SUNFIGHTER
1971
U.S.
MUSICIENS :
- Paul Kantner – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Grace Slick – vocals, piano
- Jack Traylor – guitar on "Earth Mother", vocals on "Earth Mother"
- Jerry Garcia – guitar on "When I Was a Boy I Watched the Wolves", "Million", and "Holding Together"
- Papa John Creach – electric violin on "Silver Spoon" and "Earth Mother"
- Craig Chaquico – lead guitar on "Earth Mother"
- Bill Laudner – vocals on "Million"
- Jack Casady – bass on "Silver Spoon" and "China"
- Spencer Dryden – drums on "Earth Mother"
- David Crosby – vocals on "Look at the Wood", "When I Was a Boy I Watched the Wolves", and "Diana 2", tambourine on "Look at the Wood"
- Jorma Kaukonen – lead guitar on "Look at the Wood"
- Graham Nash – Arp on "Look at the Wood", vocals on "When I Was a -- -Boy I Watched the Wolves" and "Diana 2"
- Chris Wing – drums on "China"
- Pat Gleeson – moog on "Universal Copernican Mumbles", piano on "Universal Copernican Mumbles"
- John Vierra – synthesizer on "Universal Copernican Mumbles", keyboards on "Universal Copernican Mumbles"
- Phill Sawyer – sound effects on "Titanic"
- Peter Kaukonen – guitar on "Sunfighter", mandolin on "When I Was a Boy I Watched the Wolves"
- Shelley Silverman – drums on "When I Was a Boy I Watched the Wolves"
- Joey Covington – drums on "Silver Spoon", "Sunfighter", "China", and "Holding Together"
- Edwin Hawkins Singers (Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, Tramaine - ---- Davis Hawkins, Elaine Kelley, Norma J. King, Barbara Gill, Ruth Wyons, --- Daphne Henderson, Shirley Miller, Eddie Bayers) – vocals on "Sunfighter"
- Steven Schuster – flute on "Silver Spoon" and "Sunfighter", saxophone on "Sunfighter" and "China", horn arrangements on "Sunfighter", and "China"
- Tower of Power (Greg Adams, Mic Gillette) – horns on "Sunfighter" and "China"
TITRES :
1. Silver Spoon
2. Diana
3. Sunfighter
4. Titanic
5. Look at the Wood
6. When I Was a Boy I Watched the Wolves
7. Million
8. China
9. Earth Mother
10. Diana 2
11. Universal Copernican Mumbles
12. Holding Together
Très beau premier album que Sunfighter, réalisé par le couple Paul Kantner/Grace Slick en hommage à China Wing-Kantner, la petite fille (de la pochette) qui vient de naître. Sorti en novembre 1971, ce baptême musical réunit le gratin de la famille West Coast : David Crosby, Graham Nash, Jerry Garcia, Jack Casady, Joey Covington, Craig Chaquico, Papa John Creach, Spencer Dryden, Jorma Kaukonen, ainsi que le trio de cuivres Tower Of Power et les Edwin Hawkins Singers (Oh Happy Days). Doté d'une belle qualité d'écriture qui aborde les problèmes de la race humaine et de la planète terre, Sunfighter, disque un peu mystérieux et mystique, commence de façon on-ne-peut-plus sublime et convaincante, avec un captivant Silver Spoon que vient relayer un Diana élégiaque (Part I), scindé en deux parties, en hommage à Diana Oughton, une militante gauchiste, tuée par la bombe qu'elle confectionnait et soufflant la maison de Greenwich Village où elle cohabitait. Look At The Wood, China, Earth Mother ou When I Was A Boy I Watched The Wolves situent bien le talent des auteurs que sont Kantner et Slick. Il est un des trésors de cette époque de rébellion contre la politique américaine, de la révolution écologique naissante. Le duo Kantner/Slick n'a pas à faire le moindre complexe par rapport à l'Airplane du moment, aussi, ceux que cette scène musicale et que cette période inspirent, doivent être au rendez-vous de Sunfighter. (Jean-Claude)
