The Worst of Jefferson Airplane
Greatest hits album by
Jefferson Airplane
ReleasedNovember 1970 (1970-11)[1]
GenreRock
Length46:11
52:54 (2006 bonus tracks)
LabelRCA Victor
CompilerJefferson Airplane, Bill Thompson, Pat Ieraci[2]
Jefferson Airplane chronology
Volunteers
(1969)		 The Worst of Jefferson Airplane
(1970)		 Bark
(1971)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [3]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]

The Worst of Jefferson Airplane is the first compilation album from the rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in November 1970 as RCA Victor LSP-4459.[1] The "Worst" in the title is ironic, as the album features all of Jefferson Airplane's hit singles up to that point. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200 in 1971[6] and has since gone platinum.[7]

Content

Billboard ad for the album, February 6, 1971.

In 1970, the band underwent a period of inactivity because of internal personnel conflict and pursuit of individual projects. Drummer Spencer Dryden was ousted from the group, Marty Balin found his commitment to the band he had started becoming tenuous, Grace Slick was pregnant with her daughter for a good part of the year, Paul Kantner released his solo album Blows Against the Empire, and Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady busied themselves with their side project, Hot Tuna. With no group project in sight, RCA Records assembled this album centered upon the group's hit singles, with input from the band. "The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil", "Crown of Creation", and "Volunteers" all made the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100. "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" were the band's only Top 40 hits, reaching #5 and #8 respectively. To ensure a full picture of the group's musical interests, and possibly to ensure solidarity in the publishing income, the band included instrumentals by Dryden and Kaukonen, a country blues/gospel cover arranged by Kaukonen, and Balin's straightforward ballad "Today". This would be the final album featuring what is considered the "classic" line-up of the band, after Slick and Dryden joined, and before Balin and Dryden left.

Original LP copies of the album featured Victor "scroll" labels from the late 1920s. The inner sleeve was a reproduction of a 1918 vintage Victor record sleeve. The interior of the gatefold cover featured a large color reproduction of the painting "His Master's Voice", the famous RCA Victor trademark. Later reissues of the LP were housed in a regular, non-gatefold cover and did not include the reproduction of the painting nor the 1918 inner sleeve, but the LP still bore the vintage Victor record labels.

Reissues

On July 29, 1997, RCA reissued a remastered version of Worst on compact disc. On June 6, 2006, RCA reissued the album again, this time with two bonus tracks which had both been released as singles, "Watch Her Ride" and "Greasy Heart".

Track listing

The tracks for side one and side two listed here are those of the original LP. The cassette version features the same songs, but arranged in a different order.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Original releaseLength
1."It's No Secret"Marty BalinJefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966)2:37
2."Blues from an Airplane"Balin, Skip SpenceJefferson Airplane Takes Off2:10
3."Somebody to Love"Darby SlickSurrealistic Pillow (1967)2:54
4."Today"Balin, Paul KantnerSurrealistic Pillow2:57
5."White Rabbit"Grace SlickSurrealistic Pillow2:27
6."Embryonic Journey"Jorma KaukonenSurrealistic Pillow1:51
7."Martha"KantnerAfter Bathing at Baxter's (1967)3:21
8."The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil"KantnerAfter Bathing at Baxter's4:30
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Original releaseLength
1."Crown of Creation"KantnerCrown of Creation (1968)2:53
2."Chushingura"Spencer DrydenCrown of Creation1:17
3."Lather"G. SlickCrown of Creation2:55
4."Plastic Fantastic Lover" (live 1968)BalinBless Its Pointed Little Head (1969)3:39
5."Good Shepherd"traditional, arranged by KaukonenVolunteers (1969)4:22
6."We Can Be Together"KantnerVolunteers5:50
7."Volunteers"Balin, KantnerVolunteers2:03
2006 CD bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Original releaseLength
9."Watch Her Ride"KantnerAfter Bathing at Baxter's3:16
10."Greasy Heart"G. SlickCrown of Creation3:27

Note: CD bonus tracks were inserted after Side one in the track list, with Side two renumbering to tracks 11-17.

Personnel

Jefferson Airplane

Additional personnel

  • Gary Blackman – nose solo on "Lather"
  • Gene Twombly – sound effects on "Lather"
  • Nicky Hopkins – piano on "We Can Be Together" and "Volunteers"

Production and recording details

  • Jefferson Airplane Takes Off released September 1966, recorded on 3-tracks
  • Surrealistic Pillow released February 1967, recorded on 4-tracks
  • After Bathing at Baxters released November 1967, recorded on 8-tracks
  • Crown of Creation released September 1968, recorded on 8-tracks
  • Bless Its Pointed Little Head released February 1969, recorded live on 8-tracks
  • Volunteers released November 1969, recorded on 16-tracks
  • Alton Kelley, Wes Wilson – album design
  • Jefferson Airplane, Bill Thompson, Maurice – album compilation

Charts

Chart (1970-1971) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8] 28
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] 11
US Billboard 200[10] 12

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[11] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ The Worst of Jefferson Airplane sleeve notes
  2. ↑ Joseph McCombs. "The Worst of Jefferson Airplane > Overview". Allmusic Guide. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: J". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  4. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  5. ↑ "Jefferson Airplane > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database". RIAA. Archived from the original on 2016-01-03. Retrieved 2017-09-16. (Type "Jefferson Airplane" under Artist.)
  7. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 154. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3736". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "Jefferson Airplane Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "American album certifications – Jefferson Airplane – The Worst of the Jefferson Airplane". Recording Industry Association of America.
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