Sunday Afternoon Rockin' the House at the 2022 Birthday of Music Legends Phil Collins, Steve Marriott, and Marty Balin
by Robert Wilkinson
This week featured some great musical birthdays! We continue our amazing Aquarian music celebrating the birthdays of three amazing talents who have made some of the greatest music of the 20th century! Today we rock the house and dance till we drop!!
We’ll begin this birthday celebration giving a big shout out to the brilliant Marty Balin! Marty Balin (born Martyn Jerel Buchwald; January 30, 1942 - September 27, 2018) first broke into the folk scene in the Bay Area, where he eventually teamed up with Paul Kantner and formed one of the most electrifying and psychedelic bands ever to play a note, the Jefferson Airplane, later becoming Jefferson Starship. A major songwriter and singer, his distinctive voice interacted with Grace Slick’s to create an amazing and distinctive vocal experience.
For your enjoyment, Marty Balin (with the amazing songwriting, singing, and playing of the equally brilliant force of nature, Paul Kantner)! I’ll do a more extensive tribute to Paul at his birthday in a few weeks.
A great early live audio-only performance by Marty on vocals of “It’s No Secret”
Here’s a very early version of the Jefferson Airplane, before Grace Slick took over for Signe. I have two gigs from Vancouver. The first is 19 minutes of early psychedelic folk on January 14, and the second is 36 minutes from January 16.
Jefferson Airplane in Vancouver January 14, 1966
Jefferson Airplane in Vancouver January 16, 1966
From 1966 with Signe still doing lead vocals, 37 minutes of Jefferson Airplane at Winterland – 30 September 1966
Here’s Signe’s last concert on 15 October 1966, and Grace Slick’s first show on November 6! Welcome to an hour and 12 of pre-Grace Slick JA and the first concert they did with her! Jefferson Airplane Live At The Fillmore - First and Last (The first part is supposedly Grace’s first show, but states it’s Oct 16, even though the cd it’s ripped from says it’s the Nov 6 show. To note, Grace’s set on this is a jumble of the expanded set list in the link below this one.)
Last year I had a full 2 hour 7 minute show at the Fillmore in Nov 1966, but it’s disappeared. I did find this hour and 40 minute segment of both sets, so enjoy Jefferson Airplane Live At The Fillmore – 6 Nov 1966
From February 1967 at the Fillmore West in SF, 57 minutes of psychedelic music at their peak! This one leads off with a Ronald Reagan rant against music and the light show. Jefferson Airplane Live At The Fillmore – Feb 1967
I found it again! Live at the Fillmore West in May 1967, “Comin’ Back To Me. ” For contrast, here’s the original studio version of “Comin’ Back To Me”
Here’s Marty fronting the Jefferson Starship in a live 1999 concert, giving us the backstory on how the song came into being! “Comin’ Back To Me”
I found it again! Here’s the entire hour and 4 show from March 1967 of the JA live at the Café A Go Go in NYC! ”Come Back Baby”
Here’s a 6+ minute clip from that show, and it’s great! ”Come Back Baby”
In 1967, they gave us the driving ”Waiting For You”
I found it again and more! Their two shows in March 1967 at Winterland have reappeared, and they’re great! From March 10, here’s 52 minutes of The Jefferson Airplane Live at Winterland – March 10, 1967 and here’s their hour and 14 set two days later! The Jefferson Airplane Live at Winterland – March 12, 1967
Here are a few more live video performances, some of which Marty wrote, performed as only the Jefferson Airplane could!
From the legendary Monterrey Pop Festival in the Summer of Love 1967, here’s the Jefferson Airplane live doing "Somebody To Love” From the same show, “Flyin’ High Bird” and “Today.”
A brief detour into their studio work! From After Bathing at Baxter’s, one of my favorite JA rockers that shows Jorma could make a guitar talk in several psychedelic languages! This song is the sound of revolution! “Last Wall of the Castle”
Speaking of Baxters, this is one of my all time favorites, and it rocks! “The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil”
Also from Baxter’s, a 9+ minute instrumental that is not as free form as it sounds. “Spare Chaynge”
Back to live video performances!
From 1967, a very live 1967 television performance of Grace’s biting “Two Heads”
I found it again! Here’s an hour and 37 of the JA in Toronto in August 1967! Jefferson Airplane - Live in Toronto August 4-5, 1967
From the August 4 show, an hour and 4 of Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead - Live in Toronto 1967 (The first two are the Dead, while the JA get 9 songs.)
Here’s their first appearance on the The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967. The first two tune are obviously Grace singing to a backing track with the rest miming. The light show was great for the era. “Somebody To Love,” “White Rabbit,” and “Crown of Creation”
Last year I had the original video from 1969 of Grace’s jab at the establishment, but it’s still gone. Instead, enjoy this live 1968 performance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour of “Crown of Creation” and “Lather”
From 1968 on The Perry Como Show, the Airplane live performing "Watch Her Ride" (the video quality is poor, but psychedelic).
Live at the Matrix in Feb 1968, a great 10 minute audio-only live performance of “The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil”
Here’s the whole gig! Jefferson Airplane Return to the Matrix - 1968
From September 1968 on The Ed Sullivan Show, “Crown of Creation”
Live on a hotel rooftop in Nov 1968, a great video of the JA performing “The House on Pooneil Corners”
From Woodstock, live in 1969, the Jefferson Airplane opening with “3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds.”
From there we go to two of Grace Slick’s iconic tunes! First, the song that propelled the JA to the radio, “Somebody To Love” followed by her equally trippy bolero based in the immortal Lewis Carroll character that many radio stations refused to play, “White Rabbit”
Also at Woodstock, the legendary song that called a generation to a non-violent revolution! “Volunteers”
We’ll finish their Woodstock set with a live performance of “Uncle Sam Blues”
From the disastrous 1969 Altamont gig, here’s the Airplane doing “The Other Side of this Life”
From 1969 live on The Dick Cavett Show, the Jefferson Airplane (with a guest appearance by David Crosby) performing “We Can Be Together” and “Volunteers”
Here’s part 2 of that Dick Cavett appearance! “Somebody To Love” and “Psychedelic Jam”
A tale of escape written by young idealists, here’s the quadraphonic studio version from Volunteers of a song Marty wrote with David Crosby and Steven Stills, the iconic “Wooden Ships”
From 1970, Live at the Family Dog, a great video of the Jefferson Airplane performing one of my all time favorites, “The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil” And from the same gig, “Eskimo Blue Day”
Here’s an awesome hour of the JA playing live at the Fillmore in May 1970! Jefferson Airplane Live at the Fillmore East 1970
Live at Winterland 1970, here’s the JA in one of their final incarnations in an audio of “Wooden Ships” (Marty left the band in March 1971).
Here’s an awesome 2 hours and 6 minutes of the JA playing live at the Fillmore in November 1970! Jefferson Airplane Live at the Fillmore East 1970
Here's the studio version of the biting rocker by Grace Slick, the in-your-face "Greasy Heart." ("Don't ever change people, even if you can, don't change before the empire falls, you'll laugh so hard you'll crack the walls!" Wow.)
From 1975, the original studio version of Marty’s #3 hit “Miracles.” And in a real score, here’s the Starship live in 1975 on Don Kirshner performing “Miracles.”
From the 1978 album Earth, the studio version that went to #8, “Count on Me” and the #12 “Runaway”
Here’s a live 2011 performance by Marty of his #12 Starship hit from Spitfire, “With Your Love”From March 2014, Marty with Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Casady @ The Fur Peace Ranch cranking out “Volunteers”
We’ll close this birthday set with a performance from a more recent era. Here’s Marty live in 2005 with Paul Kantner and Jack Cassady doing his JA tune from the Surrealistic Pillow album, “Plastic Fantastic Lover.”
For our encore, in a nod to Paul Kantner, here’s the legendary 1971 studio album, Blows Against the Empire (with contributions from members of the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and David Crosby and Graham Nash).
For a second encore, 2 years ago I found a full 80 minute documentary that takes a great look at San Francisco in the 1960s called Fly With the Jefferson Airplane, but the clip is nowhere to be found. However, I did find most of it in short parts with Spanish subtitles. For your enjoyment,
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 1
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 2
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 3
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 4
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 5
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 6
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 7
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 8
“Fly With the Jefferson Airplane” Pt. 9
I think all 9 parts will autoplay once the first is done. For your enjoyment, Fly Jefferson Airplane – The Story of the Jefferson Airplane
For our encore, a 22 minute video from their 1989 reunion tour titled Jefferson Airplane – Still Flying
Marty, your music inspired a musical revolution, and gave us all a vision or three of possibilities unknown before the JA took flight. Signing off with part of a song you covered, written by Donovan:
Fly Jefferson Airplane, get you there on time.
Fly Jefferson Airplane, get you there on time.
He will bring happiness in a pipe,
He'll ride away on his silver bike
And apart from that he'll be so kind
In consenting to blow your mind.
Fly Translove Airways, get you there on time.
Fly Translove Airways, get you there on time.
We'll be flying at an altitude of thirty-nine thousand feet
Captain High at your service.
*********
We now turn to Steve Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) the guitarist and front man for the Small Faces, one of England’s most rocking mod groups of the 60s. Known mainly in the US for the song “Itchycoo Park,” the Small Faces actually rocked a lot harder than many knew at the time. And after he split the Faces, he went on to rock even harder with Humble Pie.
From 1966, a great clip of the Small Faces performing live on the German tv show Beat Beat Beat. Here they perform their first big hit, also made big by Manfred Mann! Cranking it up, here's Steve and the Faces belting out "Sha La La La Lee" (The sound is better on this clip than the next one.)
In past years I’ve had the entire show but it’s disappeared. This year I found the individual clips of the set list. Here they are in order: "Hey Girl," followed by "All or Nothing," and we’ll finish with "Watcha Gonna Do 'Bout It." (The set was finished with "Shalalalalee" above).
From June 24 1967, the Small Faces live on Beat Club doing “Here Come the Nice”
From September 1967, the very mod Small Faces very live back on Beat Club doing their biggest hit “Itchycoo Park”, and from the same gig, the psychedelic rocker "Green Circles.” (The camera work is as psychedelic as the song!)
Their performance of the next number on the Morecombe & Wise Show is gone, so here’s a live Beat Club performance of "I Can't Make It"
From Germany and the Beat Club on December 30 1967, a live performance by my personal favorite by the Small Faces, “Tin Soldier.” And even if it looks lipsynched, here’s a great color video of the Small Faces with PP Arnold doing great moves on French tv in 1968 cranking out a “live” version of “Tin Soldier.”
A rocking live BBC performance of a usually mellow standard! “If I Were A Carpenter”
We continue 1968 with a live performance by the Small Faces on Beat Club on April 27, 1968, of one of their hits from Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake,, “Lazy Sunday”
From 1968 on the Color Me Pop BBC television series, here the Small Faces rock hard performing "Song of A Baker."
Here’s the entire 26 minute show! Small Faces on Color Me Pop – 1968
Here’s a live performance on French TV in 1968 of Steve taking Jimi's "Foxey Lady" riff and turning it into something else entirely! "Rollin' Over"
We'll close his Small Faces section with a great rocker on Swedish television in 1967! The performance of “Tin Soldier” has vanished, but we still have this great performance of "Talk To You"
From August 1969 in Belgium, an early live performance by Steve and Humble Pie doing “I Walk on Gilded Splinters”
From 1970 on Beat Club, Humble Pie performing “The Sad Bag of Shaky Jake”
From 1973, this incredible live video of Steve Marriott and Humble Pie at the LA Forum is stunning in its intensity! Have fun with 4 minutes and 31 of the awesome rocker “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” Here’s the first version I ever heard and it seriously rocks! “I Don’t Need No Doctor”
Obviously this was at the beginning! Here’s a great 1969 video clip on Beat Club, with Humble Pie cranking out “Thirty Days in the Hole.”
From a few years later, a great 1974 very electric live performance by Steve and Humble Pie in London doing “Thirty Days in the Hole”
This is a find! In 1981 Steve teamed back up with Ronnie Lane, Zoot Money, and other A list UK musicians for the album Majik Mijits, wrote all the songs in a bunch of different styles, and I found clips!
For our closing performance, Steve and his “Packet of Three” band live at the Camden Palace in London in 1985 performing
“Walkin’ the Dog” and “Tin Soldier”
Last year I had the entire 1996 radio documentary about the Small Faces and the British Invasion! This year part 1 is 22 minutes, and part 2 is 19 minutes.
The Small Faces Documentary – All or Nothing Part 1
The Small Faces Documentary – All or Nothing Part 2
Last year I had a great hour long documentary, but it’s disappeared. Instead, we’ll close this birthday tribute to one of the prototypical punk rockers with a link to a bunch of clips, both biographical and performances! For your enjoyment, The Life and Times of Steve Marriott
*********
We now turn to the awesome Phil Collins! It is almost impossible to list everything this multitalented performer has done in the world of entertainment! Phil Collins (30 January 1951) is a multi-instrumentalist, writer, actor, and all around brilliant performer. Whether with Genesis or a solo act, this guy has done some of the best work in recent history! For your enjoyment, Mister Phil Collins!
From 1973, here’s a solid hour of Genesis live! “Genesis Live in Concert - 1973”
From 1974, a solid 72 minutes of Genesis live in Montreal
From 1978, the music video for “Follow You, Follow Me”
From Live Aid in 1985, here’s Phil live doing “Against All Odds”
A live performance of one of my favorites, with Phil cranking out the vocals on the dynamic “Invisible Touch”
From 1986, the music video for “In Too Deep”
From 1987, a music video for the very hypnotic “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight”
From his 1989 album But Seriously, the music video for for "Another Day In Paradise”
The official music video for "I Don't Care Anymore"
From 1991, the official video of “I Can’t Dance”
Here’s a great live performance in the official music video of “Turn It On Again”
Last year I their entire 2 hour 1987 video from their concert at Wembley on one clip, but this year it’s disappeared. However, I did find the show via a series of clips that will autoload in order. For your enjoyment, “Genesis Live At Wembley Stadium”
Here’s a great performance in Paris of “Easy Lover”
From the “First Farewell Tour,” here he is live doing “In the Air Tonight” From the same tour, "Invisible Touch." and "Take Me Home."
We’ll close this birthday tribute with a great tune from his “Going Back” era with this Martha and the Vandellas’ Motown hit that still smokes! ”Heat Wave”
For our encores, here’s Genesis live doing a song that’s my personal favorite, and a strong political statement! “Land of Confusion”
And for a very surrealistic version of the song, here’s the official 1986 music video that managed to make every fan of Ronald Reagan very mad! It’s a remarkable creative work in itself, given the work of the Spitting Image puppet masters. This song is one of the more powerful indictments of the neocons (and Thatcher) ever done! For 5 minutes of amazing imagery, here’s “Land of Confusion”
So it’s a big Happy to two English rockers and an American psychedelic folkie. While Steve checked out way too young, and Marty left the stage a while back, we still have Phil rocking the house! Long may you run…
© Copyright 2022 Robert Wilkinson
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