Spitfire
Spitfire was Jefferson Starship s 1976 follow-up to the chart-topping Red Octopus (1975), and it found the band in a cooperative mood. All seven bandmembers earned writing credits on at least one of the nine songs, along with eight outsiders, and even drummer John Barbata got a lead vocal on the simple rock & roll song "Big City." But the three main power centers in the group remained in place. Singer/guitarist Paul Kantner continued to turn out his lengthy, complex songs with their exhortatory, vaguely political lyrics (the five-minute "Dance With the Dragon" and the seven-minute "Song to the Sun: Ozymandias/Don't Let It Rain" . Singer Grace Slick contributed her own idiosyncratic compositions, simultaneously elliptical and passionately stated ("Hot Water" and "Switchblade" . And singer Marty Balin whose romantic ballad "Miracles" had fueled the success of Red Octopus wrote (or located) and sang more songs of love and pleasure ("Cruisin'," "St. Charles," "With Your Love," and "Love Lovely Love" . Weaving the three styles together were the fluid lead guitar work of Craig Chaquico and the alternating bass and keyboard playing of David Freiberg and Pete Sears The result was an album that quickly scaled the charts, spending six consecutive weeks at number three in Billboard and going platinum. That it didn't do better on the band's considerable career momentum can be put down to the relatively disappointing nature of the material. There was no "Miracles" on the album, to begin with. Grunt Records released the more modest "With Your Love" as a single and got it into the Top 20, but the closest thing to "Miracles" was really "St. Charles," a song that certainly had some of the same elements but lacked the kind of direct emotional statement that made "Miracles" a classic. Similarly, "Dance With the Dragon" was no "Ride the Tiger" (from Dragon Fly [1974]), and while "Switchblade" was an unusually clear statement of romantic intent from Slick (whose "lyrical wordplay is...not easily accessible yet compelling and thought-provoking," as 2004 reissue annotator Jeff Tamarkin generously says of "Hot Water" , its provocative title made it an unlikely choice for an adult contemporary hit. Spitfire was more than the sum of its parts, boasting the sort of vocal interplay and instrumental virtuosity that had always been the hallmarks of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship If the band had taken more time to write and find better songs, it might have matched the sales and quality of its predecessor. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
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Credits »
Jefferson Airplane - Main Performer
Jimmy Coe - Crew
Joel Bernstein - Photography
Larry Cox - Producer
Larry Cox - Engineer
Larry Cox - Original Recording Producer
Mike Fisher - Crew
David Freiberg - Photography
John Hudson - Product Manager
Pat (Maurice) Leraci - Production Coordination
Dave Roberts - Horn Arrangements
Dave Roberts - String Arrangements
Bob Irwin - Mastering
Jefferson Starship - Producer
Jefferson Starship - Main Performer
Jefferson Starship - Art Direction
Jefferson Starship - Original Recording Producer
Tony Lane - Photography
Rob Santos - Reissue Producer
Jeff Tamarkin - Liner Notes
Chris Whorf - Design
Ron Slenzak - Cover Photo
Tim Byrant-Gribbit - Design
Shusei Nagaoka - Illustrations
Jeremy Holiday - Production Assistant
Paul Dowell & the Dolphin - Consultant
Steve Malcolm - Assistant
Katja Schroeder - Photography
Doug McGuire - Crew
Jeff Smith - Art Direction
Jeff Smith - Design
John Langdon - Label Design
Bill "Nose" Thompson - Executive Producer
Dennis Andeson - Photography
Jeff Baum - Crew
Cynthia Bowman - Publicity
Heidi Howell - Publicity
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