LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Jefferson Airplane: Marty Balin
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Jefferson Airplane epitomized the San Francisco psychedelic rock music scene of the '60s. Marty Balin and Paul Kantner started the group in 1965. By 1966, the band was set with its most notable lineup: vocalists Grace Slick and Balin, vocalist-guitarist Kantner, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, drummer Spencer Dryden and bassist Jack Casady. Airplane's second album, and the first to feature Slicks vocals, Surrealistic Pillow (1967), was a hit, and produced the definitive hippie singles "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love." In 1969 the band performed at the Woodstock and Altamont festivals, but then members became more preoccupied with side projects, such as Daukonen and Casady's Hot Tuna, which led to Airplane's unofficial retirement by 1972.
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Along with the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane are regarded as the most successful San Francisco band of the late 60s. The group were formed in August 1965 by Marty Balin (b. Martyn Jerel Buchwald, 30 January 1942, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; vocals, guitar). The other members in the original line-up were Paul Kantner (b. 17 March 1941, San Francisco, California, USA; guitar, vocals) and Jorma Kaukonen (b. 23 December 1940, Washington, DC, USA; guitar, vocals).
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Following a greatest hits selection, Worst Of, and the departure of Balin, Jefferson Airplane released the cleverly packaged Bark. Complete with brown paper bag, the album offered some odd moments, notably Slick's "Never Argue With A German", sung in spoof German, and new drummer Joey Covington's 50s-sounding a cappella piece "Thunk'. It ... marked the first release on the band's own Grunt label. 1972"s disappointing Long John Silver was followed by a gutsy live outing, 30 Seconds Over Winterland. This was the last album to bear the Jefferson Airplane name, although an interesting compilation comprising single releases and studio out-takes later appeared as Early Flight.
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Though its line-up was still a work in progress, Jefferson Airplane could not have picked a more appropriate title for its debut. In naming the album Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, the band opted for the type of confident, brash statement that came to define much of its work. The core of the group — Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, and Jack Casady — was intact, and its members knew where they wanted to wind up, even if the final pieces had yet to be put into place. Signe Anderson provided a strong, female presence within the band, and guitarist-turned-drummer Skip Spence understood the nuance of rhythm. Both would soon depart to make room for Grace Slick and Spencer Dryden, two definite improvements that helped the group build upon the sounds explored on Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. As one might expect, the song suite wasn’t a perfect one, but it was still a rather remarkable debut, laying the seeds that sprouted into the soundtrack of many people’s lifetimes.
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That was until now, as Bill Graham's nearly complete and accurately dated master reels of the Jefferson Airplane performances from this legendary run now reveal exactly when the transition occurred. The last four shows with Signe Anderson and the first two shows with Grace Slick are here in outstanding quality, complete with humorous introductions by Bill Graham (on 5 of them), Marty Balin's announcement about Anderson leaving the band, as well as her actual farewell to the audience. These six performances will be addressed individually in terms of setlists and relevant content, but the fact that this was a monumentally fascinating time to have heard Jefferson Airplane in concert is universally applicable. It’s well known that the original first album lineup, which included Signe Anderson, had developed a highly innovative original sound that helped establish the group's reputation; and you’ll find no better example of the original band in concert than the first four shows of this run - ... the last four shows they ever did with Anderson. By the end of 1966, after performing together just a little over a year, it was becoming obvious that the group had taken their initial musical stage as far as it could go. They were beginning to head in a direction that would require them to leave their more traditionally structured sound behind - and embrace experimentation in every sense of the word. Within days of this run, the band would begin recording much of their classic second album, Surrealistic Pillow.
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The various members of Jefferson Airplane went through various solo efforts and group affiliations in the 1970s and \'80s, plus considerable litigation with an old manager and each other. This was all cleared up by the late \'80s... and in 1989 Kantner, Slick, Kaukonen, and Casady (who, with manager Bill Thompson, still owned the rights to use the name Jefferson Airplane) brought in Balin (who had sold out his share in the group in 1971) and reunited as Jefferson Airplane for a tour and album. The tour, which ran from August 18 to October 7, was well received; the album, Jefferson Airplane, released by Epic Records, was only a modest success. After that, the band again became inactive. Slick retired. Kaukonen and Casady resumed performing as Hot Tuna.
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Marty Balin