| This article needs additional citations for verification.Jefferson Airplane is an American rock band from San Francisco, a pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement.It was the first to sign a contract with a major record label, the first to appear on American national television, the first to score hit records and the first to tour the US East Coast and Europe.Successive incarnations of the band have performed under different names, reflecting changing times and performers: Jefferson Starship, and later simply Starship before becoming Jefferson Starship: the Next Generation in 1991.Jefferson Airplane was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.Formation and early career
1.Decline and dissolution
1.Jefferson Airplane (studio albums)
5.Formation and early career
Jefferson Airplane formed in San Francisco during the summer of 1965, emerging from the San Francisco Bay folk music boom (see American folk music revival).The group's founder was singer Marty Balin, who had established a minor career as a pop singer in the early Sixties and made several recordings under his own name.Balin raised funds to open a nightclub, The Matrix and met folk musician Paul Kantner at another local club, the Drinking Gourd.Kantner started out performing on the Bay Area folk circuit in the early 1960s, alongside fellow folkies Jerry Garcia, David Crosby and Janis Joplin, and he has cited folk group The Kingston Trio as a strong early influence.Balin and Kantner then set about selecting other musicians to form be the house band at the Matrix.Anderson became pregnant with her first child in late 1965, which led to her departure in late 1966.Kaukonen had moved to California in the early 1960s and met Kantner while at Santa Clara University in California in 1962.Kaukonen was invited to jam with the new band and although initially reluctant to join, 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.Berkeley who came up with funny names for people," explains Kaukonen."His name for me was Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane (for blues pioneer Blind Lemon Jefferson).The group made its first public appearance at the opening night of The Matrix club on 13 August 1965.Peloquin was a seasoned musician whose disdain for the others' drug use was a factor in his departure a few weeks after the group began.Jack Casady, who was an old friend of Kaukonen's from Washington.Gleason's support raised the band's profile greatly, and within three months their manager Matthew Katz was fielding offers from record companies, although they were yet to perform outside the Bay Area.Kantner met her for the first time that night.On December 10, 1965 it played at the first Bill Graham show at the Fillmore ballroom, supported by The Great Society and others, and it also appeared at Family Dog shows promoted by Chet Helms."Runnin' Round The World", the song that led to the band's first major clash with RCA.The debut LP Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was completed in March 1966, and Skip Spence quit the band.He was eventually replaced by Spencer Dryden from Los Angeles, who played his first show with the Airplane at the Berkeley Folk Festival on July 4, 1966.Balin's friend and roommate Bill Thompson was installed as permanent road manager and temporary band manager.Thompson, a friend and ally of the band, was a former Chronicle staffer who convinced reviewers Ralph Gleason and John Wasserman to see the band.Thanks to Gleason's influence, Thompson was able to book the group for appearances at the Berkeley Folk Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival.Jefferson Airplane Takes Off was released in September 1966.Folk music influenced the album, which included John D.The LP garnered considerable attention in the USA and became a gold album.It was at this point that the company deleted "Runnin' All Over The World" (which had appeared on early mono pressings), because executives objected to the word "trip" in the lyrics.Her final gig with the Airplane took place at the Fillmore on 15 October 1966.The Great Society decided to split in late 1966 and played its last show on September 11.Commercial breakthrough
In December 1966 Jefferson Airplane featured in a Newsweek article about the booming San Francisco music scene, one of the first in an avalanche of similar reports that prompted a massive influx of young people to the city and contributed to the commercialization and exploitation of the hippie culture.Around the beginning of 1967 Bill Graham took over from Bill Thompson as manager and in January 1967 the group traveled to Los Angeles to record the tracks for their next LP, as well as making their first visit to the U.Jefferson Airplane's second LP, and the album that launched them to international fame, was Surrealistic Pillow.The album was a major international success, and alongside The Beatles' Sgt.The record company would not allow Garcia's considerable contributions to the album to garner him a "Producer" credit, so Garcia is listed in the album's credits as "spiritual advisor."The first single from the album, Spence's "My Best Friend," failed to chart, but the next two singles rocketed the group to prominence.Pennebaker film documentary of the event.Monterey showcased leading bands from several major music "scenes" including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the United Kingdom, and the resulting TV and film coverage gave national (and international) exposure to groups that had previously had only regional fame.All these bands were also greatly assisted by appearances on nationally syndicated TV shows such as the Johnny Carson Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show.The Airplane's famous appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour performing "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" was videotaped in color and augmented by developments in video techniques.Chroma key process to simulate the Airplane's psychedelic light show.Change of direction
The membership of Jefferson Airplane remained relatively stable until 1970, during which time they recorded five more albums and performed extensively in the USA and Europe, but the group's music underwent a significant transformation after Surrealistic Pillow and the influence of founder Marty Balin began to wane after their first commercial peak.Baxter's took more than four months to record, with little interference from the nominal producer Al Schmitt.Despite this, Jefferson Airplane continued to enjoy significant success as "album" artists and between 1967 and 1972 they scored a run of eight consecutive Top 20 albums in the USA, with both Surrealistic Pillow and Crown of Creation making the Top 10.Frank Zappa collaboration "Would You Like A Snack?"It was their most political venture, showcasing the group's vocal opposition to the Vietnam War and documenting their reaction to the increasingly repressive political atmosphere in the United States.Marty Balin was knocked out during a scuffle with Hells Angels members who had been hired to act as "security"."Gimme Shelter Incident," because of the fatal stabbing of black teenager Meredith Hunter in front of the stage by Hells Angels "guards" after he pulled out a revolver during the Stones' performance (this incident was the centerpiece of the documentary film Gimme Shelter).Touring continued through the early 1970 but the group's only new recording that year was the single, "Have You Seen the Saucers?"Over the next two years Hot Tuna began to occupy more and more of their time, contributing to the growing divisions within Jefferson Airplane that would come to a head during 1972.Janis Joplin, who had died in Los Angeles from a heroin overdose the previous day, and because of her death, her close friend Marty Balin refused to perform with the band that night.Decline and dissolution
1971 was a year of major upheaval for Jefferson Airplane.Grace's divorce from her first husband had come through shortly before this, but she and Kantner agreed that they did not wish to marry.Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.Her recuperation took several months, which forced Jefferson Airplane to cancel most of their concert and touring commitments for 1971.Slick and Kantner on the one side and Kaukonen and Casady on the other persisted.Jorma Kaukonen's song, "Third Week In The Chelsea," from Bark, chronicles the thoughts he was himself having about leaving the band).By the beginning of 1972 it was evident to most people close to the group that Jefferson Airplane was teetering upon collapse.The band held together long enough to record one more LP, Long John Silver, which was begun in April 1972 and released in July.Though still a nominal member of the band, Joey Covington had immersed himself in the production of his own album with Peter Kaukonen and Black Kangaroo on Grunt; consequently, John Barbata (formerly of The Turtles and CSNY) played on most of the album and continued on for the promotional tour that followed.With the formal departure of Covington and addition of Kantner's old friend David Freiberg on vocals, Jefferson Airplane began a tour to promote the Long John Silver LP in the summer of 1972, their first concerts in over a year.At the end of the second show the group was joined on stage by Marty Balin, who sang lead vocals on the final song, "You Wear Your Dresses Too Short".Although no official announcement was ever released, the Winterland shows proved to be the last live performances by Jefferson Airplane until their reunion in 1989.With Kantner and Slick, he would record the unsuccessful Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun before the creation of their own Airplane offshoot, Jefferson Starship; both Kantner and Slick would record further solo albums.Jefferson Airplane's second live album, Thirty Seconds Over Winterland was released in April 1973.It is now best remembered for its cover art, which depicts a squadron of flying toasters, a design that the band later alleged was plagiarized for the famous "After Dark" computer screensaver design.Early Flight, the last official Jefferson Airplane album.Paul Kantner), the Starship was formally united with lead singers Grace Slick and Marty Balin, among other members."Miracles", "With Your Love", and "Count On Me".Slick later rejoined the band, but Kantner left soon after, and took legal action against his bandmates over the Jefferson name.Reunion and remnants
For most of the 1970s and early 1980s the careers of Slick, Kantner, Kaukonen and Casady were occupied with their various solo projects, Hot Tuna and with what became Jefferson Starship (which later mutated into Starship)."Hearts" and "Atlanta Lady (Something About Your Love)."In contrast to the revolutionary rock of his Jefferson Airplane days, "Hearts" was a soft pop ballad and also gave Balin a moderate Adult Contemporary chart hit.In 1985, following his departure from Jefferson Starship, Paul Kantner reunited with Balin and Jack Casady to form the KBC Band, releasing their only album, KBC Band (which included Kantner's hit, "America"), in 1987, on Arista Records.Airplane members for a cameo appearance.This led to a formal reunion of the original Jefferson Airplane (featuring nearly all the main members except Spencer Dryden, who had been kicked out of the band years earlier.TNG') which is a throwback to the original Jefferson Airplane, with Kantner and Balin as leaders, and Diana Mangano replacing Grace Slick as female singer (although Slick did do guest vocals on Jefferson Starship's 1999 album Windows Of Heaven).Mangano is an expressive and effective singer, and this revived Jefferson Starship can often capture a good deal of the feeling of the original Airplane.The band sometimes features guest musicians such as Balin, Gould, Gorman and former Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten.Jorma Kaukonen still tours as a solo act, often playing over 100 acoustic shows a year at small clubs throughout the country.In 1998, she released her autobiography Somebody to Love?.Since her retirement, she has made a few appearances at Jefferson Starship concerts.She is now an acclaimed painter with most of her work focusing on old music legends and her interest in Alice in Wonderland.In 2004, Marty Balin pointed out that unlike many of their contemporaries, all of the original members of Jefferson Airplane survived the 1960s; all except original drummer Spence (who died on April 16, 1999) lived into the 21st century.Dryden, who had long languished under financial and health problems, died of colon cancer on January 10, 2005 at the age of 67.Please improve the article by adding references.North American rock spectrum and in due course other groups, such as Steely Dan and Eagles, continued to blend elements of folk, jazz and rock and bring the results to a global audience.Donovan was evidently one of the first British pop musicians to become aware of them, and was undoubtedly influenced by the group to some degree; he famously namechecked the band in his 1966 song "The Fat Angel" (included on his album Sunshine Superman in 1967), written many months before Jefferson Airplane achieved international stardom.An excerpt from Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit from Surrealistic Pillow
Problems listening to the file?An excerpt from Jefferson Starship's Jane
Problems listening to the file?References
Dellar, Fred and Barry Lazell
NME Encyclopedia of Rock (1978 revised edition)
(Salamander Books, 1978)
Margolis, Jack S.External links
Official website for Jefferson Airplane.Starship Home Page
Official Starship website, includes future dates
Official website for Kantner's Jefferson Starship
'Got A Revolution': Biography of Jefferson Airplane by Jeff Tamarkin
"Take Me To A Circus Tent" Jefferson Airplane Flight Manual by Craig Fenton
Jefferson Airplane biography at Rolling Stone.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.Jefferson Airplane's debut show was on August 13, 1965 at the Matrix nightclub in San Francisco.Jorma Kaukonen on lead guitar.Jefferson Airplane Takes Off'') also performed.The bass player, Jack Casady and drummer Skip Spence, (who was later one of the original members of Moby Grape) joined the band two months later.Spencer Dryden became the drummer in June of 1966 and Grace Slick joined as vocalist in October of 1966.The band performed the first concert for Bill Graham at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco in February of 1966.Jefferson Airplane performed at the Berkeley Folk Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Monterey Pop Festival, Woodstock, and Altamont.Doors in Europe in the summer of 1968.Many legendary bands opened for the Airplane: Grateful Dead, Santana, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, Janis Joplin, Steve Miller, and many others.Found
The document has moved here.Your browser does not support frames, this page is best veiwed with Microsoft Internet Explorer.Adrian's Jefferson Airplane Pages.As some of you may know, Signe Anderson Ettlin, one of the original Jefferson Airplane members, is in the middle of a serious health crisis and desperately in need of financial help.Over at the official Jefferson Starship website, they have an appeal going to try and raise some money to help Signe pay her medical bills.If you want to help out, go here, then click on 'THE STORE', then 'Signe Rocks', where you will find a recording of Signe performing with Jefferson Starship in 1993, available to all for a small donation.All net profits from this recording will go directly to Signe to help her out with her bills.If you care about the people behind the music we all love, and are at all able to help out, please, please do so.Goodbye and thank you, Ken.Have you joined the 2400 Fulton St mailing list?Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.After Bathing At Baxters.Bless Its Pointed Little Head.Have you visited Jeff Zahnen's excellent unofficial Jefferson Airplane site?Airplane Site
The Jefferson Starship and Airplane Page
The Journal of Trionic Physics
Visit Marty Balin's official website.Miracles: The Unofficial Marty Balin Website.Lauren's excellent Marty site.The Papa John Creach website.Jefferson Airplane Resources
Visit Joey Covington's Homepage.The Garden
The Peter Kaukonen site.The official Craig Chaquico Website.The Unofficial Jefferson Starship Site.San Francisco Music Chronicle.Pictures from the 1995 London show.Coming soon)
Pictures of the 2000 London show from Graham Shanks and Natalie Garwin.Why not try Robert Py's spectacular website?Knee Deep In The Hoopla.The Official Starship Page.Find out what Paul and Grace's little girl has been up to by visiting my China Kantner Pages.Now also includes a page of photo's from over the years showing just how she's grown!Find out everything you ever wanted to know about the city on the Bay!Visit Yahoo's dedicated SF search service.Have you visited the San Francisco Museum's Music history pages?Visit my local pub's website.Where the owner is known, but they have failed to respond to repeated attempts at contacting them, this has been taken as indicating permission to use the image.Jefferson Airplane were the first of the San Francisco psychedelic rock groups of the 1960s to achieve national recognition. |
![Jefferson Airplane : Jefferson Airplane Takes Off [France Bonus Tracks]](/covers/56/5638/alb_84113_th.jpg "Jefferson Airplane : Jefferson Airplane Takes Off [France Bonus Tracks]")
