Paul Kantner - Blows Against the Empire (1970)
Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
1. "Mau Mau (Amerikon)" 6:33
2. "The Baby Tree" 1:42
3. "Let's Go Together" 4:11
4. "A Child Is Coming" 6:15
Total length: 18:41
Side two
1. "Sunrise" 1:54
2. "Hijack" 8:18
3. "Home" 0:37
4. "Have You Seen the Stars Tonite?" 3:42
5. "XM" 1:22
6. "Starship" 7:07
Total length: 23:00
Remastered CD bonus tracks
11. "Let's Go TogetherB" (alternate lyrics) 4:22
12. "Sunrise" (acoustic demo) 1:21
13. "Hijack" (acoustic demo) 7:02
14. "SFX" (raw sound effects for XM) 2:04
15. "Starship" 10:07
16. "Radio Spots" (hidden track) 2:57
Paul Kantner Band Members / Musicians
Paul Kantner – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, bass machine
Grace Slick – vocals, piano
Jerry Garcia – banjo on "Let's Go Together" and "The Baby Tree"; pedal steel guitar on "Have You Seen the Stars Tonite"; sound effects and vocals on "XM"; lead guitar on "Starship"
David Crosby – vocals and guitar on "A Child Is Coming" and "Have You Seen the Stars Tonite"; backing vocals on "Mau Mau" and "Starship"
Peter Kaukonen – lead guitar on "Mau Mau"
Jack Casady – bass on "A Child Is Coming" and "Sunrise"
Harvey Brooks – bass on "Starship"
Joey Covington – drums and vocals on "Mau Mau"; congas on "Hijack"
Bill Kreutzmann – drums on "Let's Go Together"
Graham Nash – congas on "Hijack"; sound effects on "Home"; backing vocals on "Starship"
Mickey Hart – percussion on "Have You Seen the Stars Tonite"; sound effects and vocals on "XM"
David Freiberg – backing vocals on "Starship"
Phill Sawyer[18] – sound effects on "Home" and "XM"
Paul Kantner – producer, design
CCCP – cover
Patti Landres – books
Jim Goldberg – space, design, all the work
Tony Nagamuma – title
Allen Zentz, Pat Ieraci, Graham Nash, David Crosby, Phill Sawyer, Bob Shoemaker – engineers
Thanks to Kurt Vonnegut, Robert A. Heinlein, Michael Cooney, Jean Genet, Mike Lipskin, Buckminster Fuller, Theodore Sturgeon, A. A. Milne, John Lear and The Bear – James Boyd, thanks
Blows Against the Empire is a concept album by Paul Kantner, released under the name Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship. It is the first album to use the "Starship" moniker, a name which Kantner and Grace Slick would later use for the band Jefferson Starship that emerged after Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen left Jefferson Airplane. From a commercial standpoint, it performed comparably to Jefferson Airplane albums of the era, peaking at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 and receiving a RIAA gold certification. It was one of the first two albums to be nominated for a Hugo Award in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation.
