Starship: Red Octopus: Agua

Jefferson Starship - Red Octopus
(Remastered + Expanded) Originally Released June 1975 Remastered CD Released January 28, 1997 DCC Gold CD Edition Released April 29, 1997 Remastered + Expanded CD Edition Released September 13, 2005

Este es sin duda el mas exquisito disco de los Starship, para mi es uno de los discos miticos de la Jefferson. "Miracles" es "el single", ese tema q te queda grabado en la consciencia por siempre. Marty Balin esta magnifico, cantando como nunca y componiendo con gran sensibilidad. Por fin he podido revisar mi viejo lp con esta edicion remasterizada. Contiene la version "single" de "Miracles" y 5 temas en vivo desde Winterland, en 1975, toda una delicia.

01. Fast Buck Freddie [0:03:30.62]
02. Miracles [0:06:53.35]
03. Git Fiddler [0:03:11.35]
04. Ai Garimasu (There Is Love) [0:04:17.28] The first word in the title is "AI", not "AL" like the sleeve lists.
05. Sweeter Than Honey [0:03:23.72]
06. Play On Love [0:03:46.38]
07. Tumblin' [0:03:29.02]
08. I Want To See Another World [0:04:36.63]
09. Sandalphon [0:04:11.52]
10. There Will Be Love [0:05:08.18]
11. Miracles (Single Version) [0:03:30.32]
12. Band Introduction (Live at Winterland, November 7, 1975) [0:01:15.43]
13. Fast Buck Freddie (Live at Winterland, November 7, 1975) [0:03:35.05]
14. There Will Be Love (Live at Winterland, November 7, 1975) [0:04:58.40]
15. You're Driving Me Crazy (Live at Winterland, November 7, 1975) [0:06:45.42]

Jefferson Starship: Marty Balin, Grace Slick (vocals); Paul Kantner
(guitar); Craig Chaquico (guitar); Papa John Creach (violin); David
Freiberg, Pete Sears (keyboards, bass); John Barbata (drums,
percussion)

Additional personnel: Irv Cox (saxophone); Bobbye Hall (percussion).

Recorded at Wally Heider's, San Francisco, California in February 1975.

Includes liner notes by David Cohen.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
30th Anniversary Edition, contains bonus tracks.

Technically speaking, Red Octopus was the first album credited to Jefferson Starship, though practically the same lineup made Dragon Fly, credited to Grace Slick/Paul Kantner/Jefferson Starship. The difference, however, was crucial: Marty Balin was once again a fully integrated band member, writing or co-writing five of the ten tracks. And there can be little doubt that it was Balin's irresistible ballad "Miracles," the biggest hit single in the Jefferson Whatever catalog, that propelled Red Octopus to the top of the charts, the only Jefferson album to chart that high and the best-selling album in their collective lives. This must have been sweet vindication for Balin, who founded Jefferson Airplane but then drifted away from the group as it veered away from his musical vision. Now, the collective was incorporating his taste without quite integrating it -- "Miracles," with its strings and sax solo by nonband member Irv Cox, was hardly a characteristic Airplane/Starship track. But then, neither exactly was Papa John Creach's showcase, "Git Fiddler," or bassist Pete Sears' instrumental "Sandalphon," which sounded like something from an early Procol Harum album. Slick has three strong songs, among them the second single "Play on Love." Like Dragon Fly, Red Octopus reflected a multiplicity of musical tastes; there were ten credited songwriters, seven of whom were in the band. If there is any consistency in this material, it is in subject matter (love songs). The album is more ballad-heavy and melodic than the Airplane albums, which made it more accessible to the broader audience it reached, though "Sweeter Than Honey" is as tough a rocker as the band ever played. [The 2005 reissue of Red Octopus contains four bonus tracks including the single version of "Miracles" and songs recorded live at Winterland in 1975.] -- William Ruhlmann