Английская Википедия:After Bathing at Baxter's

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Шаблон:Infobox albumAfter Bathing at Baxter's is the third studio album by the San Francisco psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane, released in 1967 as RCA Victor LSO-1511 (stereo) and LOP-1511 (mono). The cover art is by artist Ron Cobb.

Due to the lack of a breakout hit, the experimental album was significantly less successful than its predecessor from a commercial standpoint, peaking at number 17 on the Billboard album chart and failing to attain a RIAA certification. Paul Kantner's composition "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil" was released as a single in August 1967, with him as lead singer and Grace Slick and Marty Balin harmonizing, and reached number 42 on the Billboard charts.[1] The band's singles never again crossed the halfway mark in the Hot 100.[1] It was voted number 595 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).

John Hartford referenced the cover art from After Bathing at Baxter's as the inspiration for his song "Steam Powered Aereo Plane" from his album Aereo-Plain.

Cash Box said that the single "Watch Her Ride" had a "hard rock beat with a backup centering on electrified workouts from lead guitar," "grand imagery" and "fine vocals."[2] Record World called it "one of [Jefferson Airplane's] sinuous, contemporary melodies."[3] Billboard said it has "weird, groovy sounds throughout."[4]

Title and artwork

The album's title was derived from a poem written by the band's friend Gary Blackman. Kantner explained that the title translates to "After Taking LSD", "Baxter" being the group's code word for the drug.Шаблон:Sfn

The cover art was designed by Ron Cobb, then a political cartoonist for the Los Angeles Free Press.Шаблон:Sfn The front cover depicts the band as a World War I-era triplane with the body of a San Francisco townhouse.Шаблон:Sfn[5] Cannabis plants are shown growing out of the house's flower boxes.[5][6] The artwork is framed with a red bar on the bottom and a blue bar with white stars on the top, signifying the United States flag.Шаблон:Sfn The plane, painted in full color, dispenses confetti[6] while flying over a black and white landscape – embodying the white of the flag – with billboards reading messages such as "CONSUME!" and "DRINK IT"Шаблон:Sfn as parodies of American consumerism.[7] The illustration continues onto the back cover, revealing a scrapheap followed by a pile of empty beverage cans. A banner attached to the plane displays the album's title.Шаблон:Sfn In 2008, Cobb's original painting sold at auction for $24,000.[8]

The gatefold artwork consists of a handwritten track listing and photographs taken by Alan Pappé of each band member.[9] Author Ken Bielen writes the lack of a group portrait highlights the members' individuality.Шаблон:Sfn The inner sleeve features Blackman's poem and drawings by the band and their friends, one of which was almost rejected by RCA on fear it would be misinterpreted as a vagina.[10]Шаблон:Refn

Critical reception

Шаблон:Album reviewsDespite its commercial shortcomings, After Bathing at Baxter's received high praise from a number of critics.Шаблон:Sfn One of its most positive reviews came from Jann Wenner in the newly founded Rolling Stone magazine, proclaiming that Jefferson Airplane "could be the best rock and roll band in America today" and that the album was "probably the best, considering all the criteria and the exceptions, rock and roll album so far produced by an American group."[3]Шаблон:Sfn A review in Hit Parader called the album "excellent" and "a good follow-up to Surrealistic Pillow."Шаблон:Sfn In a later interview with the same magazine, the Moody Blues' keyboardist Mike Pinder named it one of his favorite albums, along with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles, Younger Than Yesterday by the Byrds, and Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel.Шаблон:Sfn Conversely, Paul Nelson gave a negative review in Hullabaloo magazine, writing: "The Jefferson Airplane never even get off the ground with After Bathing at Baxter's. How a great group like this can go down in flames after two fine albums is a real puzzle."Шаблон:Sfn The review prompted a reader to send a letter to the magazine saying that the album was "more important than Mr. Nelson thinks it is" and that it "must be graded on a curve, just as Sgt. Pepper was."Шаблон:Sfn

After Bathing at Baxter's did not chart in the United Kingdom,Шаблон:Sfn but it nevertheless received attention from several British music journals. Chris Welch of Melody Maker praised the instrumental and vocal work and deemed it the "most consistent album yet" from one of the "most mature of America's West Coast groups".Шаблон:Sfn Writing for Beat Instrumental, John Ford felt it was a "slight disappointment" compared to the band's earlier material, although he praised the production and "feel" of the album and concluded, "Airplane have good ideas which will flourish, eventually."Шаблон:Sfn Norman Jopling and Peter Jones wrote in Record Mirror that the album was "pretentious" and failed to match "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit" or contemporary albums by the Byrds and Country Joe and the Fish.Шаблон:Sfn

Track listing

Side one Шаблон:Tracklist Шаблон:Tracklist Шаблон:Tracklist

Side two Шаблон:Tracklist Шаблон:Tracklist Шаблон:Tracklist

Notes

Шаблон:Reflist

Personnel

Jefferson Airplane
  • Grace Slick – piano, organ, recorder, vocals, lead vocals on "rejoyce" and "Two Heads"
  • Marty Balin – rhythm guitar, vocals, lead vocals on "Young Girl Sunday Blues"
  • Paul Kantner – rhythm guitar, vocals, lead vocals on "The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil", "Martha", "Wild Tyme", "Watch Her Ride" and Won't You Try / Saturday Afternoon"
  • Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar, sitar, vocals, lead vocals on "The Last Wall of the Castle"
  • Jack Casady – bass
  • Spencer Dryden – drums, percussion, horn arrangement
Additional personnel
  • Gary Blackman – vocals
  • Bill Thompson – vocals

Production

  • Jefferson Airplane – design, notes, song arrangement
  • Al Schmitt – producer
  • Richie Schmitt – engineer
  • Ron Cobb – album cover, artwork
  • The Walking Owls – album title
  • Alan Pappé – photography
  • Recorded at RCA, Hollywood

Charts

Шаблон:Album chart
Chart (1967) Peak
position

Notes

Шаблон:Reflist

References

Citation

Шаблон:Reflist

Bibliography

Шаблон:Jefferson Airplane

Шаблон:Authority control