Grunt 0999
Producers: Jefferson Starship, Larry Cox
Track listing: Fast Buck Freddie / Miracles / Git Fiddler / Al Garimasu / Sweeter Than Honey / Play on Love / Tumblin / I Want to See Another World / Sandalphon / There Will Be Love
September 6, 1975
4 weeks (nonconsecutive)
Jefferson Starship had gone through a decade, numerous lineups, and a name change, but the band had yet to score a Number One album when it went into the studio to record its 14th LP, Red Octopus.
Formed in San Francisco in early 1965, the band, then known as Jefferson Airplane, was one of the forerunners of the Haight-Ashbury psychedelic scene. Its first album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, only reached number 128, but the group’s fortunes changed with the addition of singer Grace Slick. Surrealistic Pillow, released in early 1967, reached number three, propelled by the hits “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.” It would take the group nearly a decade to chart that high again.
By 1974, the band had changed its lineup and its name to the more modern-sounding Jefferson Starship and enlisted 19-year-old lead guitar player Craig Chaquico, formerly of the band Steelwind. Original member Marty Balin, who had left the group, rejoined in early 1975 alongside co-founder/guitarist Paul Kantner. Other members included 58-year-old violinist Papa John Creach, bassist/keyboard player Pete Sears, bassist/keyboardist David Freiberg, and drummer John Barbata. “There was definitely a band feeling,” says Chaquico, “because it was a big band.”
Although some accused the Starship of moving in an overly commercial direction on Red Octopus, Chaquico says that wasn’t the intent. “Everybody was doing music based solely on their artistic, creative inspiration and intuition. Nobody thought for a second about the charts. That was the furthest thing from our minds.”
“We really didn’t think about it as a record with commercial top 40 singles,” he adds. Indeed, the most accessible track on the album, the Balin ballad “Miracles,” clocked in at nearly seven minutes. “It wasn’t until later that all of us and our producer thought about doing a shorter version of it.” The edited version, which reached number three and became the band’s biggest hit to date, also omitted some of the suggestive lyrics on the original that might possibly have hindered its chances for top 40 airplay.
The fact that the Starship had several writers from diverse backgrounds was reflected in the album’s material. “The styles ranged from my hard-rock roots to Marty’s Airplane folk roots, to Grace’s and Paul’s styles,” Chaquico says.
Red Octopus contains two instrumental tracks, “Git Fiddler” and “Sandalphon.” A third track, “Sweeter than Honey,” was originally an instrumental. “When we first played that song live at a big benefit show in San Francisco, Marty was caught in traffic, so we had to go onstage before he was there. We played ‘Sweeter than Honey.’ After a couple minutes, Marty came running onstage and started singing the lyrics he was working on.”
Although the band recorded the album in approximately three months at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco, the finishing touches were applied while the Starship was touring. “Our tour was already booked, so we were still mixing and reviewing mixes while we were on the road,” says Chaquico.
Red Octopus hit Number One a total of three separate times over a 12-week period, but Chaquico couldn’t enjoy the festivities the first time around. “The time it went to Number One, we were on the road and I wasn’t old enough to get into the hotel bar to celebrate,” he says.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of September 6, 1975
1. Red Octopus, Jefferson Starship
2. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Elton John
3. Between the Lines, Janis Ian
4. One of These Nights, The Eagles
5. The Heat Is On, Isley Brothers