Why Jerry Garcia was listed as “spiritual advisor” on the back of the Jefferson Airplane’s ‘Surrealistic Pillow’ album

We’ve only been back at 710 a few days when I get a call from the Airplane.

Jorma wants to know if Jerry can, you know, come down and help them out for a few days.

“Maybe Jerry could tweak this mix a bit, Rock, I dunno, there’s something. . . something . . .”

“Something in the middle part, maybe?” I say, as deadpan as I can manage.

We hop on a flight to L. A. and head straight to the studio where the Airplane are still working on “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love.”

Garcia takes his little Princeton amplifier in there and tinkers with the guitar parts and essentially arranges those two songs, which eventually become Top Forty hits.

His contribution is so crucial that the Airplane want to list him as producer on those two tracks.

But Rick Jarrand won’t permit it.

Which is how the Airplane end up listing Jerry Garcia as “spiritual advisor” on the back of Surrealistic Pillow.

Anyway, the lurch that really makes those songs is Jerry’s.

He actually lays down the rhythm guitar parts, then Jorma and Paul come in later and overdub them.

I don’t know if they just mixed Jerry way back or erased him altogether.

Some future sonic archaeologist will no doubt come along and unearth the Garcia ur-track and make it the cornerstone for some theory of ancient rock.

Living with the Dead, Rock Scully with David Dalton, Little Brown and Company, 1996, pages 86 – 87

 

LA ROSA TRANSCULTURAL PACIFICAN HISTORY 1966 – 2009