Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They headlined the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), Woodstock (1969), Altamont Free Concert (1969), and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968)[1] in England. Their 1967 breakout album Surrealistic Pillow was one of the most significant recordings of the Summer of Love. Two songs from that album, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", are among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[2]
Not to be confused with Jefferson Starship.
Jefferson Airplane
The October 1966 to February 1970 lineup of Jefferson Airplane, consisting of Marty Balin (vocals), Paul Kantner (guitar, vocals), Grace Slick (vocals, keyboards), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar, vocals), Jack Casady (bass), and Spencer Dryden (drums), was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.[3] Balin left the band in 1971. After 1972, Jefferson Airplane effectively split into two groups. Kaukonen and Casady moved on full-time to their own band, Hot Tuna. Slick, Kantner, and the remaining members of Jefferson Airplane recruited new members and regrouped as Jefferson Starship in 1974, with Balin eventually joining them. Jefferson Airplane received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016.
History[edit]
1965–1966: Formation and early development[edit]
In 1962, 20-year-old Marty Balin recorded two singles for Challenge Records, neither of which was successful.[4][5] He then played in a folk quartet, the Town Criers, from April 1963 to June 1964.[6] With the Beatles-led British Invasion, Balin was inspired by the emerging folk rock genre to form a group in March 1965 that would follow that lead, as well as opening a nightclub for them to perform.[7][8] With a group of investors, he purchased a former pizza parlor on Fillmore Street in San Francisco and converted it into a club called the Matrix.[9][7][10][11] Meanwhile, he searched for like-minded musicians to form his group.[12]
Balin met fellow folk guitarist and singer Paul Kantner during a hootenanny at another local club, the Drinking Gourd, and invited Kantner to join him in putting together a band.[12][13][14] A native San Franciscan, Kantner had started out performing on the Bay Area folk circuit in the early 1960s, alongside fellow folkies Jerry Garcia and David Crosby.[15][13] He cited folk groups like the Kingston Trio and the Weavers as strong early influences. He briefly moved to Los Angeles in 1964 to work in a folk duo with future Airplane/Starship member David Freiberg (who subsequently joined Quicksilver Messenger Service).[16]
Balin and Kantner then recruited other musicians to form the house band at the Matrix. They hired bluegrass acoustic bassist Bob Harvey and former Marine Band drummer Jerry Peloquin.[14][17] Both Kantner and Balin wanted the group to have a female singer.[17] After hearing vocalist Signe Toly Anderson at the Drinking Gourd, Balin invited her to be the group's co-lead singer. Anderson sang with the band for a year and performed on their first album before departing in October 1966 after the birth of her first child.[18]
They still needed a lead guitarist.[19] Kantner recruited an old friend, blues guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, who auditioned for the group and joined them in June, completing the original lineup.[20] Originally from Washington, D.C., Kaukonen had moved to California in the early 1960s and met Kantner at Santa Clara University in 1962. Kaukonen was invited to jam with the new band, and although initially reluctant to join, he was won over after playing his guitar through a tape delay device that was part of the sound system used by Ken Kesey for his Acid Test parties.
Kaukonen came up with the band name "Jefferson Airplane".[21] It was based on the nickname "Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane," which was given to Kaukonen by his friend Richmond "Steve" Talbot, inspired by the name of one of Kaukonen's influences, bluesmen Blind Lemon Jefferson.[22][23] According to Kaukonen, "The band was coming up with all these really stupid names and I said, 'If you want something really silly, try Jefferson Airplane.'"[20]
