JEFFERSON AIRPLANE WHITE RABBIT FREE

From left: Anderson, Casady, Balin, Spence, Kantner and Kaukonen.Īfter rehearsing throughout the summer, the group made its first public appearance as Jefferson Airplane at the opening night of The Matrix on August 13, 1965. 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.'' 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. Kaukonen came up with the band name 'Jefferson Airplane'. 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. Originally from Washington, D.C., Kaukonen had moved to California in the early 1960s and met Kantner while at Santa Clara University in 1962. Kantner recruited an old friend, blues guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, who auditioned for the group and joined them in June, completing the original lineup. They were still in need of a lead guitarist. 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. After hearing female vocalist Signe Toly Anderson at the Drinking Gourd, Balin invited her to be the group's co-lead singer. Both Kantner and Balin wanted the group to have a female singer. They hired bluegrass acoustic bassist Bob Harvey and former Marine Band drummer Jerry Peloquin. īalin and Kantner then recruited other musicians to form the house band at the Matrix. He briefly moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1964 to work in a folk duo with future Airplane/Starship member David Freiberg (who subsequently joined Quicksilver Messenger Service). Kantner has cited folk groups like the Kingston Trio and the Weavers as strong early influences. Kantner, a native San Franciscan, had started out performing on the Bay Area folk circuit in the early 1960s, alongside fellow folkies Jerry Garcia, David Crosby and Janis Joplin. īalin met folk musician Paul Kantner while attending a hootenanny at another local club, the Drinking Gourd, and invited him to join in assembling the group. With a group of investors, Balin purchased a former pizza parlor on Fillmore Street, which he converted to a music club, the Matrix, and began searching for members for his group. Balin also decided he wanted to open his own nightclub that would cater to fans of this new sound. After the Beatles-led British Invasion of 1964, Balin was inspired by the success of the Byrds and Simon & Garfunkel, in merging folk with rock, to form a group in 1965 that would follow that lead. Balin then joined a folk group called the Town Criers from 1963 to 1964. In 1962, 20-year-old Marty Balin recorded two singles for Challenge Records, neither of which was successful. History 1965–1966: Formation and early development 1.3 1967–1970: Heavier sound and improvisation.1.1 1965–1966: Formation and early development.Jefferson Airplane was presented with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. Slick, Kantner, and the remaining members of Jefferson Airplane recruited new members and regrouped as Jefferson Starship in 1974, with Marty Balin eventually joining them. Kaukonen and Casady moved on full-time to their own band, Hot Tuna. After 1972, Jefferson Airplane effectively split into two groups. The October 1966 to February 1970 lineup of Jefferson Airplane, consisting of Marty Balin (vocals), Paul Kantner (guitar, vocals), Grace Slick (vocals), Jorma Kaukonen (lead guitar, vocals), Jack Casady (bass), and Spencer Dryden (drums), was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Two songs from that album, ' Somebody to Love' and ' White Rabbit', are among Rolling Stone 's '500 Greatest Songs of All Time'. Their 1967 break-out album Surrealistic Pillow was one of the most significant recordings of the Summer of Love.

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE WHITE RABBIT FREE

They were headliners at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), Woodstock (1969), Altamont Free Concert (1969), and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock.

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