Fly Jefferson Airplane

Rating:
Summary: A worthy addition to the Airplane catalogue
Review: "Fly Jefferson Airplane" is a musical documentary recommended easily to fans of the beloved San Francisco acid-rock group. Vintage performance footage of their best-known songs are presented in surprisingly-clean footage with good sound fidelity and in their entirety--rare for most "nostalgia" videos. The performances span the classic "hits" of the 1966-1970 era: "It's No Secret", "White Rabbit", "Somebody To Love", "Plastic Fantastic Lover" as well as lesser-known gems "Martha" and the two "Pooneil" songs.

If one is looking for "dirty dish", there is no sniping here. The former band members reflect nostalgically, warmly and philosophically on their collective achievements instead of the often-documented acrimony and in-fighting. They have, it seems, grown up. They are all, Marty Balin points out with some satisfaction, STILL ALIVE. Perhaps no other major rock group of the era can boast such a claim. It is, initially, shocking to see these sexagenarians and reconcile them with the young and vital performers we see in the music clips.

As a documentary, it plays it safe: it avoids a critical perspective on the music, the albums, the band members or live performances. It is, in some ways akin to a souvenir of "The Summer of Love". It does, however, go into enough interesting detail (through interviews with all the band member interspersed throughout) to give the uninitiated or casual fan a reasonably-broad and informative look at the group's history and accomplishments. Bonus features include more interviews and a photo gallery.

Rating:
Summary: Child of Sixties View of Fly! Jefferson Airplane
Review: Being a big fan of the original Airplane, with Signe Anderson, I was hoping for more early footage. I remember seeing the Airplane on the John Bartholomew Tucker show, and this footage is missing from the DVD. Must be other early filmed performances, but I don't know. The only footage on this DVD with Signe is at the Fillmore in 1966, which is unfortunately pretty grainy. The sound quality was good, though. Then the performances jump to The Monterey Pop Festival, with Grace Slick. I attended this performance, so I was glad to see it included. If you're a fan of their later music, you
will be happy with this DVD. The interviews are quite good.

Rating:
Summary: a must-have for JA fans
Review: Don't miss this if you love the Airplane. Great old TV clips & concert footage, insightful interviews with all band members, the historic concert (1 tune) from the rooftop in NYC, lots of fun!

Rating:
Summary: WARNING: May trigger flashbacks.
Review: I guess I developed my appreciation for the Jefferson Airplane during my college years (1977-1981). I'm no child of the sixties, but my uncle went to Woodstock, and like many college students I learned of the magical powers of certain hallucinogenic substances. There is some ineffable quality in Jefferson Airplane's music that lends itself well to the psychedelic experience, and anyone who knows where I'm coming from ought to get this DVD. Apparently produced under the auspices of Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, this disc captures some of the magic of the San Francisco music scene, circa 1965-1972, and the pivotal role Jefferson Airplane played therein. That the members of the band are still alive and still relatively LUCID is nothing short of amazing, but if you are looking for dish, you won't find much here; there's nothing in the interviews that hints of the acrimony that sometimes flared during the band's heyday. But the musical performances: WOW! Where did they dig up some of these films? And how did they preserve them so well? Particularly fascinating for me is the performance of "It's No Secret," featuring the band's FIRST female vocalist, Signe Anderson. Her presence is altogether different from that of her successor, Grace Slick, but there's something about the quality of her voice that always intrigued me. The performance is a heady mixture of exultant vocals, jubilant dancing in the audience, and of course those very trippy liquid light shows that Ms. Anderson's first husband was apparently responsible for. I don't think you can overestimate the archival value of "Fly Jefferson Airplane." So break out the stash, slap this disc on the DVD player, and take a little TRIP back in time ....

Rating:
Summary: An airplane dvd ! at last !
Review: I was always pleased to see great rock groups come out with documentaries and video collections, but always wondered " When is Jefferson airplane ever going to come out with one?" Due to a busy work schedule, i didnt get around to buying it until right before christmas ( a present to myself)Its a collection of Tv appearances and live performances. Its excellent and a must have for any airplane fan like me.

Rating:
Summary: Way better than I expected
Review: Like I said, this DVD was much better than I was expecting it to be. The sound and video are very clean, and a few songs have been re-engineered into 5.1 DD. The songs are presented in their entirety without interruption or voiceover.

The interviews, interspersed between the songs, show the band members (Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Cassidy, Spencer Dryden, manager Bill Thompson, and later drummer Joey Covington) fondly, insightfully, and humorously recalling what made Jefferson Airplane tick. Don't miss the bonus material, which includes additional interviews with discussions about their genesis, Bill Graham, light shows, Woodstock, and Altamont. Plus, there's an interview with <gasp> Maurice, who provides the only hint that there was often friction between the band members.

Rating:
Summary: A must-own DVD
Review: Oh sweet and loving God, thank you, thank you, THANK-YOU!!! Jefferson Airplane have finally done it!!! One of the most beautiful, mysterious, profound and revolutionary rock bands in history has finally been properly and gloriously documented on DVD.

Could there be a Holier Grail for any lover of the REAL music of the `60's than this DVD, which is absolutely chock full of nearly every significant bit of Airplane performance footage in existence? This isn't a reunion, this isn't a comeback. This is genuine vintage footage; real, authentic, edgy, brilliant, fiery, psychedelic and soul-tattooing and I LOVE IT!!!

For twenty years after the end of WWII, mainstream society tried to find a way to get comfortable with the Atomic Bomb. Somehow, it was thought, "normalcy" could still prevail. We thought that if we were out grilling red meat in the backyard one evening and suddenly saw a surprise sunrise, that we'd all just calmly go down into the concrete bunker next to the cabana, taking along our little umbrella drinks and making sure to help mom in her cocktail dress and heels. We'd just buy a big can of radiation-reflecting hairspray and cake on the SPF 10,000 sun block with a trowel, and everything could go on just like before, right? After all, the white men with crew cuts and dark blue polyester suits had everything under control and were going to take care of us. How could anything bad happen?

By 1965, there were masses and masses of people who were whispering, saying, shouting and finally screaming, "F-K THAT!" and Jefferson Airplane was one of the beacons, one of the lighthouses that these people turned to in search of new ways to think and new ways to be. They were anti-establishment and counter-culture by choice and by conscience, because the "establishment" had brought everyone to the brink of incineration with the cooperation of a straight culture that was really just an attempt to normalize the official madness of the cold war. I believe that, whether they know it or not, Jefferson Airplane and others like them helped prevent a nuclear "exchange" between Russia and America, and I also think that they and their peers played a large part in ending the crime against humanity that was happening in Vietnam.

It doesn't matter who you are, you need to own this DVD. It is a musically beautiful, socially relevant, mind-blowing image of a band that was fighting for all of our lives, and that was calling on all of us to have the courage to love without fear, love without hesitating, love without keeping score and most of all to love ourselves enough to demand peace and justice.


Rating:
Summary: Awesome DVD, of a Awesome Band, of a Awesome Time in History
Review: The Airplane was the first concert I every saw in '67, and I have been a major rocker ever since. JA was just a totally awesome Band, that you really had to be there and experience their concerts in the late '60's to appreciate how incredible they were, and what a unique period of time that the late `60's was in history. JA's albums didn't do justice to their live performances! I am so glad they came out this DVD. Excellent footage, interviews, and very well produced. Highly recommend to anyone who "lived" through the 60's scene, or wants to learn about it.

Rating:
Summary: It's About Time
Review: The great thing about the new DVD technology is you get to see things in a way you have never seen before. The last time I saw any of these promo clips or performances was in the 1960's. The performances are complete and can be seen separately from the documentary which is a good thing. Video and sound quality are very good considering the limitations in recording at that time. For many of us, it is better to remember the band how they looked in their prime. I have not been able to bring myself to watch the documentary part and see the group and how they look today. I don't need to be reminded how old I really am. The unfortunate thing about waiting so long to release this vintage material is that most of Jefferson Airplanes fanbase "including myself" are around 60 years old. I'm a grandparent now and I wish that other groups of that era would release DVD's of their material before my generation is to old or sadly "to senile" to care.

Rating:
Summary: Good fix for Airplane fans.
Review: This DVD is a great fix for die hard Airplane fans. While some of the music appears to be dubbed in from original recordings, it contains some rare footage from some great performances. Some of the video is not of the highest quality, but is what might be expected from the technology available during this era. The DVD also gives some good historical and personal perspectives from the band members.

If you are a hard core Airplane fan, you have to own this DVD. You won't be disappointed.