Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers

"Volunteers"

Look what's happening out in the streets
Got a revolution
Got to revolution
Hey I'm dancing down the streets
Got a revolution
Got to revolution
Ain't it amazing all the people I meet
Got a revolution
Got to revolution
One generation got old
One generation got soul
This generation got no destination to hold
Pick up the cry
Hey now it's time for you and me
Got a revolution
Got to revolution
Come on now we're marching to the sea
Got a revolution
Got to revolution
Who will take it from you
We will and who are we
We are volunteers of America



Jefferson Airplane‘s breakthrough second album ‘Surrealistic Pillow’ was all about peace and love in 1967. Two years, and two albums, later, the San Francisco band was talking about a revolution on its post-Woodstock classic ‘Volunteers.’

Released in November 1969 as Vietnam hate raged across the nation, ‘Volunteers’ served as a middle finger to the establishment, the government and pretty much anyone else not on board with the Airplane’s worldview. It was a tough one for tough times, but the group found little reason to be cheerful and smile during those dark days of U.S. history.

So they rallied the troops with the weapons they had (their songs) while calling for something way more revolutionary than change through music. This wasn’t some metaphorical revolution Jefferson Airplane were proposing on ‘Volunteers'; they actually wanted blood in the streets.

The hypocrisy of putting an end to a bloody war with violence wasn’t lost on some members of the band, who expressed discomfort with some of the songs and sloganeering on the record. Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, for one, called them naive. And all these years later, the sentiments can strike modern listeners as a bit strident. But there’s no denying the impact and power of the album. Aside from ‘Surrealistic Pillow,’ Jefferson Airplane have never made a better record.

From the opening alarm of ‘We Can Be Together’ and the updating of the traditional ‘Good Shepherd’ to the Airplane’s take on ‘Wooden Ships’ (co-written by the band’s Paul Kantner with David Crosby and Stephen Stills, who recorded it on Crosby, Stills and Nash‘s self-titled debut released earlier in 1969) and the closing ‘Volunteers’ (barely two minutes of call-to-arms back-and-forth), ‘Volunteers’ is the sound of Woodstock’s idealism sinking in the mud.

It was a defiant move, made by a band growing more defiant by the day.

Little surprise, then, that the album was immediately hounded by controversy, starting with that very first song. The line “Up against the wall, motherf—er” (from ‘We Can Be Together’) did not sit well with the band’s record company; neither did the repeated use of the word “s—” in ‘Eskimo Blue Day.’ And the LP’s strong antiwar message also made the group’s corporate bosses somewhat uneasy.

The force of it all may have been a little too much as far as mainstream acceptance goes. But the band barely wavered. They’d always been their hometown’s scene’s most vocal and, to an extent, political group. They were used to the controversy, the suggestions and, in the end, getting their way.

All of this didn’t hurt the album’s sales much. ‘Volunteers’ reached No. 13 — not as strong as its predecessor, ‘Crown of Creation,’ or ‘Surrealistic Pillow,’ both of which made it to the Top 10. But it went gold, and remains their most adventurous album (in addition to the psychedelic and folk shadings, some country twang — thanks to Jerry Garcia‘s pedal steel — makes its way on the record).

‘Volunteers’ would be the last album by the group’s classic lineup. Singer Marty Balin and drummer Spencer Dryden weren’t around by the time Jefferson Airplane regrouped two long years later for ‘Bark,’ by which time Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady were busy with Hot Tuna, and Kantner and singer Grace Slick became parents. And by that time, the fight and fire were pretty much gone. Up against the wall indeed.
"Volunteers" is a Jefferson Airplane single from 1969 that was released to promote the albumVolunteers two months before the album's release. It was written by Marty Balin and Paul Kantnertogether. Marty was woken up by a truck one morning, which happened to be a truck with Volunteers of America painted on the side. Marty started writing lyrics down and then asked Paul to help him with the music.


B-Side "We Can Be Together"

"We Can Be Together" is the B-side of the "Volunteers" 45 and the first track on Volunteers. The song's music and lyrics were written by Paul Kantner. Kantner was inspired by the Black Panther Party's use of the phrase "Up against the wall, motherfucker" and included it in the chorus. The Airplane performed "We Can Be Together" uncensored on The Dick Cavett Show on August 19, 1969.

While the word "motherfucker" was indeed sung and not censored on the 45, it was mixed lower in the mix as compared to the LP mix, which had no volume manipulation and presented the song "un-buried".

Personnel
Grace Slick - Piano / Vocals
Paul Kantner - Rhythm Guitar / Vocals
Marty Balin - Guitar / Vocals
Jorma Kaukonen - Lead Guitar
Jack Casady - Bass
Spencer Dryden - Drums / Percussion
Additional Personnel[edit]
Nicky Hopkins - Piano