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Earth (Jefferson Starship album)

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Earth
Studio album by
Jefferson Starship
ReleasedFebruary 27, 1978[1]
RecordedJuly – October, 1977
StudioWally Heider Studios, San Francisco
GenreRock
Length41:27
LabelGrunt
ProducerLarry Cox, Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship chronology
Spitfire
(1976) 		Earth
(1978) 		Gold
(1979)

Earth is the fourth album by American rock band Jefferson Starship. The album was recorded in 1977, with the same band lineup as the previous album, Spitfire and released in 1978.

Background

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The band's previous album Spitfire had been a great success, producing a No. 12 hit in "With Your Love" and going platinum, followed by a successful summer tour. In November 1976 singer Grace Slick married Skip Johnson, the group's former lighting director, which caused some tension in the group since she had previously been with guitarist Paul Kantner for seven years prior, birthing their daughter China Kantner.[2] In addition, singer Marty Balin was hesitant to tour with the group throughout 1977, causing the other band members to blame him for loss of revenue; David Freiberg was quoted in Rolling Stone saying "...we aren’t playing enough. I don’t like to sit at home and have to exercise all the time just to make my hands work."[3] Balin also gave a contentious interview with Crawdaddy that January in which he stated "The Starship isn't big enough to keep me busy...I refuse to work with imbeciles anymore" and was especially harsh on Slick, claiming "she reminds me of my mother--she's not sexy" and that he was proud that he'd been the only member of Jefferson Airplane who had refused her advances.[2] Balin later claimed his quotes had been taken out of context and to prove no hard feelings, eventually agreed to recording another Starship album in the summer of 1977, with a tour to follow afterward.

Songs and recording

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Sessions for Earth were once again held at Wally Heider Studios with Larry Cox producing, like the previous three albums, after a month of band rehearsals in June at Paul Kantner's mansion in the Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco. Sessions at Wally Heider's began on July 14, 1977 with the recording of "Show Yourself" and lasted all the way through October 13 with the recording of "Fire", much longer than it had taken for the prior records.[4] The sessions reportedly went smoothly, but as with Spitfire there was pressure to come up with another platinum release led by a hit single. Although Kantner only co-wrote one track on the album he claimed "that's what the circumstances dictated" and that "working with vocal harmonies is one of my biggest pleasures".[3] By contrast, Balin claimed that he and Slick had the "lousy" job of completing everyone else's ideas with lyrics and melody lines, and expressed interest in a Starship album comprised entirely of Balin/Slick duets.[3]

Balin's lead vocal material included the catchy, optimistic pop ballads "Count On Me", "Crazy Feelin'" and "Runaway", the first two written by Jesse Barish and "Runaway" penned by Nicholas Dewey (an old Marty band mate from Bodacious DF), plus the rocker "Fire", with music by Freiberg and Pete Sears with lyrics by Marty himself. Lyrically, the subject of romance that had dominated his music since Red Octopus was still at the forefront. Slick had the most songwriting credits, penning the piano ballad "Take Your Time" with Sears about Balin's perfectionist pace during the making of the album and adding lyrics to Chaquico's "Skateboard", about an accident the guitarist had while filming the movie of the same name (Chaquico was an avid skateboarder, as can be seen in the band's promotional video for "St. Charles").[3] She also wrote "Show Yourself", a return to the political commentary of the late 60s in the form of an open letter to America in which she demands to know who really runs the country.

Chaquico's opening track "Love Too Good" is a unique fusion of Philadelphia soul, disco, and jazz-fusion with elaborate string and horn arrangements by Gene Page, which closed on lengthy synth and electric piano solos from Sears. The closing number "All Night Long" is a stadium rock anthem composed by the whole band, including Kantner's only songwriting credit, which is also a showcase for Chaquico's guitar expertise. Outtakes from the album mentioned in a summer 1977 Circus article include Marty's "Let's Go" (eventually released on his 1991 solo album Better Generation), Freiberg's "Grow Like A Weed", Kantner's "The Whale Song" (a plea to save the endangered species) and the group number "The Power". During an interview in the Oct-Dec 1978 issue of Dark Star Kantner also mentioned two more outtakes, his "Superman" and "Ecstasy".

Album cover and title

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The album's title reflected the final of the four universal elements that had been referenced by the previous three albums. The cover artwork, credited to Tim Bryant and Don Davis, showed a drawing of planet Earth with the group's name and album title printed in Star Wars-style font over a background of stars. The Star Wars association would continue when, shortly after the album's release, the group was contracted to provide the performance of a new song for the Star Wars Holiday Special.[2]

Release

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Earth was originally planned for a late August 1977 release date but with the sessions dragging through October and Balin's continual reluctance to tour, it did not arrive until February 27, 1978. According to Rolling Stone, RCA Records, smelling a hit, reportedly spent $500,000 on the album, more than any other Jefferson-related release.[3] On February 25, approximately 400 AM and FM stations aired the album in its entirety for the first time, in what was the most extensive radio promotion in the record company's history.[5] In addition, a merchandising blitz involved retailers receiving posters of the album cover, mobiles, window displays, stickers and streamers.[6] The album was an immediate success, reaching No. 5 on Billboard, shipping gold on release, eventually going platinum and yielding two major hits, "Count On Me" (No. 8) and "Runaway" (No. 12), with "Crazy Feelin'" additionally charting at No. 54.[7]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Christgau's Record GuideC[9]

Critical reception

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Critical reception on release, as ever, was mixed. Dave Marsh at Rolling Stone noted there were some "fine cuts and expert performances here", singling out "Count On Me" and "Crazy Feelin'", but lamented Paul Kantner's diminished role, concluding "I do think this collection of nine random, albeit tightly knit, songs could have used his peculiar and particular vision."[10] Robert Christgau at Village Voice was typically dismissive, giving the album a "C" and saying only "its expertness conceals neither schlock nor shtick nor strain of ego."[9] The New York Times also deemed the album "a tired repeat of the new formulas" of the two previous albums.[11] Michael Oldfield in Melody Maker gave another mixed review but concluded that "Love Too Good", "beautifully sung by Grace against Sears' swirling keyboard backing, is an indication of what the Starship are capable of when they put their minds to it”.[12] Over in New Zealand, Peter Thompson of Rip It Up opined "My initial reactions to Earth were largely negative. I was going to write about aging rockers who refuse to retire gracefully. But dammit, they do still pack a wallop in their own, somewhat atavistic manner, and besides the tunes have been hanging around my head for days".[12] Billboard gave another positive review, claiming the love ballads were "seamless, beautiful, and perfect for soft rock or MOR play" and that the group had never played better.[13]

Retrospectively, the album received a poor review from AllMusic with Stephen Thomas Erlewine stating that the album "had neither the melodies, hooks or style to make a second rewrite of Red Octopus tolerable" and concluded it was the group's low point of the '70s.[8] Conversely, an article on Rhino's site claims the album is underrated, singling out "Love Too Good" and "Take Your Time" for praise.[14]

Tour and aftermath

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A US and European tour followed which was originally to last from May 1978 through late summer and earn the band over a million dollars.[2] The first portion of the tour, through America in May and early June, went relatively well and climaxed with two shows at Nassau Coliseum which were taped for a possible live album. However, when the band next traveled to Europe, disaster struck twice. First, a riot in West Germany occurred after the band decided not to play at the Lorelei Festival near Frankfurt without Slick, who claimed she was ill. The audience ended up burning down the entire venue, including the band's instruments and equipment.[15] Pete Sears claimed "it looked like a bomb had dropped, literally".[2] The group played one more tense show for Rockpalast in Hamburg with borrowed equipment, which saw a highly inebriated Slick insult the audience by calling them Nazis and giving the Hitler salute. After this show, she was sent home to consider whether she wanted to stay in the band, and elected not to.[2] Balin led the band for one more show at the Knebworth Festival in England using rented equipment, but the rest of the shows on the tour were cancelled when the news came back about Slick's departure. After they returned to the US, they filmed their appearance on the Star Wars Holiday Special, after which Marty also decided to leave the group. Finally, drummer John Barbata was forced to exit the band after a serious car accident in October 1978. This would be the end of the classic 1970s line-up of Jefferson Starship, with several new members joining the band, as well as a new producer, for the next album.

Track listing

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Side A
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Love Too Good"Gabriel RoblesCraig Chaquico6:03
2."Count on Me"Jesse BarishBarish3:14
3."Take Your Time"Grace SlickPete Sears4:08
4."Crazy Feelin'"BarishBarish3:38
5."Skateboard"Slick, ChaquicoChaquico3:18
Side B
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Fire"Marty Balin, Trish RobbinsDavid Freiberg, Sears4:44
2."Show Yourself"SlickSlick4:36
3."Runaway"N. Q. DeweyDewey5:18
4."All Nite Long"Paul Kantner, Balin, Barish, SlickKantner, John Barbata, Sears, Chaquico, Freiberg6:28

Personnel

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  • Marty Balin – lead (2, 4, 6, 8) and backing vocals
  • Grace Slick – lead (1, 3, 5, 7) and backing vocals, piano (7)
  • Paul Kantner – lead (9) and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
  • Craig Chaquico – lead guitar, rhythm guitar (1, 4, 5, 7)
  • David Freiberg – bass (1-4, 6, 7), organ (5, 8, 9), backing vocals
  • Pete Sears – bass (5, 8, 9), electric piano (1), organ (1-4, 6, 7), Moog (1, 5, 9), synthesizer (1), piano (2-4, 6), celeste (2), clavinet (4, 6), backing vocals
  • John Barbata – drums, congas, percussion, backing vocals

Additional Personnel

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Production

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  • Jefferson Starship – producer, arrangements, art direction
  • Larry Cox – producer, engineer
  • David Frazer – assistant engineer
  • Steve Hall – recordist
  • Pat Ieraci (Maurice) – production coordinator, art coordination
  • Nat Quick – illustration
  • Paul Dowell – amp consultant
  • Cynthia Bowman – art coordination
  • Bill Laudner – art assistant
  • Gribbitt (Tim Bryant) – art director
  • Don Davis – Earth dust sleeve illustration, Earth label illustration
  • Roger Ressmeyer – photography
  • Recorded and Mixed at Wally Heider, San Francisco
  • Strings and Horns arranged by Gene Page, Whitney Recording Studio, Glendale
  • Mastered by John Golden at Kendun Recorders, Burbank

Singles

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  • "Count on Me" (3/11/78) #8 US
  • "Runaway" (5/27/78) #12 US
  • "Crazy Feelin'" (9/9/78) #54 US

Charts

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Chart (1978) Peak
position
Australian albums (Kent Music Report)[16] 61
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[17] 4
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 29
US Billboard 200[19] 5

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[20] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "RCA To Launch Blitz Supporting Starship LP" (PDF). Cashbox. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Tamarkin, Jeff (2003). Got A Revolution!: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane. New York: Atria Books. ISBN 0-671-03403-0.
  3. ^ a b c d e Fong-Torres, Ben. "Strange Times at the Launching Pad". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  4. ^ "Jefferson Starship Base". Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  5. ^ "Hundreds of Stations Air Starship LP in Massive RCA Radio Promotion" (PDF). Cashbox. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "RCA to Launch Blitz Supporting Starship LP" (PDF). Cashbox. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  7. ^ "Chart History: Jefferson Starship". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2011). "Earth - Jefferson Starship AllMusic". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: J". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved February 27, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  10. ^ Marsh, Dave. "Earth". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Rockwell, John (12 June 1978). "Rock: Jefferson Starship". The New York Times. p. C18.
  12. ^ a b Reid, Graham. "Jefferson Starship: Earth, Considered". Elsewhere. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  13. ^ "Top Album Picks" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  14. ^ "Underrated: Jefferson Starship, EARTH". Rhino. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  15. ^ Rowes, Barbara (1980). Grace Slick: The Biography. New York: Doubleday & Company. ISBN 0-385-13390-1.
  16. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 154. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4587a". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  18. ^ "Charts.nz – Jefferson Starship – Earth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Jefferson Starship Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  20. ^ "American album certifications – Jefferson Starship – Earth". Recording Industry Association of America.
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