Paul Kantner: Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra
PERRO (1983/2005)
'Planet
Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra,
Everybody Here Can Be In The Band,
Planet Earth Rock And Roll Dream '
Paul Kantner (From Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra)
Black Lights, Day Glow, Zig Zags and Ripple. Nixon was in office, kids lay dead in a foreign land and on our campuses. The whole world seemed to be rushing towards an uncertain future. Even the Silent Majority was starting to talk. On the west coast of the United States, some of the best musicians of a generation came together to share ideas, explore the new technology and to kick out what would be the greatest, most influential albums of the age. Woodstock and Altamont were behind - Watergate was ahead and Blows Against the Empire was on every Head's turntable. "Hey Dick, Whatever you think is totally irrelevant. Both to us and to you. You are the past, we are the future." (From Blows Against the Empire)
Those words were shouted out at so many gatherings. You could smell revolution. The music was real, the times desperate and hope for the future burned white hot. Blows Against the Empire was the soundtrack to the early seventies. Featuring members of Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, CSN&Y, the Fabulous Rhinestones and many others Blows Against the Empire was not just an all star collaboration, but was also a science fiction masterpiece that was the brainchild of Paul Kantner.
While Paul was the guiding force behind the album the influence of what was to become the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra was immeasurable. Grace Slick, David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, Graham Nash all have a distinctive voice on the album. You can't steer the wind but Paul was able to keep a firm hand on the till of the ship. The Planet Earth Rock and Roll collaboration continued and several albums were released as solo efforts by this Band of Caballeros! Most of which are available here.
A decade later found Paul Kantner back in the studio with Grace Slick, other members of Jefferson Starship, the Turtles, the Durocs, the Edgar Winter Group and a host of others (including Paul's children). Paul had an epic science fiction novel/movie/soundtrack in mind when he started to record Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra.
Paul Kantner explains the premise for the Album Novel in an interview. "The album is sort of a soundtrack to the novel. It's about a rock-and-roll band who gets a hold of a lot of telepathic amplification equipment, essentially, that the government starts coming after. That begins an adventure of them going cross-country. They wind up in a settlement in Australia, and eventually get off the planet in a unique sort of way. There's a sort-of picture of it on the album."
While the Album and the Book have been out of circulation to most of the world for over a decade a newly remastered edition of Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra will be available soon, right here at Planet Earth Rock and Roll (planetearthrockandroll.com). So fasten your seatbelts, prepare for launch as we discover the universe of Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra.
Let' GO!!!
Rick McNamara
more Kantner and Jefferson Starship titles will be available here soon.