Takes Off

This reissue of TAKES OFF contains the complete album in stereo. In order to preserve the integrity of each complete album, there is a 10 second gap between the two versions. This CD issue restores the original last song on TAKES OFF, "Runnin' 'Round This World", deleted shortly after the original release of this album in 1966.
Jefferson Airplane: Marty Balin, Signe Toly Anderson (vocals); Paul Kantner (guitar, vocals); Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen (guitar); Jack Casady (bass); Alex "Skip" Spence (drums).
Recorded at RCA Victor's Music Center Of The World, Hollywood, California .
Includes liner notes by Jeff Tamarkin and Ralph J. Gleason.
This newly remastered 2003 deluxe edition contains bonus tracks.
Jefferson Airplane: Marty Balin, Signe Toly Anderson (vocals); Paul Kantner (guitar, vocals); Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen (guitar); Jack Casady (bass); Alex "Skip" Spence (drums).
Originally released on RCA Victor (3584). Includes liner notes by Jeff Tamarkin.
There is a reason why the Jefferson Airplane was the first nationally renowned proponent of San Francisco rock. As much as they bucked establishment values, the sextet offered a musical mixture of California folk-rock and white blues that was nevertheless easier to digest than the sounds of their contemporaries. TAKES OFF, their debut recording, made before Grace Slick joined the band, goes to great lengths to establish them as the obvious next step on a pop staircase of the Beatles, Byrds, and Rolling Stones.
Signe Anderson and Marty Balin's distinctive, folky harmonies give TAKES OFF a lived-in warmth and a loved-in counterculture vibe that defined the times. Covers of John D. Loudermilk's infamous "Tobacco Road" and the Youngbloods' '60s anthem "Let's Get Together" may have symbolized their community's alienation from their parents' values, but the Airplane versions were less calls to arms than sympathetic pats on the back. However, Jorma Kaukonen's boppy R&B guitar leads and Jack Casady's free but steady bass lend the Airplane's debut some heavy rock muscle.