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Jefferson Airplane - 'After Bathing At Baxter's' (1967)

In February 1967 Jefferson Airplane's previous album 'Surrealistic Pillow' yielded the phenomenal hits 'Somebody To Love' and thru-the-looking-glass staple 'White Rabbit'...

So when RCA heard the follow-up they must have swallowed their cigars.
Within the year the group had recorded and released 'After Bathing At Baxter's' - an altogether heavier and more experimental proposition. We're not exactly talking John Cage here, but when the harmonies of Grace Slick and Marty Balin (a sound that defines the era for many) are committed to an LP of suites written entirely about the LSD experience you sit up and listen to the results...

Track one fades in with feedback, or the sound of an oncoming brain train... Jorma Kaukonen's lead guitar is pushed right to the front of the mix creating an instant impact; behind which intricate vocal harmonies are soon woven. Make no mistake, Jefferson Airplane may have actually made the album on acid but this ain't no fratboy binge - the creative floodgates have been opened.

No doubt Sgt.Pepper's release earlier that year was a chin-scratcher for the San Francisco stoners. The short instrumental on track two, 'A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You, Shortly', makes it clear we are no longer in chart-courting 'Somebody To Love' territory. It's a disorientating cacophony of jazz drumming, xylophone and nonsensical rambling; a precursor to the 9-minute bad-tripper 'Spare Chaynge'.

Studio experimentation aside, the freak-outs and spine-tingling melodies are abundant; from the galloping 'Watch Her Ride' to the whimsical 'Martha'. Most of the songs are immediate and J.A. have retained their accessibility and 'outdoor festival jam' vibe, whilst offering us a harder, more layered sound. Clearly being possibly the biggest psychedelic band of all time didn't hurt the musicianship either and everybody's playing is on point, no using standard psychedelic sound effects as a crutch.

'After Bathing...' doesn't suffer comparison to 'Surrealistic Pillow'. If you want a more popular/folky slant on free love you'll feel like the latter; the album in question though just rocks alot more whilst keeping those familiar elements that make it archetypal of the West Coast sound and a real psychedelic gem. It was a bold risk they took alienating the primetime Ed Sullivan audience but it paid off...

It's just come to my attention that the allmusic.com rating stands at 3 and a half stars. This is bollocks.

4.25/5

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July - 'July' (1968)
link

And so we fumble blindly into my second choice for a poorly constructed review - now crossing the Atlantic for a sample of the idiosyncratic UK scene.

This one's a real corker, just had to be made by a bunch of acidheads from Ealing.
There are a truckload of obscure releases from the psychedelic boom that sold poorly on release; but over time were unearthed by fat loners with beards at Dutch record fairs and are now highly sought after. This sole album by July is one such rarity. Fortunately it's a hit with music bloggers and rightly so; their sound is very trippy, nicely produced and musically proficient.

Raga abounds and between electro-acoustic mantras ('The Way') and wah-wah workouts ('Crying Is For Writers') phase silky basslines and cascading tablas. It's archetypal psych ofcourse so don't expect anything revelatory from the lyrics (or do?); still - they fit the sound like a glove.
It's not all good news however, as invariably with these albums there are one or two tracks that haven't aged too well ('Hallo Who's There', 'Jolly Mary'); but this is more than worth a download for the sublime moments where it all comes together.

Low-budget, long-forgotten, but a fine specimen from the crest of the psychedelic rock wave. Oh and two of the members apparently went on to fame and fortune in Jade Warrior. Terrific.

4.0/5