Jefferson Airplane - Stony Brook 1970 (2020)

REMARKABLE 1970 SHOW FROM A REVITALISED JEFFERSON AIRPLANE After a number of years of plain sailing, by the end of 1969, having recently played both Woodstock and, at the end of the year, the disastrous Altamont Festival, Jefferson Airplane were somewhat mentally and physically exhausted. The only casualty however was Spencer Dryden, who was dismissed from the band in February 1970, as he was deeply disturbed by the events at Altamont and burned out from four years on the acid-merry-go-round. Throughout 1970 the group continued to tour regularly however, but their only new recording that year was the single Mexico backed with Have You Seen the Saucers? . Grace Slick's a-side was an attack on President Richard Nixon's Operation Intercept, which had been implemented to curtail the flow of marijuana into the United States. The b-side marked the beginning of the science fiction themes that Paul Kantner explored in much of his subsequent work. One of the finest shows Airplane performed in the first half of 1970 was played at Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, NY, on March 1st that year, and which found the group completely back on form, playing as they did perhaps their finest show since Woodstock almost a year before. Previously unreleased, this 2CD set now features the entire 2-hour show Jefferson Airplane gave at this remarkable event, now some fifty years ago.