As a result of my research into other areas of Rock Prosopography, I have ended up with a fairly detailed list of Jefferson Airplane performances from 1965-69. Since I have no other plans for it, I am posting it here. This list leans heavily on the posted Jefferson Airpane set lists document by Scott Abbott, as well as information from Jeff Tamarkin’s fine book Got A Revolution, but it includes considerably more shows. Please forward any changes, updates, advice or criticism.
The previous installments listed known shows from Jefferson Airplane’s formation through 1965 and 1966. The first post in the sequence is here. This post covers known shows from January through April 1967.
January 8, 1967 Webster Hall, New York, NY
Jefferson Airplane
This show was an RCA Promotional Party in Greenwich Village. At the end of the evening, Mike Bloomfield and other members of the Butterfield Blues Band joined the group for a jam.
January 11-15, 1967 Basin Street West, San Francisco
Dizzy Gillespie/Jefferson Airplane
Basin Street West was an established jazz club in North Beach, on 401 Broadway. Presumably this was some kind of prestige gig for the Airplane. One night was reviewed in Russ Wilson's Jazz column in the January 12, 1967 Oakland Tribune. The ad above is from the January 13 Tribune.
January 14, 1967 Polo Grounds, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco Human Be-In
Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Country Joe and The Fish/The Charlatans/Sir Douglas Quintet/Loading Zone
This Saturday afternoon gig featuring “acid, incense and balloons” gets significant TV coverage and displays San Francisco as a hippie mecca to every restless teenager from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine.
January 26, 1967 Santa Venetia Armory, San Rafael
Jefferson Airplane/Morning Glory
>February 1967. RCA Records releases “Somebody To Love”/”She Has Funny Cars” (RCA Victor 47-9140). It will reach #5 on the Billboard charts.
February 3-4, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Jefferson Airplane/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Dino Valente
February 5, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco Delano Strike Benefit
Jefferson Airplane/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Country Joe and The Fish/Loading Zone/Dino Valente/New Delhi River Band.
February 18, 1967 Gym, SUNY Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY
Jefferson Airplane/Daily Flash
Seattle’s Daily Flash had a month-long residency (Jan 29-Feb 26) at a club called Ondine’s in Manhattan, and took time out to open this gig.
February 21-March 5, 1967 Café Au Go Go, New York, NY
Jefferson Airplane/Richie Havens/The Paupers
Café Au Go Go was a basement club in Greendwich Village. It was a regular stop for hip bands through the summer of 1967, until the rock business simply got too big for clubs. Richie Havens opened the first week (through Feb 26) and The Paupers opened the second week (Feb 27 thru March 5).
The Paupers were one of the best bands in Toronto, and they were represented by Albert Grossman (Bob Dylan’s manager). Supposedly, the Paupers outshined the Airplane, so even though the Airplane were making their Manhattan debut, the Paupers got a huge boost as a result.
Tim Buckley and Charles Lloyd Quartet were also billed on March 5th, suggesting that the Airplane had already gone home to California.
March 5, 1967 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto
Jefferson Airplane
Comedian and Activist Dick Gregory may have been on the bill. Note the conflict with the Au Go Go this night, which is why I think Charles Lloyd and Tim Buckley were billed at the Au-Go-Go on this date.
March 10-11-12, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco (11th Winterland, 12th afternoon).
Jefferson Airplane/Jimmy Reed/John Lee Hooker/Stu Gardner Trio
Ralph Gleason reports in the Chronicle (March 13, 1967) that Grace Slick has had surgery on her vocal chords and that the Airplane will be on hiatus for about three weeks.
March 19, 1967 Concert Hall, Mills College, Oakland
Jefferson Airplane
An article in the Oakland Tribune of March 25, 1967 (in the "Teen Age" section) explained that this was the culmination of a two-day conference at Mills on Rock and Roll, featuring Ralph Gleason and Phil Spector, among others. Gleason himself reports (on March 29) that the Airplane performed with Grace Slick, interestingly enough.
>March 25, 1967 RCA Records releases Surrealistic Pillow (LPM-3766, LSP-3766), the band’s second album. It will reach #3 on the Billboard album charts.
March 27, 1967 Richmond Arena, Richmond, BC Vancouver Trips Festival
Jefferson Airplane/Collectors/Painted Ship/Magic Fern
April 7, 1967 Gym, University of San Francisco
Jefferson Airplane/Buffalo Springfield
Presented by St. Ignatius High School, which was historically associated with USF. The USF Gym was in walking distance of the Panhandle in the Golden Gate Park.
April 8,1967 Merced County Fairgrounds, Merced Jefferson Airplane/Andrew Staples
April 11, 1967 The Matrix, San Francisco
Jefferson Airplane/Sparrow
Possibly also April 12 and 13. The Sparrow, a band from Toronto but living in Sausalito at the time, would soon move to Los Angeles and reconstitute themselves as Steppenwolf.
April 12, 1967 Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco
Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Quicksilver Messenger Service/Moby Grape/Andrew Staples/Loading Zone “Busted” Benefit for the San Francisco Mime Troupe
The Airplane may have also played at The Matrix this night (along with The Sparrow).
April 14-15-16, 1967 The Kaleidoscope at Ciro’s, Hollywood
Jefferson Airplane/Grateful Dead/Canned Heat
April 21, 1967 Commonwealth Armory, Boston, MA Festival of American Music
Jefferson Airplane/Pete Seeger/Dave Van Ronk (7:30 pm)
April ?, 1967 The Unicorn Coffee House, Cambridge, MA
The Harvard Crimson (May 15, 1967) has an interview and description of an Airplane performance at The Unicorn, but its hard to say exactly when the show occurred. It must have been near the publication date, but there are no specifics in the article. The Airplane probably played multiple dates in the Northeast in late April/early May, so the Unicorn gig could have been in April or early May.
For the next installment, see here.
My Italian correspondent reports that Woody's Truck Stop, with lead guitarist Todd Rundgren, opened for The Jefferson Airplane at the annual Swarthmore College Rock Festival. Since I know the first festival was March 4-5, 1966 (with Blues Project), the second had to be Fall 66 or Spring 67. I am inclined to believe it was February or March 67, when the Airplane were playing the Au Go Go. They could have played an early gig at Swarthmore (about two hours away) and come back to the Village for the Au Go Go.
ReplyDeleteI have discovered that the gig at Basin Street West with Dizzy Gillespie went from Jan 11-Jan 22, not Jan 15.
ReplyDeleteThere was apparently a Jefferson Airplane show at the Earl Warren Showgrounds Horse Show Arena in Santa Barbara sometime in Spring 1967.
ReplyDeleteMissed gig: February 11, 1967: Earl Warren Showgrounds, Santa Barbara, CA
ReplyDeleteNew gig:
ReplyDeleteFebruary 17, 1967: Clothier Hall, Swarthmore College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA with Woody's Truck Stop "2nd Annual Swarthmore College Rock Festival"
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