Wooden Ships

Zoo Freaks, your hippie DJs at THE ZOO are spinning the far-out vibes of "Wooden Ships" by Jefferson Airplane from their live album At the Family Dog Ballroom, recorded in 1969. This psychedelic anthem, written by David Crosby, Paul Kantner, and Stephen Stills, was born in 1968 on Crosby’s boat, the Mayan, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Picture this: three rock legends jamming on a 59-foot schooner, crafting a post-apocalyptic tale of survivors sailing away from a ravaged world. The song’s creation was a cosmic collision of creativity, but Kantner’s name couldn’t appear on the original Crosby, Stills & Nash release due to legal battles with Jefferson Airplane’s shady manager, Matthew Katz. As Stephen Stills shared in a 2023 X post, “I had a briefcase full of songs… I’d just visited David on his boat in Florida and Paul Kantner was there and they had about a third of a song. I wrote two verses and that’s how ‘Wooden Ships’ came about.”

The version of "Wooden Ships" on At the Family Dog Ballroom is a raw, electrifying beast, clocking in at over six minutes with a darker, more desperate edge than the Crosby, Stills & Nash take. Critics, like Ed Ward in his 1969 Rolling Stone review, called it “a scream of desperation” and one of Jefferson Airplane’s finest moments. The live performance captures the band at their peak, with Grace Slick’s powerhouse vocals and Marty Balin’s improvisational flair, backed by Jack Casady’s thunderous bass and Spencer Dryden’s relentless drums. A mind-blowing highlight is the 26-minute jam that closes the album, featuring Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead trading ethereal guitar riffs with Jorma Kaukonen. A 2007 review on ProgArchives raved about this “acid-drenched” jam as a must-hear for fans of the American psychedelic scene, blending Jefferson Airplane’s raw energy with Garcia’s cosmic touch.

Jefferson Airplane took flight in San Francisco in 1965, right at the heart of the counterculture explosion. Founded by vocalist Marty Balin and guitarist Paul Kantner, the band started jamming at local clubs like The Matrix, where their debut show on August 13, 1965, set the stage for their rise. Balin, a folk musician with a soulful edge, envisioned a band that could fuse rock, blues, and psychedelic vibes. Kantner brought rhythmic guitar and political fire, while Kaukonen’s blistering lead guitar and Casady’s innovative basslines gave the band its edge. Early drummer Skip Spence and vocalist Signe Anderson were soon replaced by Dryden and the iconic Grace Slick, whose commanding voice and songs like “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love” catapulted the band to fame. By November 1965, they scored a groundbreaking $25,000 advance from RCA Records, a massive deal for the time, and their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow became a cornerstone of the Summer of Love, hitting #3 on the charts.

The band defined the San Francisco Sound, headlining legendary festivals like Monterey Pop (1967), Woodstock (1969), and Altamont (1969). Their politically charged lyrics, as heard in "Wooden Ships" and “Volunteers,” made them a voice for the rebellious youth. Despite lineup changes and splits into Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna, Jefferson Airplane’s legacy endures, earning them a 1996 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Zoo Freaks can keep up with the band’s legacy through their official website, Facebook, Instagram, and X accounts. Fans also gather at sites like JeffersonAirplane.net and the Jefferson Airplane Fans Facebook group, where the psychedelic spirit lives on.