SURREALISTIC PILLOW

Many people having explored this album due to the presence of the two iconic Grace Slick-led performances of "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit"--two songs that happened to have been brought to the Airplane by Ms. Slick from her now disbanded former band, The Great Society. On January 14, the band's new lineup performed at Bill Graham's now-iconic "Human Be-in," an all-day "happening" in Golden Gate Park alongside the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver. After this hugely successful event, an album was in demand--for which Dead leader Jerry Garcia championed and even provided "background production" talents--which the band gratefully acknowledged with their "spiritual guru" credit on the album's liner notes. Recorded and produced in 13 days, the album was released in February. It's single releases, the first, former drummer Skip Spence (now with MOBY GRAPE)'s "My Best Friend," failed miserably before "Somebody to Love" (with "She Has Funny Cars" as its B-side) and "White Rabbit" (backed w/"Plastic Fantastic Lover") sky-rocketed up the charts. Radio play and influential television performances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour prompted a meteoric rise in public awareness. Their new type of unapologetic electronic psychedelic rock 'n' roll defied all trends in that it felt comforting and even romantic--bridging a gulf that no band before had been able to so successfully and ably reconcile. In June, the band was asked to help headline the Monterey International Pop Festival, being billed for the headliner spot of Saturday night. Though the festival was greeted with mixed reviews, many critics and audience members recognized the contrast between the "old" artists and their kind of music--which was "on their way out"--and the new artists--the "future"--of which the performance of the Airplane--and especially the mesmerizing (some called it "possessed") presence and performance of Ms. Slick. Unfortunately, despite growing comaraderie and creative energy, this period may have been the band's peak in popularity (at least, that is, until they re-formed as Jefferson Starshp).