"Mexico" is a song on the B-side of a single released in May 1970 by the San Francisco rock band Jefferson Airplane. Written and sung by Grace Slick, it is a rant against then President Richard Nixon and his anti-drug initiative Operation Intercept which he had implemented to cutrail the flow of marijuana into the United States from Mexico. It was Jefferson Airplane's first overtly political recording.
Phill Sawyer was the recording engineer for the song and recounts his experience here. The song received little radio air play, leading many conspiracy-minded fans to believe that it had either been banned by the FCC for promoting illegal drug use or suppressed by the 'Nixxon' (an allusion to Exxon) administration. Thus, it achieved mythic status far beyond its artistic merrit. Five months after the release of "Mexico" President Nixon did request that songs relating to drug abuse not be broadcast[1], the Nixon administration did attempt to influence broadcast media[2], and songs have been banned for various reasons [3][4], but except for a brief comment by Bill Thompson in the liner notes accompanying the 1974 LP album Early Flight, no evidence has been found that "Mexico" received any special notice. Whether suppressed or simply not worthy, "Mexico" has appeared on few of the many Jefferson Airplane compilation albums:
- (1974) Early Flight
- (1987) 2400 Fulton Street
- (1992) The Best of Jefferson Airplane
- (2005) The Essential Jefferson Airplane
- (2006) At Golden Gate Park
References
Tamarkin, Jeff. Liner Notes for Jefferson Airplane Loves You, RCA Records, 1992
Thompson, Bill. Liner Notes for Early Flight, RCA Records, 1974
