My Best Friend (Jefferson Airplane song)
"My Best Friend" | |
---|---|
Single by Jefferson Airplane | |
from the album Surrealistic Pillow | |
Released | January 1967 |
Recorded | November 4, 1966[1] |
Genre | |
Length | 3:01 |
Label | RCA Victor |
Songwriter(s) | Skip Spence |
Producer(s) | Rick Jarrard |
"My Best Friend" is a song by the Jefferson Airplane. It was written by the band's former drummer Skip Spence.[5] The song appeared on the band's second album, Surrealistic Pillow and was released as a single. The single stalled at number 103 on the Billboard Bubbling Under chart, which Jefferson Airplane biographer Jeff Tamarakin attributes to it being a "slower-paced song" that was not what the public expected from a San Francisco acid rock group.[5]
By the time the album was recorded, Spence had left Jefferson Airplane to join Moby Grape. Tamarakin described the song as "Set to a lazy hop-along rhythm, the mostly acoustic ballad is the embodiment of the love-power ethic, sung in uplifting tandem harmonies.[5] Joe Viglione of Allmusic praised the song as "a beautiful blend of original Jefferson Starship sound with a harmony-ragged Mamas & The Papas meets Spanky & Our Gang's loose folk vaudeville."[2] George Starostin praised it as a slow "catchy pop song."[6] Rolling Stone called it a "country charmer."[4] Doug Collette of Glide Magazine compared the song to tracks on the debut album Jefferson Airplane Takes Off and noted it as "polite, sweet harmony-laden."[7]
Chart history
[edit]Chart (1967) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard Hot 100[8] | 103 |
Personnel
[edit]- Marty Balin - vocals
- Grace Slick - vocals
- Jorma Kaukonen - lead guitar
- Paul Kantner - rhythm guitar, vocals
- Jack Casady - bass guitar
- Spencer Dryden - drums
References
[edit]- ^ Tamarkin, Jeff (2003). Surrealistic Pillow (Liner notes). Jefferson Airplane. BMG Heritage. 82876 50351 2.
- ^ a b Viglione, Joe. "My Best Friend by Jefferson Airplane - Track Info - AllMusic". allmusic. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ Masley, Ed (May 30, 2017). "Sgt. Pepper and beyond: A look back at 20 great albums released in 1967". azcentral. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
...to the wistful folk-pop charms of "My Best Friend"...
- ^ a b "Surrealistic Pillow". Rolling Stone. August 27, 1987. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c Tamarakin, Jeff (2003). Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane. Simon and Schuster. pp. 115–116, 127. ISBN 0-671-03403-0.
- ^ Starostin, George. "Surrealistic Pillow". Only Solitaire. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- ^ Collette, Doug (February 1, 2022). "55 Years Later: Revisiting Jefferson Airplane's Counter-Culture Rock Statement 'Surrealistic Pillow'". Glide Magazine. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1991). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990. Record Research. ISBN 0-89820-089-X.