Bless Its Pointed Little Head is a live album by Jefferson Airplane recorded at both the Fillmore East and West in the fall of 1968 and released in 1969 as RCA Victor LSP-4133. The album reached #17 on the BillboardTop LP's chart in March 1969.[4]
The tracks were recorded during the tour supporting Crown of Creation, although no songs from that album or its predecessor After Bathing at Baxter's were included (however, the CD rerelease contains bonus tracks of several selections from After Bathing at Baxter's). Selections were taken from the band's first two albums and a number of covers that had been in their setlist since 1965-66 but not recorded in the studio. One of these, "Fat Angel", had been written by Donovan in the spring of 1966 and namechecked the band. Fred Neil's "The Other Side of This Life" is believed to have been in the setlist from Jefferson Airplane's first performance at The Matrix in August 1965. Jorma Kaukonen showcased his blues roots with a slow, heavy cover of the traditional "Rock Me Baby", a song that had been played by the band as early as 1966. Of the remaining selections, "Clergy" was an audio excerpt from the film King Kong that was used to introduce the band at their Fillmore shows, while "Turn Down the Lights" was a short, improvised number instructing the lighting crew to do its title's bidding. The closing "Bear Melt" had developed from a lengthy instrumental jam titled "Thing" that had evolved on stage through the years, now featuring an improvised vocal intro by Grace Slick. A version of "Thing" without Slick's vocal contribution can be heard on the archival release Live at the Fillmore East, taken from the group's May 1968 shows at the venue.
Many of Jefferson Airplane's recordings on the live album were longer than their studio performances, featuring greater use of improvisation, and most were played at a considerably higher speed. The performance emphasized the band's freewheeling, ping-pong vocal harmonies and revealed a harder-rocking group. Guitar and bass lines were deeper in their construction, forming complex instrumentals. Some of the band's hit singles, such as "White Rabbit", were not included, although a dramatically rearranged "Somebody to Love" appears. The album revealed a different focus in the sound of the band's live concerts compared to that of their studio work.[5][6]
Bless Its Pointed Little Head received mixed reviews upon release although in the booklet to the box set Jefferson Airplane Loves You, it is noted as the only Jefferson Airplane album that all of the band members remembered with superlatives. "Plastic Fantastic Lover", which had become considerably funky compared to the studio recording, was released as a single in May 1969; while it failed to chart, it received positive reviews. Billboard described the single as "heavy hard rock"[7] while Cash Box wrote that it "features the team's more commercial-than-controversial style" and has "a solid instrumental track and very fine vocal."[8]Record World wrote that the song was one of the band's favorites.[9]
^Woodstra, Chris; Bush, John; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2007). Guide Required Listening. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN9780879309176. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
^"Spotlight Singles"(PDF). Billboard. May 24, 1969. p. 76. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
