Editing Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (section)

=== Release and reception ===

The album sold modestly on release. While an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 copies sold in California within the first few months, distribution across the rest of the United States was sparse. Despite this, strong home-state sales pushed the album onto the [[Billboard 200]] on September 17, 1966. It spent 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 128 on October 1, 1966.

Contemporary reviewers were mixed but acknowledging of the album's promise. Writing for ''Mojo-Navigator R&R News'', David Harris praised the vocal harmonies between Balin and Anderson and the bass arrangements, while noting that Kaukonen's guitar work was stronger in the band's live performances than on record. Tim Jurgens of ''Crawdaddy!'' called it the most important American rock album of that year, while conceding it fell short of its full potential.

In retrospect, the album has been appreciated as an important document of the emerging [[San Francisco Sound]] and West Coast psychedelia in its earliest form.