Great Society "Free Advice" song

[zap]

I have a record (yes, vinal) called Nuggets. It has a Great Society song "Free Advice" on it. It is short, about 2 minutes, a male is the lead vocal (probably Darby or David Slick) and Grace Slick is singing non-word back-up. It is a WONDERFUL song. Does anyone know where/when/why about this song?

[ceangle13]

Free Advice is a Great Society song. If my memory serves me well, which means I'm wrong is I think Darby Slick or Jerry Slick sang on that track with Grace.

[DonRico1967]

It is a Mamas & Papas song. Written by John Phillips.

[Chasin'Destiny]

Some info about Great Society....
and some info about 'Free Advise...'

http://mysite.verizon.net/trionic/trionic/bornburn.html

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/mus ... Burned.htm

[FirstBassman]

It is a Mamas & Papas song. Written by John Phillips.

Sorry, Don, you must be thinking of another song.
Darby wrote "Free Advice."

[jimmie ray]

All these "Slicks" are making my head spin!
The Great Society was all brothers + Grace?

[gTarFreak]

Two brothers, Jerry and Darby, plus Grace (married to Jerry). The others weren't related.

Cheers,
Dave

[FirstBassman]

Other guy was David Minor, guitar.
(What a great name for a musician, D Minor, get it?)
Darby - guitar.
Jerry - drums.

[Jon_G]

- so now we all know what inspired the Troggs
my favourite edition of the Pebbles compilations is #9 (has the Standells on the cover) -

[DonRico1967]

It is a Mamas & Papas song. Written by John Phillips.

Sorry, Don, you must be thinking of another song.
Darby wrote "Free Advice."

You right, Mr. Bassie. Them 2 different songs same name.

Groovy.

[psychhead]

What volume of Nuggets is that song on?!

I have a record (yes, vinal) called Nuggets. It has a Great Society song "Free Advice" on it. It is short, about 2 minutes, a male is the lead vocal (probably Darby or David Slick) and Grace Slick is singing non-word back-up. It is a WONDERFUL song. Does anyone know where/when/why about this song?

[Tunacasady]

I got it on cd with the Jefferson Airplane box set, really cool song and Grace really brings it to life!!!!!!!

[psychhead]

That's cool...thanx.

[tontonfranck]

I've got this strange mono song on the "Jefferson Airplane loves you" box

Did the Airplane ever covered it on stage or whatever?

[RememberWhat theDarmaSays]

At Sundazed.com, you can purchase a Great Society CD called Born To Be Burned. It is great! I highly recommend it. It has three versions of Free Advice.

As far as the questions that the original poster put up (Who, When, Why, How, etc.?), here is what the liner notes of the CD says:

Remaining true to their modal muse, the band returned to the studio in December (1965), this time under the eye of Autumn's house producer, Sly Stone, to cut Darby's two noisy masterworks as their debut single: "Someone to Love" and "Free Advice." Both sides, however, required multiple takes before they were captured. "We did one version (of "Free Advice") that was wonderful early on, and the engineer said, "Oh, I didn't get it. Can you do it again? An that's when we went into that hundred takes (actually 53) mode. It was such a letdown that we just lost it." Eventually surfacing on Autumn subsidiary Northbeach, the single did nothing nationally and was barely available even locally.


On the inside of the Jefferson Airplane Box Set Booklet it says this about Free Advice:

6. Free Advice
Artist: Great Society
Taken From: Morthbeach Single # 1001. Courtesy of Rhino Records, Inc.
Producer: Sylvester Stewart
Recording Date: December 1965 (Golden Gate Studios, San Francisco, CA)
Personnel: Grace Slick, Vocals; Darby Slick, Lead Guitar; David Minor, Vocals, Rhythm Guitar; Bard DuPont, Bass; Jerry Slick, Drums; Billy Preston, Drum Overdubs.


Wow, how awesome was it to have the great Billy Preston play on your first single! Lucky, I guess.