Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1967
Today (Jefferson Airplane song)
Buy Today (Jefferson Airplane song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'Today'" is a folk rock ballad written by Marty Balin and Paul Kantner from the band Jefferson Airplane. It first appeared on their album 'Surrealistic Pillow' with a live version later appearing on the expanded rerelease of 'Bless Its Pointed Little Head'. Marty Balin said, "I wrote it to try to meet Tony Bennett. He was recording in the next studio. I admired him, so I thought I'd write him a song. I never got to meet him, but the Airplane ended up doing it."'Surrealistic Pillow' 2003 re-release liner notes Jerry Garcia plays the simple, repetitive but poignant lead guitar riff on the song.
Personnel
*Marty Balin lead vocals, tambourine
*Grace Slick vocals
*Jorma Kaukonen guitar
*Paul Kantner guitar, vocals
*Jack Casady bass
*Spencer Dryden drums
*Jerry Garcia lead guitarSurrealistic Pillow 2003 re-release liner notes
Cover versions
*Balin released a new version on his 1999 solo album, 'Marty Balin Greatest Hits'.
*Black Sheep samples the song on "Similak Child" from their 1991 album, 'A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing'.
*The song was covered by Jubilant Sykes on his 2004 album 'Wait For Me'. In the liner notes the song is mis-attributed to Randy Sparks, who wrote another song of the same name for the soundtrack of the 1964 film 'Advance to the Rear'. This other song was performed on the soundtrack by The New Christy Minstrels, a folk group founded by Sparks.
*Dokken on their 'Broken Bones' album in 2012
*Rene Fleming also covered it on her 2010 album 'Dark Hope'.
*Tom Scott covered the song on his 1967 album 'The Honeysuckle Breeze'. The song features a quicker tempo than the Jefferson Airplane version and also features a long saxophone solo. The song also appears in the episode, "Riley Wuz Here" of the animated television series, The Boondocks. Parts of the saxophone solo were sampled in the Pete Rock & CL Smooth song They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.).
*Norwegian avant-garde musicians Ulver covered it on their 2012 all-cover release 'Childhood's End'.
*Russian band 'The Re-Stoned' covered it on their 2012 Album 'Plasma'.
References
Category:1967 songs
Category:1960s ballads
Category:Songs written by Marty Balin
Category:Songs written by Paul Kantner
Category:Jefferson Airplane songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Rick Jarrard
Category:Folk ballads
Category:Rock ballads
Buy Today (Jefferson Airplane song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1967