Paul Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, known for co-founding Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture era, and its more commercial spin-off band Jefferson Starship. Jefferson Airplane continued to record and perform until 1972. When the band officially broke up, Kantner used the Jefferson Starship name and continued to record and perform with that band for the next five decades. Kantner had the longest continuous membership with the band; at times he was the only founding member still in the band from the original Jefferson Airplane lineup, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with other band members in 1996. (More from Wikipedia)
David Crosby had been a member of the Byrds but was forced out in late 1967 due to friction with others in the band. By early 1968, Stephen Stills was one of several musicians who began sailing with Crosby on his yacht and jamming with him. One of the first fruits of these sessions was the apocalyptic tale “Wooden Ships”, composed by Stills, Crosby, and Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane.
(April 2014)
* * *
In November 1970, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick released an album called Blows Against the Empire that was credited to Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship, though the line-up had little resemblance to the band of that name that followed.
By this time, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick were a couple; in January 1971, Slick gave birth to China Wing Kantner (Wing was her maiden name), who later became a veejay on MTV. A well-publicized rumor is that China was originally named “god” (with a small “g”), but apparently, this was based only on a remark made by Grace Slick to a nurse.
Jefferson Starship proper can be dated to the 1974 album Dragon Fly, but the album was still credited to Paul Kantner and Grace Slick as well as Jefferson Starship. Their first big hit song “Miracles” had a timeless quality, to me at least – it felt as though the song had always been there. The line-up included Pete Sears, an alumnus of past UARB the Sons of Fred.
* * *
When Paul Kantner left Jefferson Starship in 1984, this last remaining founding member of Jefferson Airplane settled out of court with the other bandmembers that any use of the terms “Jefferson” or “Airplane” was forbidden unless all members of Jefferson Airplane, Inc. agreed. (You could tell that it wasn’t the 1960’s anymore when there is such a thing as “Jefferson Airplane, Inc.”). As a result, the 1985 album Knee Deep in the Hoopla was released under the name Starship.
(June 2014)
