Friday, January 29, 2016

Paul Kantner


 
Here we go again. The Grammy Awards show next month may need to add another half hour to get to all of the memorials.
 
I’ve always had a hard time picking my favorite version of “Wooden Ships,” which Kantner co-wrote with David Crosby and Stephen Stills. I heard the Crosby, Stills and Nash recording first and always liked it, but I finally decided on the Jefferson Airplane’s version. The CSN harmony vocals are top-notch as usual, but somehow the Airplane’s version seems a little rawer and more immediate.
 
Kantner deserves props not only for co-founding the band, but also for getting out in 1984 after the members at that time wanted to go in a strictly commercial direction. He gets bonus points for forcing the remaining members to give up the word “Jefferson”, leaving them as simply “Starship”. And rest assured that he had nothing to do with “We Built This City,” which WXPN listeners voted the worst song of all time a little over a year ago.
 
Favorite songs:
Ride The Tiger
Pretty As You Feel
Somebody To Love
Crown Of Creation
White Rabbit
Miracles
Volunteers
Greasy Heart
Lather

No comments:

Post a Comment