Jorma Kaukonen (born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist, best known for his work with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #54 on its list of 100 Greatest Guitarists. (More from Wikipedia)
“Jefferson airplane” is slang for a split paper match that is used to hold a marijuana cigarette when it has burned down too far to be easily held. Many people think that this was the origin of the name of Jefferson Airplane, but (as I suspected years ago) the reverse is apparently the case. Bandmember Jorma Kaukonen has the real story about the band’s name; as quoted from a 2007 press release in Wikipedia: “I had this friend [Steve Talbot] in Berkeley who came up with funny names for people. His name for me was Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane (for blues pioneer Blind Lemon Jefferson). When the guys were looking for band names and nobody could come up with something, I remember saying, ‘You want a silly band name? I got a silly band name for you!’”
(June 2014)
