Jefferson Airplane: Today
From Surrealstic Pillow (RCA, 1967)
Tom Scott: Today
From Honeysuckle Breeze (Impulse, 1968)
The original “Today,” appeared on Jefferson Airplane’s second album and you can hear the crunchy, feel-good, Summer of Love vibe to the ballad – incense and peppermints for real. Clearly, it had an effect on saxophonist Tom Scott who recorded a cover of the song not long after for his debut album. What’s interesting about his version is that it manages to sound quite similar to the original in some parts – especially the opening – but Scott’s sax wails take the song in directions that the Airplane’s vocals don’t.
People tend to be divided over Scott’s “Today”: some think it’s a little cheesball and musically daft. Others find it a great listen, especially as it bridges psych, pop and jazz together. I fall in the latter troupe.
This is freaky but I was planning on putting up Blackrock’s monster of funky rock tunes: “Yeah, Yeah” but as it turns out, Fluxblog beat me too it. Seriously, “Yeah, Yeah” is incredible: visit our esteemed peer and peep that science.
chatter