Volunteers (song)

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1969 single by Jefferson Airplane

"Volunteers"

Single by Jefferson Airplane
from the album  Volunteers
B-side| "We Can Be Together"
Released| October 1969 (1969-10)
Recorded| April 1969
Studio| Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, California
Genre| Hard rock[1]
Length| 2:03
Label| RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)|

* Marty Balin
* Paul Kantner

Producer(s)| Al Schmitt
Jefferson Airplane singles chronology
| "Plastic Fantastic Lover"
(1969)  | "Volunteers"
(1969)  | "Mexico"
(1970)

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"Volunteers" is a Jefferson Airplane single from 1969 that was released to promote the album Volunteers two months before the album's release. It was written by Marty Balin and Paul Kantner. Balin was woken up by a truck one morning, which happened to be a truck with Volunteers of America painted on the side.[2] Marty started writing lyrics down and then asked Paul to help him with the music.

Record World called it "an instant smash."[3]

## Chart performance

[edit]

Chart (1969-70)  | Peak
position

|

US Billboard Hot 100[4] | 65

## B-Side "We Can Be Together"

[edit]

"We Can Be Together" is the B-side of the "Volunteers" 45 and the first track on Volunteers. The song's music and lyrics were written by Paul Kantner. Kantner was inspired by the Black Panther Party's use of the phrase "Up against the wall, motherfucker" and included it in the chorus.[2] The Airplane performed "We Can Be Together" uncensored on The Dick Cavett Show on August 19, 1969.

While the word "motherfucker" was indeed sung and not censored on the 45, it was mixed lower in the mix as compared to the LP mix, which had no volume manipulation and presented the song "un-buried".

## Personnel

[edit]

* Grace Slick – piano, vocals
* Marty Balin – guitar, lead vocals
* Paul Kantner – rhythm guitar, vocals
* Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar
* Jack Casady – bass
* Spencer Dryden – drums, percussion

### Additional personnel

[edit]

* Nicky Hopkins – piano

## Cover versions

[edit]

* Balin released a new version on his 1991 solo album, Better Generation.[5]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Greenwald, Matthew. "Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane - Track Info | AllMusic". allmusic. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
2. ^ a b Tamarakin, Jeff (2003). Got a Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-03403-0.
3. ^ "Single Reviews" (PDF). Record World. October 25, 1969. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 429.
5. ^ "Marty Balin, Better Generation". AllMusic. Retrieved November 25, 2016.

* v
* t
* e

Jefferson Airplane (discography, members) · Jefferson Starship (discography, members) · Starship (discography, members)

Studio albums|

| Jefferson Airplane|

* Jefferson Airplane Takes Off
* Surrealistic Pillow
* After Bathing at Baxter's
* Crown of Creation
* Volunteers
* Bark
* Long John Silver
* Jefferson Airplane

|

Jefferson Starship|

* Blows Against the Empire (with Paul Kantner)
* Dragon Fly
* Red Octopus
* Spitfire
* Earth
* Freedom at Point Zero
* Modern Times
* Winds of Change
* Nuclear Furniture
* Windows of Heaven
* Jefferson's Tree of Liberty
* Mother of the Sun

Starship|

* Knee Deep in the Hoopla
* No Protection
* Love Among the Cannibals
* Loveless Fascination

Live albums|

* Bless Its Pointed Little Head
* Thirty Seconds Over Winterland
* Deep Space/Virgin Sky
* Greatest Hits: Live at the Fillmore
* Across the Sea of Suns

Archival releases|

* Live at the Monterey Festival
* Live at the Fillmore East
* At Golden Gate Park
* Last Flight
* Sweeping Up the Spotlight
* At the Family Dog Ballroom
* The Woodstock Experience

Compilations|

* The Worst of Jefferson Airplane
* Early Flight
* Flight Log
* Gold
* 2400 Fulton Street
* Greatest Hits (Ten Years and Change 1979–1991)
* Jefferson Airplane Loves You
* The Essential Jefferson Airplane

Singles|

* "My Best Friend"
* "Somebody to Love"
* "White Rabbit"
* "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil"
* "Volunteers"
* "Wooden Ships"
* "Mexico"
* "Miracles"
* "Play on Love"
* "With Your Love"
* "Count On Me"
* "Runaway"
* "Jane"
* "Find Your Way Back"
* "We Built This City"
* "Sara"
* "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"

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* Category

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