Spitfire (Jefferson Starship album)
Encyclopedia
Spitfire is Jefferson Starship
's 1976 follow-up to the chart-topping Red Octopus
(1975). This album quickly scaled the charts, spending six consecutive weeks at number three in Billboard and going platinum.
Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band formed in the early 1970s. The group is a spin-off from the iconic 1960s psychedelic/folk group Jefferson Airplane. The band has undergone several major changes in personnel and genres through the years while retaining the same Jefferson Starship name...
's 1976 follow-up to the chart-topping Red Octopus
Red Octopus
Red Octopus is a 1975 album by Jefferson Starship. It was the best-selling album by any incarnation of Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off groups, and the single "Miracles" hit #3 on the Billboard charts, being the biggest hit single the band had until that point...
(1975). This album quickly scaled the charts, spending six consecutive weeks at number three in Billboard and going platinum.
Track listing
Personnel
- Grace SlickGrace SlickGrace Slick is an American singer and songwriter, who was one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, and was a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s...
– vocals, piano on "Ozymandias" and "Switchblade" - Marty BalinMarty BalinMarty Balin is an American musician. He is best known as the founder and one of the lead singers of the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane.-Early life:Martyn Buchwald was born in Cincinnati, Ohio...
– vocals - Paul KantnerPaul KantnerPaul Lorin Kantner is an American rock musician, known for co-founding the psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off band Jefferson Starship.- Overview :...
– vocals, rhythm guitar - John BarbataJohn BarbataJohn Barbata is an American drummer, born in Passaic, New Jersey, active especially in pop and pop/rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s, both as a band member and as a session drummer.-Biography:...
– drums, percussion, lead vocals on "Big City", vocals - Craig ChaquicoCraig ChaquicoCraig Chaquico is an American guitarist of Portuguese and Native American descent. He has had over thirty years of success in a variety of genres: in the 1970s with the post-Summer of Love Jefferson Starship, in that band's 1980s incarnation, Starship, and in the 1990s and 2000s as a...
– lead guitar, vocals - David FreibergDavid FreibergDavid Freiberg is an American musician. He was vocalist and/or bass guitar player with Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship.-Career:...
– vocals, bass on "Switchblade" and "Big City", keyboards on "Cruisin'", "Dance with the Dragon", "Hot Water", "St. Charles", "Don't Let It Rain", "With Your Love", and "Love Lovely Love", Arp on "Ozymandias" - Pete SearsPete SearsPeter 'Pete' Sears is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than four decades he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock of the 1960s, folk, country music, arena rock in the 1970s, and blues...
– bass on all tracks except "Switchblade" and "Big City", piano on "Dance with the Dragon" and "Don't Let It Rain", Mellotron on "Hot Water", keyboards on "St. Charles" and "Big City", organ on "Ozymandias" and "Switchblade", Moog on "Ozymandias" and "Switchblade"
Additional Personnel
- Bobbye Hall – percussion, congas
- Dave RobertsDave Roberts (musician)Dave Roberts was the bass player of the band Sex Gang Children who were a prominent act in the gothic rock movement of the 1980s, recording under the name ‘Dave Sex Gang’. He left the band in 1983 after their only album Song and Legend, setting up the group Carcrash International with various...
– string and horn arrangements - Steven Schuster – saxophone on "Don't Let It Rain"
Production
- Jefferson Starship – producer, art direction
- Larry Cox – producer, engineer
- Steve Malcolm – assistant to the engineer
- Pat Ieraci (Maurice) – production coordinator
- Bill Thompson – manager
- Cassandra GaviolaCassandra GavaCassandra Gava is an American actress and producer best known for her performance as the witch in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian. Her birth name is Cassandra Gaviola. She has appeared in 21 films between 1979 and 1998....
– dragon princess - Paul Dowell – amp consultant
- John Langdon – label art
- Gribbitt! (Chris Whorf, Tim Bryant) – album design
- Ron SlenzakRon SlenzakRon Slenzak is an American photographer, best known for photographing record album covers. Some of the album covers that he has photographed include Spitfire , Huey Lewis and the News , It Must Be Magic , Dreams and Throwin' Down .-Biography:Slenzak...
– cover photography - Shusei NagaokaShusei Nagaokais a Japanese illustrator. He is best known for his music album cover art in the 1970s and 1980s. Artists for whom he illustrated covers include Electric Light Orchestra; Earth, Wind & Fire; Caldera, and Pure Prairie League.-Selected work:...
– illustration - Recorded and Mixed at Wally Heiders, San Francisco
- Mastered by Kent Duncan, Kendun Recorders, Burbank
Singles / Music Videos
- "With Your Love" (7/24/76) #12 US
- "St. Charles" (12/4/76) #64 US (found music video)