1965-1984Paul KantnerGuitar, vocals1965-1984
Grace SlickVocals, keyboards1966-1978; 1981-1984
Marty BalinVocals1965-1971; 1975-1978
Jorma KaukonenGuitar, vocals1965-1972
Signe AndersonVocals1965-1966
Bob HarveyBass1965
Jack CasadyBass1965-1972
Skip SpenceDrums1965-1966
Spencer DrydenDrums1966-1970
Joey CovingtonDrums1970-1972
Papa John CreachFiddle1971-1975
John BarbataDrums1972-1979
David FreibergVocals, bass, guitar, keyboards1972-1984
Pete SearsBass1974-1984
Craig ChaquicoGuitar1974-1984
Aynsley DunbarDrums1979-1982
Jefferson Airplane formed in San Francisco during the summer of 1965. Marty Balin and Paul Kantner met at a club called the Drinking Gourd that year.
The Airplane's first gig was on August 13, 1965 (a Friday the 13th) at the Matrix Club in San Francisco, which later became a showcase for new bands. The club was a former pizza parlor that Marty Balin bought and turned into a nightclub specifically so his new band would have a place to play.
Skip Spence quit playing drums for this band to become the guitarist for Moby Grape. His replacement, Spencer Dryden, was a former jazz drummer.
Grace Slick was a former model who had also sung in her (now ex) husband's band, the Great Society. Their albums weren't released by Columbia Records until after Slick became a star. She replaced Signe Anderson, who left to have a baby.
Tensions grew when Grace Slick began stealing media attention away from founder Marty Balin. He soon left and formed the unsuccessful Bodacious D.F.
Dryden left to replace Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart in New Riders of the Purple Sage.
The first time the Jefferson Starship name appeared was when the Airplane was forced to stop touring when Slick became pregnant with Kantner's child in 1970 (They named her China). The two recorded an album as Paul Kantner and the Jefferson Starship. The album featured guest appearances by Jerry Garcia, David Crosby, and Graham Nash, among others.
Kaukonen and Casady formed Hot S--t (later called Hot Tuna) when Kantner and Slick were recording. They would eventually leave the group to work on that band.
John Barbata had been a member of the Turtles and Freiberg a member of Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Papa John Creach began as a member of Hot Tuna, who played with the Airplane when Kaukonen and Casady did. He decided to keep playing with the Airplane instead.
China Kantner, the daughter of Grace Slick and Paul Kantner, became an actress (best known as Willow on Home Improvement). She was also a VJ on MTV from 1986-1988.
In February 1974, Jefferson Airplane changed their name to Jefferson Starship. The new group featured guitarist Craig Chaquico, at the time 19 years old, who had played in Steelwind with his high school English teacher. Kaukonen's brother, Peter, played bass with them for four months before being replaced by Pete Sears, who had played with Rod Stewart.
In November 1976, Grace Slick married the lighting director Skip Johnson, who was 13 years her junior. They split in 1994.
Aynsley Dunbar, their drummer from 1979 to 1982, had been a member of Journey. He had also played with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, John Mayall, Jeff Beck, and Lou Reed.
Kaukonen, Casady, Slick, Balin, and Kantner reunited for one last, self-titled album as Jefferson Airplane in 1989. It didn't get much attention, stalling at #85.
In 1977, the Airplane were stopped from playing in Golden Gate Park because there was a ban on electric instruments. It was a free concert.
A few stories have floated around as to how they got their name. Paul Kantner said that they heard about a dog jokingly named Blind Thomas Jefferson Airplane, which gave them the idea. Kantner said it was supposed to be temporary, but they couldn't think of anything better.
Paul Kantner and Jefferson Starship's Blows Against the Empire was the first music ever nominated for science fiction's most prestigious award, the Hugo Award.
They personified psychedelic rock with their lyrics, wardrobes, stage sets and album cover art. Psychedelic rock was often associated with drugs and probably peaked in the 1967 summer of love.
Jefferson Airplane were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.
A "jefferson airplane" was a slang term in the '60s for a roach clip made by splitting the paper of a paper match in half lengthwise. No one seems to remember if the term preceded the band.
In the late '50s, Grace Slick studied at Finch College in New York City for a year before transferring to the University of Miami. This earned her an invitation to the White House in 1970 when Tricia Nixon, who also went to Finch, had a gathering for alumni and Slick ended up on the guest list under Grace Wing, her maiden name. Slick showed up with the anti-Nixon activist Abbie Hoffman and a plan to dose Richard Nixon's tea with LSD. She and Hoffman never made it in because White House security figured out who they were.
Slick retired from the music business in the early '90s, telling VH1's Behind The Music, "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire." Aside from a couple appearances with a new iteration of Jefferson Starship, Slick was true to her word and focused on other artistic endeavors like painting and drawing.
