Top 10 Jefferson Airplane Songs

Photo: By Grunt Records (eBay itemfrontback) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Jefferson Airplane Songs list features some of the band’s most essential songs from their 1960s and early 1970s career. If we had to choose one band that defined the counterculture of the 1960s across the board, it would easily be Jefferson Airplane. The Doors were the only other band as immersed in the turmoil of the 1960s as Jefferson Airplane.

For a complete artist profile on Jefferson Airplane, please check out our Jefferson Airplane Artist Profile article. Our Top 10 Jefferson Airplane songs article is simply a subjective list of the best and most essential recordings the band released during the years when they defined the spirit of the 1960s in all its rebellious glory.

# 10 – Today

We felt the perfect track to open our Top 10 Jefferson Airplane Songs list was the memorable “Today.” Marty Balin sang the legendary track. While Grace Slick may have hypnotized a generation, Marty Balin’s vocals fueled this group from the start. The song “Today” was released on the Surrealistic Pillow album. It was the band’s second studio album. RCA Victor released it on February 1, 1967. This album marks the first appearance of vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden with the band.

Surrealistic Pillow reached number three on the Billboard 200. It is regarded as one of the most influential and quintessential works of the early psychedelic rock era and the 1960s counterculture. The album features Marty Balin on vocals and guitar, with lead vocals on “Today”; Jack Casady on bass; Spencer Dryden on drums and percussion; Paul Kantner on rhythm guitar; Jorma Kaukonen on lead guitar; and Grace Slick on vocals.

# 9 – Blues from an Airplane

The great moody Jefferson Airplane song “Blues from an Airplane” was released on the band’s debut album entitled Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. RCA Victor released Jefferson Airplane Takes Off on August 15, 1966. Marty Balin sings lead vocals on this great track. This initial lineup differed significantly from their later “classic” configuration: Signe Toly Anderson was the female vocalist, and Skip Spence handled the drums. Both members departed the group in 1966, making way for their replacements, Grace Slick and Spencer Dryden, respectively.

The main personnel on the original album included Marty Balin on vocals and rhythm guitar, Signe Toly Anderson on vocals and percussion, Jorma Kaukonen on lead guitar, Paul Kantner on rhythm guitar and vocals, Jack Casady on bass guitar, and Alex “Skip” Spence on drums.

# 8 – Lather

Grace Slick’s first appearance on our Top 10 Jefferson Airplane Songs list comes via the opening track from their psychedelic masterpiece Crown of Creation. The album’s opening track, “Lather,” featured the brilliant vocals of the legendary Grace Slick. Crown of Creation was the fourth studio album by Jefferson Airplane, released in August 1968 by RCA Victor. “Lather” was written by Grace Slick, inspired by her boyfriend Spencer Dryden’s upcoming 30th birthday. The song explores the challenges of aging within a youth-oriented cultural movement. The album achieved notable chart success, reaching number 14 in Canada and number six on the U.S. Billboard 200. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in the United States.

# 7 – Trial by Fire

This great Jorma Kaukonen-penned song, “Trial by Fire,” was released on the Long John Silver album. The Long John Silver album was released in 1972. It was Jefferson Airplane’s last studio album before the reunion album was released in 1989; listen to how different the band sounds on this song compared to the song “Today.” The album featured Grace Slick on vocals and piano, Jack Casady on bass, Paul Kantner on vocals and rhythm guitar, Jorma Kaukonen on lead guitar and vocals, and Papa John Creach on electric violin, with John Barbata, Joey Covington, and Sammy Piazza contributing drums and percussion. Piazza played drums on “Trial by Fire.”

# 6 – The Ballad of You & Me & Pooneil

Listening to the harmony of this incredible song is one reason Jefferson Airplane sounded like no other band in classic rock history. They had unique vocal sounds, and their voices blended in extraordinary harmony. Their vocals had a protest quality that fueled their music, lyrics, and spirit. That is why so many people fell in love with this great band.

# 5 – Embryonic Journey

The video below says it all! This incredible piece of music was released on the album Surrealistic Pillow. Jorma Kaukonen wrote the instrumental. The song has appeared on the soundtracks of many films and documentaries centered on the 1960s.

# 4 – Comin’ Back to Me

It is a beautifully haunting song that showcases how this band wrote somewhere beyond this world. To those who were there, that statement makes perfect sense. Drug use played a prominent role with some songwriters during the 1960s. The results were songs like this one. “Comin’ Back to Me” was released on the grand Surrealistic Pillow album. Marty Balin wrote the song and sang the lead vocals.

# 3 – Somebody to Love

One can’t compose a Top 10 Jefferson Airplane Songs list without including their biggest hit, “Somebody to Love.” The song was released on the band’s sophomore album, entitled Surrealistic Pillow. The band’s second album was released in 1967. The song “Somebody to Love” was a massive hit for the band, peaking at number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song hit number one in Canada. “Somebody to Love” was the ultimate escape song from a society turned upside down by inept and ignorant leadership.

# 2 – White Rabbit

“White Rabbit” is probably the most used rock and roll song in movies about the 1960s, more than any other track released during that time. It just bleeds 1960s culture more than any other song released during that tumultuous decade of anti-war protests, drug culture, civil rights movements, and a government and country turned upside down.

# 1 – Hey Fredrick

“Hey Fredrick” may not be the band’s most famous song, but in our opinion, it was their best. “Hey Fredrick” was a track on the Volunteers album. The song showcased Jefferson Airplane’s brilliance like no other in their catalog. From Grace Slick’s memorable vocal performance to the rest of the band’s blues-infused rock and roll psychedelic ramblings, this epic masterpiece defined their place in 1960s classic rock history.