The debut
Jefferson Airplane
album was dominated by singer
Marty Balin
, who wrote or co-wrote all the original material and sang most of the lead vocals in his heartbreaking tenor with
Paul Kantner
and
Signe Anderson
providing harmonies and backup. (
Anderson
's lead vocal on
"Chauffeur Blues"
indicated she was at least the equal of her successor,
Grace Slick
, as a belter.) The music consisted mostly of
folk-rock
love songs, the most memorable of which were
"It's No Secret"
"Come up the Years."
(There was also a striking version of
Dino Valente
's
"Get Together"
recorded years before
the Youngbloods
' hit version.)
Jorma Kaukonen
already displayed a talent for mixing
country
,
folk
, and
blues
riffs in a
rock
context, and
Jack Casady
already had a distinctive bass sound. But the
Airplane
of
Balin
-
Kantner
Kaukonen
Casady
Spence
is to be distinguished from the
Slick
Dryden
version of the band that would emerge on record five months later chiefly by
's dominance. Later,
would become the group's vocal and visual focal point. On
Jefferson Airplane Takes Off
, the
was still
's group. ~ William Ruhlmann