Rabbit was outstanding and that Somebody to Love showed potential, but overall I was not impressed that only two of the eleven songs held my attention.

Several plays later I was still of the same mind. I put the album back in it's plastic sleeve and put in back on my shelf with the intent of selling it on

Then, a few months later I was a party where alcohol was not the only stimulant on offer. Sinking into a bean bag in a darkened room heavy with fragrant smoke and my drink of choice at the time (Canadian Club of all things) I was vaguely aware of a recognisable strumming and a lyric I was surprised I had memorised. I couldn't immediately place my finger on exactly what it was until the next track started. Ah, Grace Slick! The previous track had been Comin'Back To Me. Looking around me I noticed others were nodding along to the guitar solos and that I myself was actually enjoying it for the first time.

I hadn't previously noticed the flute at the beginning of How Do You Feel or the strength of the harmonies. It was also much folkier than I remembered. With each new song I heard new layers and discovered hidden depths which made me ashamed of my short sightedness before.

Listening to White Rabbit in an ahem, elevated state in a room light by a red light bulb was one of the defining moments of my teenage years and of my musical appreciation.

All these years later I don't place it in the same bracket as The Doors or other albums of that era but it does have a few grand inspirational moments and the ability to make me smile inwardly.