Bless Its Pointed Little Head – JEFFERSON AIRPLANE****

Clergy/3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds/Somebody To Love/Fat Angel/Rock Me Baby/Other Side Of This Life/Its No Secret/Plastic Fantastic Lover/Turn Out The Lights/Bear Melt

Bless Its Pointed Little Head was the dynamic first live album from legendary West Coast progressive group Jefferson Airplane, recorded at Fillmore East and West in autumn 1968. (US:17)

"This album captures an incredibly talented and versatile group of artists in top flight. Everything I like about 60s music is here. There is a wide range of genres: acid rock, folk-rock, blues and heavy 60s-style rock. Lead guitarist Kaukonen and bass player Casady are particularly excellent, while Slick weaves her magical ethereal voice around their scaffolding. This truly is a masterpiece among live concerts."

"The best thing on this live recording is that the songs are pretty much different to the studio versions. So it has a lot of jam band feeling and I think it's great. And the number of lengthy cuts makes it even better. The whole band plays tight and every single moment is exciting."

"In my opinion, the only live Jefferson Airplane that anyone really needs. The songs from the studio albums are played far heavier here and the covers and new stuff are more than worthwhile as well. Not a bad rendition on here. This is the first to last JA album that is actually worth hearing."

"Raw and rampant, Bless Its Pointed Little Head is a classic live album, brilliantly displaying the Airplane's talents for improvisation and jamming whilst also providing enough punchy, jagged rock bursts to satisfy anyone out there gagging for a little raw power. Check it out if you like a bit of high-octane psych joy. I would defy anyone to say that, at their height, the Airplane weren't the best in the business."

"Bless Its Pointed Little Head captured that edge and energy on vinyl. It's a proper, unfettered, warts-and-all live masterpiece that showcases not only the band's knack for anthemic tunes and the neat vocal interplay of Slick and fellow singer Marty Balin, but also their ability to let loose, to improvise and to rave it up. Everyone's a hero on Bless Its Pointed Little Head. Slick is at her best, taking her staple Somebody To Love, for example, and turning it inside out as the band funks it up behind her, belting out some delirious vocalisations like a crazed Southern gospel singer."