Jefferson Airplane - Hey Fredrick

[mbyr909]

Nicky Hopkins on piano...



[KumaKhameleon]

Is it just me or does the piano part that starts at 5:50 sound remarkably similar to the piano at the end of "Let it Go" from Grace's "Dreams" album?

[siena6969]

Don't think Grace played piano here. I believe Nicky Hopkins was the keyboardist

[redmarine28]

this here how we fought the nam

[californiaportugee]

"How old will you have to be before you stop beliving that those eyes will look down on you that way forever".....whoa...

[cinneadboy2]

Thank you Grace! :)

[willbar11]

Best song on the Volunters albulm.

[EIFanGirl]

Sometimes I listen to this song while making my bed and it always comes to line, 'Sheets and a pillow'. Stil, this is Grace's best song from Airplane!

[NicksandSlick]

Our didactic diva in full flight.

[stillustronic]

Whoever categorized Grace as a female contralto vocalist probably never heard this song. Yes her voice has a powerful presence, but her range is way beyond contralto. especially for someone early in life simply said, do I want to have tupperware parties or hang out in Paris with contemporary artists, I can sing...so I chose the later. LOL

[autodelete66]

@stillustronic Yma Sumac was the Best known Contralto.

I LOVE Grace ~

 but she's NO Sumac !!!

[triplettam]

Perfect!

[hermitcrabbot]

The best song of the best album of the best year for popular music.

[popwarskatemore7]

i love the deuling guitars in this.

and the jam at 7:00 on

[popwarskatemore7]

i love the deuling guitars in this.

and the jam at 7:00

[kogcc]

This could be their best song from their best album

[drilett]

Nicky really keeps this thing afloat with the excellent piano work, especially at the end.

[boxfitter]

If I were one of the Apollo astronauts I would have brought this to the moon with me. Playing it in my spacesuit helmet as I rocked in near zero G with a little nitrous drip tuned in on the backpack and some Purplr Haze laced Tang ticklin' my tonsils. Groovin' from the surface as I watch the Earth rise. Me and my stowaway G.I. Joe doll with the Kung Fu grip. Shouting back to Mission Control "Made it Ma, Top of the World."

[95pito]

this song gives me chills every time I listen.! so wicked! so nice!!!!!!

[jackhillty]

I think "fred" was JA's way of saying "fuck". so the title may be read as "hey fuckhead".

grace "talking to myself but not listening to what I was saying"

[zada000]

One more pair of loving eyes .. look down on you...

[natzilla100]

i just can't understand how things have fallen so far

[popwarskatemore7]

6:57 and on

[Juanplate00]

masterpiece! IMO is the best song of Jefferson

[Plutzerkern]

I can't explain what I'm feeling when I listen to this song.. Grace Slick is THE heroine.

[dreama505]

Jorma takes off at 4.26 and double tracked . Beautiful stuff.......

Listen at 5.20 Jack Casady bass THIS IS THE SOUND of the late 1960's

[threefive00]

I think Frederick is a tribute to Friedrich Nietzsche, because the lyrics are very cynical, and Grace had been into reading about him a lot in 1969.

[sandinyourshoes]

@threefive00, I did not know Gracie like Freddy.  Then again, many singers are influenced by the books they read.

[equinoxranch]

Off the charts................ 

[WillInNewHaven]

Nicky Hopkins and Grace Slick both got piano credit on this album. When they played this song live, without Nicky Hopkins, Grace played a very similar piano part. I am sure something was missing but it wasn't much. She was a very fine musician on a number of instruments. And the hottest woman in the world, in her day.

[CadillacL]

Grace's vocals & piano playing is haunting. The ending is awesome:)

[Mrariesdave]

This song is like a Rorschach inkblot, like a few other of Grace's songs. We project a meaning...Thank you Grace for not getting trapped in literalism.

[czech698]

don't stop eating meat. You've gained two pounds on it, haven't you? Don't adopt other people's ideas about your own food. You need strength and blood, and you'll get them from meat, not from string beans.

[thechewydude]

They ascended far above their contemporaries. There's no band like Jefferson Airplane. Fuck, what a miraculous phenomenon that was.

[bowiefan441970]

Fucking amazing.

[rafaescate]

the part when she says: how many machine men will you see before you stop believing...

it raises you to the top of sky...it raises you thirty seconds over winterland !! hahaha

[louiseduvee]

one of my favourie songs ever.

[TonyRoq]

Well, I'm still in love w/ Grace Slick, so my views aren't exactly objective, but the her band was clueless on this one.

[fluffyusa]

a very good band from the 60's.

[tomswift46]

This and Rejoyce are back to back powerful Beauties...avantgarde rock n roll!

[bobksf]

To think I have not listened to this song in over thirty-five years, and have barely thought of it during that time. At their best, the Airplane was so far ahead of of anyone else at the time (other than the Beatles) in terms of musical ability and songwriting. It's sad how quickly they deteriorated from about 1971 onward.

[limonn24]

it's... great!

[pyrophore]

I think the title originally was called Hey Fucker but censors told them uh-uh. So Fredrick was used instead.

Nicky Hopkins was one of the very few musicians at that time who could have easily been a regular JA member. His playing worked very well with Jorma Jack and Spencer.

[ViolentVendetta]

absolutely awesome...

[lykes2fly]

JA was amazing live. Listen to Jack's pounding bass at the finale of this song.

[kharmakreep]

I dig their live sound too. Sometimes the vocals are too loud for the rest of the band but the jamming is always on point. Some think that the utmost of clarity in a bands playing is the ultimate expression of talent. I think JA was wonderful as a wall of sound that did not always clearly specify each instrument. Hopefully this makes sense...go ride the music.

[chingunc]

unbelievable song.

[lykes2fly]

Grace's voice is an instrument unto itself.

[Blackscorpion1963]

@lykes2fly I'll second that. One of the best vocalists of the era easily, not to mention most of today's female 'singers'.

[ThousandYearsOld]

First time I've heard this song by my favourite band on Earth, I love it.

I've also noticed that this song is almost the exact oppostie to punk rock songs, because at my course they play punk rock sometimes, and I noted down the elements of most of the punk songs so that if I start a band, I want to play the opposite to what it says on my notes.

Great song along with Aerie (Gang of Eagles) and Today!!!

[ivycompton]

Masterpiece on every level.

[pdondini]

Nicky is on the piano. Wonderful song.

[ezramead]

I think the early part of the song is Grace on piano.

[Jopy98]

quintessential Airplane, and very generous of Grace. "here, I have some verses, a beat, and a melody -- now you guys have at it." cool.

[jackhillty]

i read where grace said of this song: "i was talking to myself but i wasn't listening to what i was saying" - like breaks in bad weather.

[rjkirkwood51]

great memories

[lilic1]

One of the best songs of the album is Hey Frederick. Grace's voice is amazing...wow, I like they way she sings! And I like how Nicky Hopkins plays the piano.Volunteers is a classic album not only the band but the whole era.Songs like 'Volunteers', 'We Can Be Together', 'Eskimo Blue Day' 'Wooden Ships' or 'Turn My Life Down' are masterpieces of the band.

Thanks for posting this!:)

[ajf12525]

Did u know it is Grace on piano on this one.

[lilic1]

I think it's Nicky Hopkins. On wikipedia is: 'Nicky Hopkins and Grace Slick' but I think the way he plays the piano is typical Nicky Hopkins style.

[ajf12525]

U r rite it is both. I think she is pretty goood on piano, 'rejoyce' is my favorite.