CoronaVinyl Day 129 (Rebranded Band): Red Octopus by Jefferson Starship

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "rebranded band."  By that, I meant a band that was basically comprised of the same core group of members that just changed its band name after already being famous.  It doesn't happen all that often, but it has happened a few times with some pretty famous bands.  In the '60s, the Young Rascals (who were themselves born out of Joey Dee & The Starlighters) changed their name to The Rascals.  This year, country band Lady Antebellum famously changed their name to Lady A, and then sued a Seattle-based singer who has been using that name for decades.

But I think the most successful rebranded group began as one of the most important San Francisco psychedelic bands of the '60s.  In 1974, Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Papa John Creach, and David Freiberg of Jefferson Airplane -- after the departures of bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorga Kaukonen -- rebranded themselves as Jefferson Starship.    

1975's Red Octopus was the band's second studio album, and it was Jefferson Starship's most successful, topping the Billboard album chart and going double platinum in the U.S.  The album featured the band's highest-charting single, "Miracles," which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as another charting song, "Play on Love," which reached #49.  I will say this about Red Octopus.  It's not a band album, but it has a lot more fiddle than I would have expected -- not necessarily bad, but just unexpected.

The band would release eight studio albums between 1974 and 1984, going through various lineup changes.  Of course, Jefferson Starship would rebrand again in 1985 as Starship, under which they would have some massive '80s hits, including three #1 songs in the U.S., "We Built This City," "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," and "Sara."

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Sweeter Than Honey"

The final song on Side 1 is a fun, honky-tonk-esque bar rock song, with splashes of fiddle that help keep things light.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "I Want to See Another World"
This song seems like a holdover from the psychedelic days, with a '70s rock update.  And, of course, an acid fiddle.