New York City 1975. The city is teetering on bankruptcy, mere months away from President Ford's infamous "Drop dead" speech. And over 100,000 well-lubricated fans attend a free concert by Jefferson Starship in Central Park. What could go wrong?

Actually, unless you were a tree, not much (a constant theme of the concert is threats by the police and park staff to shut down the show unless fans get out of the trees, and the Starship and the concert sponsor, WNEW-FM, had to pony up for park repairs after the event). This is the Starship on the eve of the release of Red Octopus, mere months away from ascending commercial heights never attained by the Airplane, and the band is absolutely on fire there s a reason this concert ranks among the most treasured bootlegs in Airplane or Starship tape collector circles. And speaking of tape collectors, for this first-ever legitimate release we have worked with a tape provided by the band and filled in some gaps (including the long-lost ending of "Volunteers") with recordings contributed by collectors to present the complete show on two CDs mastered by Vic Anesini at Battery Studios (minus some of the incessant exhortations to get out of the trees). The material ranges from songs off of their debut Dragonfly ("Ride the Tiger," "Caroline") to tunes from the forthcoming Red Octopus ("Play on Love," "Fast Buck Freddie" ) to Airplane faves "White Rabbit," "Somebody to Love" and "Volunteers," performed by the early Starship line-up of Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, Marty Balin, David Freiberg, Craig Chaquico, Pete Sears, John Barbata and Papa John Creach. The Kantner-Slick-Balin vocal dynamics have rarely been better than on this recording, and guitarist Chaquico particularly shines; it being the '70s, there are also long drum and bass solos and a bit of the anarchic spirit of mid-'70s New York City seeps into the show as well. The scene is captured by professional photographer Allan Tannenbaum (photographer/author of New York in the '70s), who was at the gig and supplies photos (including the cover shot) for this collection, while Richie Unterberger's notes featuring exclusive quotes from Starship pilot Paul Kantner set the stage for the Starship playing the biggest gig imaginable.

Track Listings

Disc: 1
1. Intro-Ride the Tiger
2. Stage Announcement-Fast Buck Freddie
3. The Witcher
4. Stage Announcement-Devil's Den
5. Caroline
6. Driving Me Crazy
7. Papa Creach's Down Home Blues

Disc: 2
1. Play on Love
2. Better Lying Down
3. Have You Seen the Saucers
4. Come to Life
5. White Rabbit
6. Stage Announcements
7. Sweeter Than Honey
8. Somebody to Love
9. Volunteers

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DU11F64/?tag=imwan-20

The one and only time I played hooky from high school, and with my parents' permission, no less. Great memories of this show. Finally, a legit commercial release.

♫ "Look to the summer of '75/all the world is gonna come alive!" ♪

Interesting. I'll have to check out the reviews.

Saw them a few months after this in Golden Gate Park. Just as exciting. Look for the Summer of 75, whole world gonna come alive!!!!
Thanks for the heads up.

I've seen that set somewhere recently as available, but can't remember where. I was too young to ever see JA. Only tour I ever saw was JS Red Octopus. I WANTED JA, DAMN IT! I was beyond disappointed; especially with how commercial Balin was at that moment (there is some really stupid song on RO about a motorcycle that was so not JA!).

has anyone heard this yet?

It was not in stock at J&R yesterday.

Also curious if anyone can comment on the sound quality of this? Amazon reviewers seem to be ripping it for the most-part...

30 sec clips:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-in-c ... 0002561435

Thanks Rokin Robin! As far as I can tell on my crappy PC speakers, yea, sound quality is not this albums strong point. Too bad though as I have a feeling I'd love the performance.

I didn't buy this yet...anyone have it?

Someone mentioned in the Sunday Flyer thread they got it today.

I have it, but haven't put it on yet.

The sound quality is OK. Certainly not up to other contemporary live sets(i.e..don't expect Frampton Comes Alive), but acceptable. There is a lot of energy in the band's performance, so that helps out a lot. The last minute or so really suck, but there is an explanation why this happened in the liner notes. The set was recorded prior to the release of Red Octopus so no Miracles, but you do get Fast Buck Freddie and a couple of others. I saw them in September of that year, so it's nice to have an official live release of that period of the band. Oh, the band does spend a lot of time yelling at the people in the trees to get out of the trees, otherwise the police will shut down the show. If you're a Jefferson Starship fan, it's certainly worth the price.

Now, if they would only release their Knebworth concert from '79 (I think that's right, but it's been decades since I read about it so forgive any errors in my citation). Supposedly Grace Slick showed up so drunk at the previous performance in Germany that the band stopped early, there was a riot and their equipment was demolished. Grace was booted from the band, they arrived at the festival (?) with borrowed gear and Marty Balin stepped up and gave the performance of his career. He quit the next day, the band moved on to Freedom at Point Zero, etc., etc., etc. I would love to hear that one.