Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane is a group of American Rock resulting from San Francisco, precursor of the movement Rock psychedelic.

Jefferson Airplane acquired its place with the Rock-and-roll Hall off Famed in 1996.

The term Jefferson airplane is also a slang expression Anglo-Saxon indicating the use of a worn match to hold a cigarette of Marijuana when it became too short not to burn the fingers. A urban Légende claims that it is the origin of the name of the group. However, according to Jorma Kaukonen, member of the group, the name was invented by one of his/her friends (Steve Talbot) when it was with Berkeley, in reference to the one of the pioneers of the blues: Blind Lemon Jefferson .

Formation

The group was formed on the west coast of the United States during the summer 1965, lasting what was called the " boom folk" bay of San Francisco. Marty Balin, the singer, formed the group with another musician folk, Paul Kantner, a guitarist blues, Jorma Kaukonen, a singer jazz/folk, Signe Toly Anderson, a beater, Jerry Peloquin, and a bass player, Bob Harvey. Their music was in particular inspired by the Beatles, the Byrds or the Lovin' Spoonful, and they were a certain success in Matrix Club.

The group occurred in public for the first time on August 13rd, 1965 in Matrix Club (San Francisco). Peloquin, seasonal musician, left the group after a few weeks, in particular because the others took drugs. It was replaced by Skip Spence. Their sound became gradually more electric, which led them to replace Harvey in October 1965 by a friend of childhood of Kaukonen: Jack Casady. Little time afterwards, they signed with RCA and recorded the album Jefferson Airplane Takes Off , left in 1966. The same year, Spence was replaced by a beater Jazz, Spencer Dryden, and Anderson by the singer Grace Slick, then member of another group of San Francisco, The Great Society. The name of the group was then shortened " the Airplane" by their fans. Slick was an important contribution: its voice Contralto was harmonized well with the psychedelic music of the group, and in its luggage, it brought two titles of Great Society: White Rabbit of her composition and Somebody to Love of Darby Slick, guitarist of this formation. They were the first two successes of Airplane.

Success

Following their participation in the International Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967, their notoriety became national. This festival presented local groups (San Francisco, Los Angeles, the United Kingdom) and was diffused on certain national television channels, making it possible the groups to touch many people. They appeared in particular in certain emissions like The ED Sullivan Show, recorded color and decorated last vidéos effects of the time. Their famous interpretation of White Rabbit on this show is in particular remarkable for the avant-gardist use of Chroma key to simulate to them lightshow psychedelic. This technique consists in making transparent a color of an image to reveal another image behind (see Incrustation).

Until 1970, the composition of the group remained stable and five albums were recorded. The first of them, Surrealistic Pillow (1967), included/understood two become pieces of the traditional ones: White Rabbit (inspired by LSD, the mushrooms hallucinogens, the Bolero of Ravel and Alice with the Country of the Wonders ), and vibrating it Somebody to Love . One also found there Embryonic Journey , impressive solo of acoustic guitar of Kaukonen, reminiscence of the folk influence, inspired by the references of the contemporary acoustic guitar like John Fahey and which took part to found the popular kind whose guitarist Leo Kottke is a follower. This album had success enormously, and reached the sixth place of the American charts, whereas at the same time were classified there Sgt. Pepper' S Lonely Hearts Club Band (Beatles), the album The Doors (The Doors) Forever Exchanges (Coils) and The Piper At the Gates off Dawn (Pink Floyd). He is regarded as one of the albums initiator of the Summer off Coils , apogee of the movement Hippie in San Francisco.

The album After Bathing At Baxter' S (1967) still more showed their psychedelic control of the rock'n'roll. The famous cover shows an odd drawing of the artist Ron Cobb who represents the house of the group, transfigured out of flying machine way Heath Robinson. Crown Of Creation (1968) is an album sometimes considered to be transitory, more structured than … Baxters and which is most coherent while Bless Its Little Pointed Head (1969) immortalisait their live performance with the Fillmore (San Francisco) and with the Fillmore East (New York). Consequently the desertion from the scene of San Francisco, the group left Volunteers (1969), their most political contribution. The title éponyme, We Can Be Together , Good Shepherd , and the Post-apocalyptic Wooden Ships (a composition of Stills and Crosby) is all of the examples.

The group played in the morning Festival of Woodstock (in 1969) per hour of the morning maniac music , according to Grace Slick. In December of the same year, they played free concert organized on the track of race of Altamont in California. The Stones were at the head of poster and the Grateful Dead would have also to play this day there. The concert was wasted by the violence of crowd (Marty Balin was put to KB during a brawl with the Hell' S Angels, group of Bikers initially engaged to make safety) and Meredith Hunter, a black teenager, left a weapon during the concert Stones and was stabbed by Hell' S Angels, the whole in front of the cameras. This incident is the central point of documentary the Gimme Shelter .

Balin and Dryden left the group little time afterwards. The albums Bark and Long John Silver left under their own label, Grunt, with Joey Covington with the battery and Papa John Creach with the violin. The group was finally dissolves when the group Hot Tuna full-time became a group for Casady and Kaukonen. The live small pocket of the album 30 Second Over Winterland (1973) representing flying toasters is now well-known, it in particular inspired celebrates it saver of screen After Dark .

Jefferson Starship

For the transitional period, at the beginning of the Years 1970, Paul Kantner recorded the album Blows Against The Empire with its group which it called Jefferson Starship , thus revealing this name for the first time. The group included/understood David Crosby (of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), Jerry Garcia (guitarist of the Grateful Dead), Peter Kaukonen, brother of Jorma excel guitarist, author of a superb album Black Kangaroo (also left on Grunt records) and former members of Jefferson Airplane. It is during this périodre that Kantner officialized its relationship to Grace Slick. Their daughter China Kantner was born shortly after. The musicians of the group celebrated the birth of Clouded with Sunfighter , a tinted album of environnementalism, left in the name of Kantner and Slick.Un third opus will leave and although not bearing the name of Starship, it is without any possible doubt. It is about the " Baron Von Toolbooth & The Chromium plates Nun" of Grace Slick, Paul Kantner & David Freiberg. Superbissime disc where one finds the old pals, Jerry Garcia/David Crosby/Pete Sears/Johny Barbata/Chris Ethridge/the brothers Kaukonen/Craig chaquico/Papa Creach/them Pointer Sisters and Mickey binder. Slick in the tread records its 1st album solo " Manhole" whose first face is a composition of grace which was to be used as band its with a film of the same name. One finds practically the formation of the " Baron" more Gary Duncan old of Quicksilver.

In 1974, Jefferson airplane reappeared officially as a Jefferson Starship , founded by Kantner and Slick. Balin went up on board in time to record individual the " Caroline" for the first album of Jefferson Starship, Dragon Fly . The formation such as it was then included/understood some survivors: the beater John Barbata and the violonist Dad John Creach, as well as the bass player-clavieriste-singer David Freiberg (of the group Quicksilver Messenger Service) and the guitarist Craig Chaquico and were most powerful commercially although certain fans were rather dissatisfied with their more conventional style. In 1975, the album Red Octupus becomes several times Disque of platinum in particular thanks to the worked ballade of Balin, " Miracles". The two following albums Spitfire (1976) and Earth (1978) also had much success. However, the Alcoolisme of Slick became a real problem which caused two catastrophic concerts in Germany in 1978. The first evening, the fans ransacked the scene because Slick was not assembled on scene. The next evening, Slick, completely drunk, the public by remarks blasphématoires and sexual allusions of an end shocked to the other of its pieces. It left the group following this disaster.

At the end of 1978, the private group from now on of Slick Grace recorded Light The Sky One Fire for the Star Wars Holiday Special , a new episode of the saga which would be located, in the chronology of the series, between episodes IV and V. Balin leaves then the group, which finds a new singer in the person of Mickey Thomas (which sang on the piece " Fooled Around And Fell In Love" of Elvin Bishop). Its falsetto voice carries out the group towards a its harder rock'n'roll comparable with Journey. The old beater of Journey, Aynsley Dunbar had replaced besides Barbata, wounded in an car accident.

After the exit in 1979 of Freedom At Point Zero (of which individual the " Jane" is resulting), on their following album, Modern Times (1981) Slick Grace returned sudden for a single song: " Stranger". The albums Winds Off Exchange and Nuclear Furniture left respectively in 1982 and 1984.

Starship

In 1984, Kantner, the last founding member remaining, leave the group after having taken the legal actions necessary to prevent the remainder of the group from preserving the name Jefferson . It gained the lawsuit and the name of the group was tiny room to Starship . Freiberg, marginalized more and more by the remainder of the group also left it.

In 1985, Starship left Knee Deep In The Hoopla with an immediate success: two classified titles number 1. The first, " We Built This City", written by Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Refusals Lambert, and Peter Wolf was inspired by the radio station KSAN-FM. Kantner criticized this piece, which was thereafter qualified " worse piece of all temps" by the Blender Magazine in its classification of the 50 worse pieces. VH1 also qualified it " Titrate mauvais" most incredibly; in a classification are equivalent. Second number 1 was " Sara". For the first time, the group had a title number 1 (and even two of a blow) and the album was Disque of platinum.

In 1987 the title " Nothing' S Gonna Stop Custom Now" belonged to the original soundtrack of the film " Mannequin" and was number 1. The following year it was the turn of the title " Wild Again" in the film " Cocktail".

At the time or left the album No Protection , the bass player Pete Sears had left the group. The album was Disque of gold in particular thanks to the hits " Nothing' S Gonna Stop Custom Now" and " It' S Not Over ('Til It' S Over) ". Grace Slick left the group in 1988. The remainder (not to say, the remainders ) group, left Love Among The Cannibals in 1989 and the adventure finished finally in 1990.

Members

Song

Marty Balin (1965– 1971)
Sign Toly Anderson (1965– 1966)
Grace Slick (1966– 1973)
David Freiberg (1972– 1973)

Low

Bob Harvey (1965)
Jack Casady (1965– 1973)

Battery

Jerry Peloquin (1965)
Skip Spence (1965– 1966)
Spencer Dryden (1966– 1970)
Joey Covington (1970– 1972)
John Barbata (1972– 1973)

Guitar

Jorma Kaukonen (1965– 1973)
Paul Kantner (1965– 1973)

Discography

Takes Off (1966)
Surrealistic Pillow (1967)
After Bathing At Baxter' S (1967)
Crown off Creation (1968)
Bless Its Pointed Little Head (1969)
Volunteers (1969)
Bark (1971)
Long John Silver (1972)
Thirty Second Over Winterland (1973)

External bonds

Official site

Random links: