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Blows Against The Empire

Paul Kantner / Jefferson Starship

Initial release : November 1970

RCA LSP 4448 (SF 8163)

Expanded CD release : 2005

The first release using the Jefferson Starship name. Recorded by a lose aggregation of Bay Area musicians under the direction of Paul Kantner. Jerry Garcia plays on four tracks, Mickey Hart on two and Bill Kreutzmann on one. Garcia and Hart are credited as co-composers for one track. An expanded version of the album, with four bonus tracks, was released on CD in 2005. Garcia and Hart feature on one of the bonus tracks. One of the bonus tracks was recorded live at the Fillmore in 1970.

Tracks

  • Mau Mau (Amerikon) (Covington / Kantner / Slick)
  • The Baby Tree (Sorrels)
  • Let's Go Together (Kantner)
  • Child Is Coming (Crosby / Kantner / Slick)
  • Sunrise (Slick)
  • Hijack (Balin / Blackman / Kantner / Slick)
  • Home (Kantner / Nash / Sawyer)
  • Have You Seen the Stars Tonite (Crosby / Kantner)
  • XM (Garcia / Hart / Kantner / Sawyer)
  • Starship (Balin / Blackman / Kantner / Slick)
Bonus tracks on 2005 expanded CD release;
  • Sunrise (acoustic demo) (Slick)
  • Hijack (acoustic demo) (Balin / Blackman / Kantner / Slick)
  • SFX (studio outtake) (Kantner / Garcia? / Hart?)
  • Starship (live 1970) (Balin / Blackman / Kantner / Slick)
Musicians

  • Paul Kantner - guitar, vocals, banjo, bass machine
  • Grace Slick - piano, vocals

  • Harvey Brooks - bass
  • Jack Casady - bass
  • Joey Covington - drums, congas
  • David Crosby - guitar, vocals
  • David Freiberg - vocals
  • Jerry Garcia - guitar, banjo, pedal steel
  • Mickey Hart - percussion
  • Peter Kaukonen - guitar
  • Bill Kreutzmann - drums
  • Graham Nash - congas, vocals
  • Phil Sawyer
Garcia plays on four of the ten tracks on the album. Mickey Hart plays on two tracks and Bill Kreutzmann on one. The LP booklet provides some information about the musicians on each track.

Mau Mau (Amerikon);

  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • Joey Covington - drums
  • Peter Kaukonen - guitar
The Baby Tree;
  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • No other information provided
Let's Go Together;
  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • Jerry Garcia - banjo
  • Bill Kreutzmann - drums
A Child Is Coming;
  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • David Crosby - guitar, vocals
  • Jack Casady - bass
Sunrise;
  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • Jack Casady - bass
Hijack;
  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • Joey Covington - congas
  • Graham Nash - congas
Home;
  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • No other information provided
Have You Seen The Stars Tonite;
  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • David Crosby - guitar
  • Jerry Garcia - pedal steel
  • Mickey Hart - drums
XM;
  • Musician information is not provided for this track. It is assumed that the listed co-composers (Kantner/Sawyer/Garcia/Hart) played on this instrumental track.
Starship;
  • Paul Kantner
  • Grace Slick
  • Jerry Garcia - guitar
  • Harvey Brooks - bass
  • Graham Nash - vocals
  • David Freiberg - vocals
  • David Crosby - vocals
Credits

  • Producer - Paul Kantner
  • Engineer - Allen Lentz, Pat Ieraci
  • Design - Jim Goldberg, Paul Kantner
  • All the work - Jim Goldberg
  • Title - Tony Nagamuma
  • Cover - CCCP
  • Books - Patti Landress
  • Manager - Bill Thompson

  • Recorded at Wally Heider's Studio
Notes

The original LP release had a gatefold sleeve and an eight page lyrics/credits booklet. It is well worth searching out an LP copy of this album for the full size artwork on the cover and in the booklet.

Related releases

One single was released in conjunction with this LP;

  • A Child Is Coming / Let's Go Together, Paul Kantner / Jefferson Starship, January 1971
Have You Seen The Stars Tonite was included on the compilation album; Have You Seen the Stars Tonite, XM and Starship were included on the European compilation; Sunrise was included on; Have You Seen The Stars Tonite was included on;
  • Love Songs, Jefferson Airplane/ Jefferson Starship/Starship, 2000
Starship was included on; Blows Against The Empire is one of a group of albums that was produced by an extended family of Bay Area musicians, usually referred to as PERRO (Planet Earth Rock N Roll Orchestra), that primarily comprised members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Buy expanded CD from amazon.com

Buy original CD from amazon.com

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