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Red Octopus is the second album by American rock band Jefferson Starship, released on Grunt Records in 1975. Certified double platinum by RIAA in 1995, it is the best-selling album by any incarnation of Jefferson Airplane and its spin-off groups. The single "Miracles" was the highest-charting single any permutation of the band had until Starship's "We Built This City" a decade later, ultimately peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart; the album itself reached No. 1 for four non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200. As with several other albums from the epoch, stereo and quadraphonic mixes of Red Octopus were released concurrently.

Red Octopus
Studio album by Jefferson Starship
Released	June 13, 1975
Recorded	February 1975
Studio	Wally Heider Studios, San Francisco, CA
Genre	AOR
Length	42:00
Label	Grunt
Producer	Jefferson Starship, Larry Cox
Jefferson Starship chronology
Dragon Fly (1974) Red Octopus (1975) Spitfire (1976)
Alternative cover
Cover art of original LP release

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B−[2]

Following a guest appearance on the preceding Dragon Fly, Jefferson Airplane founder Marty Balin returned as a fully integrated member of the ensemble. Balin wrote or co-wrote five of the ten tracks on the album, including "Miracles."[3] The group attempted to create a commercialized sound which was a total contrast to their past works, paving the musical direction of their next two albums.[4]

Track listing

Charts

Chart (1975)	Peak position
Australian (Kent Music Report)	69[5]
Billboard 200	1

Personnel

• Marty Balin – lead (2, 5, 7, 10) and backing vocals
• Grace Slick – lead (1, 4, 6) and backing vocals, piano (4)
• Paul Kantner – lead (8) and backing vocals, rhythm guitar
• Craig Chaquico – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Papa John Creach – electric violin
• David Freiberg – bass (3, 6, 9), organ (2, 8), ARP synthesizer (4, 10), keyboards (7), backing vocals
• Pete Sears – bass (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10), keyboards (3, 5) electric (2, 11) and acoustic (6, 8–10) pianos, organ (6, 8, 9), clavinet (6), ARP synthesizer (9), backing vocals
• John Barbata – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Bobbye Hall – percussion, congas
• Irv Cox – saxophone

Production

• Jefferson Starship – producer
• Larry Cox – producer, engineer
• Pat Ieraci (Maurice) – production coordinator
• Steve Mantoani, Jeffrey Husband – recordists
• Paul Dowell – amp consultant
• Dave Roberts – string and horn arrangement
• Recorded and Mixed at Wally Heiders, San Francisco
• Mastered by Kent Duncan, Kendun Recorders, Burbank
• Live tracks recorded at Winterland, November 7, 1975
• Bill Thompson – manager
• Frank Mulvey – art director
• Jim Marshall – liner photograph
• Gribbitt! – graphics

Chart positions

Singles

• "Miracles" (August 23, 1975) #3 US (Billboard Hot 100)
• "Play On Love" (December 13, 1975) #49 US Billboard Hot 100, #47 US Cash Box Top 100[6]

References

External links

• Snyder, Patrick (January 1, 1976). "Jefferson Starship: The Miracle Rockers". Rolling Stone.

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