• Writer: Grace Slick
• Producer: Rick Jarrard
• Recorded: 1967 at RCA Studios, Los Angeles
• Released: Spring 1967
• Players:
  Grace Slick — vocals
  Marty Balin — vocals
  Paul Kantner — guitar, vocals
  Jorma Kaukonen — guitar
  Jack Casady — bass
  Spencer Dryden — drums
• Album: Surrealistic Pillow (RCA, 1967)
• Also on:
  Bless Its Pointed Little Head (RCA, 1969)
  The Worst of Jefferson Airplane (RCA, 1970)
  Flight Log (Grunt, 1976)
  2400 Fulton Street — An Anthology (RCA, 1987)
  Jefferson Airplane Loves You (RCA, 1992)
• Jefferson Airplane formed in 1965 in San Francisco.
• Its early days were spent playing at Marty Balin’s club, the Matrix.
• Grace Slick joined the band in October 1966, replacing original singer Signe Toly Anderson, who left to have a baby.
• Slick brought with her the hit “White Rabbit,” which she had written, performed and recorded with her previous band, the Great Society. The Airplane’s version adds the Latin-flavored “Bolero” arrangement.
• The song is Slick’s interpretation of the Alice In Wonderland story, albeit with a more psychedelic slant.
• Some radio stations banned the song because of what they felt were blatant drug references — particularly the song-ending mantra “Feed your head!”
• “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love” were the first major pop hits from the prolific San Francisco rock community.
• “White Rabbit peaked at Number Eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold more than a million copies as a single.
• The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia was credited as a “musical and spiritual adviser” on the Surrealistic Pillow album, and he played on some of the songs.
• Surrealistic Pillow hit Number Three on the Billboard Top 200 and earned a gold record for sales of more than 500,000 copies.
• On June 17th, 1967, a few months after Surrealistic Pillow’s release, Jefferson Airplane performed at the legendary Monterey International Pop Festival.

FAST FORWARD:

• Jefferson Airplane broke up in 1972, with some members morphing into the Jefferson Starship.
• The Airplane regrouped briefly for an album and tour in 1989.
• Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
• In 1998, Slick arranged for a portion of her royalties from “White Rabbit” to go to the People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).