Sold Date: May 14, 2015
Start Date: May 12, 2015
Final Price: $17.99 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 1393
Buyer Feedback: 77

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE Surrealistic Pillow SUNDAZED LP5135 180 gram Audiophile MONO edition
Tracklist A1She Has Funny Cars3:03A2Somebody To Love2:54A3My Best Friend2:59A4Today2:57A5Comin' Back To Me5:18

B13/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds3:39B2D.C.B.A. - 252:33B3How Do You Feel3:26B4Embryonic Journey1:51B5White Rabbit2:27B6Plastic Fantastic Lover2:33 *(all photos are of the actual item) Engineer –  Producer –  Barcode and Other Identifiers Barcode: 090771513519
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 146/500!
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time - "White Rabbit" - Rated 483/500, "Somebody To Love" - Rated 279/500! 

Featured in Michael Fremer's Heavy Rotation in the January 2003 Issue of Stereophile! 

Feed your head with the rare mono edition of this spellbinding time-capsule from the epicenter of the Summer of Love, San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, circa 1967. On their groundbreaking first album with Grace Slick, the Jefferson Airplane brought their freshly-blooming psychedelia to the world at large with "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love." On High-Definition vinyl, from the original analog masters. 

Rare original mono mix reissued for the first time on vinyl. Classic album with the enduring hits Somebody To Love and White Rabbit. All-analog mastering from the original mono masters. 

"Psychedelic scholars have long tried to pin down just what the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia did on this album (he is credited as "musical and spiritual adviser"). But the real trip is the Airplane's concise sorcery, a hallucinatory distillation of folk-blues vocals, garage-rock guitar and crisp pop songwriting. The effects were felt nationwide. Grace Slick's vocal showcases, "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love," made Surrealistic Pillow a commercial smash during San Francisco's Summer of Love, and Marty Balin's spectral "Today" is still the greatest ballad of that city's glory days." - www.rollingstone.com 

"White Rabbit" was a trippy rock & roll bolero written by Airplane vocalist Slick. "Our parents read us stories like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz," Slick said. "They all have a place where children get drugs, and are able to fly or see an Emerald City or experience extraordinary animals and people… And our parents are suddenly saying, 'Why are you taking drugs?' Well, hello!" - Rolling Stone 

"'Somebody' was about 'doubt and disillusionment,' according to Darby Slick, who wrote it in the Great Society. His sister-in-law Grace brought the song to the Airplane, whose hard-edged rendition became one of the S.F. scene’s first hits. The Airplane made buttons that read jefferson airplane loves you; Great Society countered with ones that said the great society really doesn’t like you much at all." - Rolling Stone 
     Not many bands go from an auspicious debut to an even greater second album, but Jefferson Airplane was no ordinary band. Quickly filling the drum position vacated by Skip Spence, they tapped session drummer and jazz specialist Spencer Dryden. For the co-lead vocalist position left open by Signe Anderson’s departure, they looked no further than the Great Society vocalist Grace Slick. Convinced to join Jefferson Airplane by bassist Jack Casady, Slick signed on and the band bought out her contract with the Great Society for $750. With the new lineup complete, they began work on Surrealistic Pillow.

     In addition to her strong vocal skills and model-ready looks, Grace Slick also brought with her two songs which would be recorded for the new album and would help break the band on an international scale. “Somebody to Love,” written by her then brother-in-law Darby Slick, had already been released on a single to little fanfare by the Great Society, from a session produced by Sylvester “Sly Stone” Stewart. “White Rabbit,” an interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland,” was Grace’s own composition. The song was released as a single, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The other Slick-associated song, “Somebody to Love,” fared even better, reaching #5. Sales of these two chart-topping singles not only droveSurrealistic Pillow sales through the roof, they also tipped the balance of power away from band founder Marty Balin to Slick. It was a one-two punch from which Balin never fully recovered.

     The album’s heady mix of folk rock and psychedelia had a much harder edge than the band’s debut. Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen’s stinging leads and Slick’s tough, assured vocals marked a major move forward. Lead track “She Has Funny Cars” updated the Bo Diddley beat for a new generation while album closer “Plastic Fantastic Lover” is a multi-color swirl, driven by Kaukonen and Casady’s swooping bass lines. In between, the album’s quality control never lags. With all but two selections written by the band, it is also a stellar showcase of their songwriting abilities that, as previously noted, had been significantly strengthened by Slick’s arrival.

     Initially released in mono and stereo versions, the mono edition quickly went out of print due to the period’s preference for stereo. Collectors fortunate enough to obtain a mono copy noted that the mix was much more powerful and clearer than the stereo mix, with much less echo and reverb. Consequently, the mono version became a much-desired collectible. After a decades long absence, Sundazed makes the prized mono version of Surrealistic Pillow available again on deep groove 180-gram vinyl. Mastered from the original analog RCA session tapes and packaged in a vibrant recreation of the LP jacket artwork.